And now, a buzz word
One of the buzz words of the digital guru is optimization. In the past few days I’ve received offers to help optimize my workspace, my morning routines, even my online dating profile (we’ve been married for almost 36 years so I’m not even sure what that means, but thanks for the offer!) Despite my aversion to online trends and clichés, optimization really is the best word to describe what I want to focus on this week.
After a long season of nose to grindstone living, the first step might be to come to a complete stop and look up. Look around. Look back. Then look within.
• What do you see?
• How content are you right now?
• How’s your energy level?
• Are there other people taking this journey with you? How are they doing?
• How do the things you’re seeing line up with the values you hold?
• Is this where you want to be?
Let me say up front, there are people who have no regrets. If they had another shot, they would do the same thing all over again. I think that’s awesome, but somewhat uncommon. The folks we meet tend to have some degree of, if not regret, at least a sense they could do better. We are about guiding you to optimize the remaining years of your life by reorienting you in ways that maximize meaning and purpose.
Pilot friends tell me that in air travel, if you’re just one degree off course, in just sixty miles you’ll miss your destination by a mile. It’s an apt analogy for how some of us wake up one day and wonder how the hell we ended up living a life so far from the one we imagined? If it’s been twenty or thirty years since you checked your internal map/coordinates, it might be time.
For many, Life 1.0 too often feels like it was optimized primarily around income generation. It drives many of life’s biggest decisions for us.
• What kind of career will we pursue and what aspects of our personality will we tamp down?
• The price we’re willing to pay to pursue that career (relocation, long commutes, etc.)
• The sacrifices we’ll have to make to reach our goals (lots of work-related travel, no time for self-care, etc.)
This is neither bad nor wrong. All I’m asking is, now that you have some degree of financial freedom, now that you are wiser–how will you optimize the years you have remaining around what else is important to you?
Let me ask again in a slightly different way. What do you want to optimize for? This is your chance to go back to the drawing board. Anything’s possible. Want to optimize your life around your long-neglected music or art? Can do. Do you wish to invest more time in a cause that’s near and dear to your heart? Check. Make family a genuine priority? More travel? Scratch that entrepreneurial itch? It’s all on the table. But let me add this simple truth.
You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.
No one can. Just as you discovered in your first career, all choices have consequences. So you’ll have to make some hard choices to truly optimize your future. One of the most liberating things many of our clients do is decide what things they won’t do ever again. We call it the “For the Last Time” list (and it’s much tougher than it sounds.) That can be just as important as the list of things you want to do.
A Second Rodeo is your chance to wipe the slate clean. Call it a fresh start, an extreme makeover, whatever you like. Why not take another shot at re-ordering your life in a way that is more productive and significant–for yourself, your loved ones, for the world? We’re here to help. It’s what we do. Connect with me at our website or email me. I’d like to hear your story.
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