Personal Leadership on Purpose

5 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU THROW YOURSELF OUT OF WHACK

I’m a big advocate for living a balanced life.  Like I mentioned last week, I especially advocate for living a balanced life based on your mission and the examination of a balanced lifestyle based on the roles in which you serve.  But roles change as life changes, and having the flexibility and discernment to know when to throwing yourself out of balance is a wise decision for personal leadership is important.

Some times when this may be appropriate is when your starting a new job, a new company, gaining a new work assignment, having a baby or focusing on a child that has needs you need to meet, caring for an ailing loved one, and serving your country on an overseas assignment.

The 5 Questions:

1. Am I doing this for the sake of my mission?
2. Am I doing this intentionally and through an analysis of the pros and cons of doing so? Is it on purpose or did you just find yourself out of whack with your head spinning?
3. Is it the right time to step away from balance?
4. Are the important people in my life on board with the singular focus at this time?
5. Is there a definitive beginning and end to this shift in focus?

In First Things First, co-authors with Stephen Covey, Roger and Rebecca Merrill discuss a time when they intentionally shifted themselves out of a balance.    Roger needed to devote himself to extensive travel for work in his mission to further the cause of his work with Franklin Covey.  Although Roger never says it outright in the book, it is obvious his work is a part of his mission (#1 above met).  With children at home, Rebecca and Roger discussed it and decided it was a positive thing for them to do at the time (#2,3,4 above met).  I’m sure that Rebecca had to assume more responsibility in their family with his extensive travel, and I would imagine she felt that this focus was aligned with her mission and roles as well.  Finally, they knew when this assignment would end and begin and could plan accordingly (#5 met).

You can have it all, but not all at once.   Determining if you can answer these five questions above with satisfaction determines whether or not you should shift the balance in your life.

When have you thrown yourself out of whack for the fulfillment of purpose?