SETTING YOUR MINDSET FOR NEW BEGINNINGS

As we prepare to go back to work, we often pause to reflect on our lives — both personal and professional. This period of transition offers a unique opportunity to embrace a more positive and growth mindset. 

Just as a business requires a strategy to succeed, so does life. With this in mind, Harvard Business Review conducted a powerful study on 500 individuals through a program called "Strategize Your Life." 

The experts behind the program (summarized in this insightful article) noted, "We believe it can lead to new insights on how you define and achieve a fulfilling life. Our goal is to provide your emotions and intuition with an analytical partner." 

This resonates deeply with the themes we explore on the Positive Leadership podcast, particularly in my conversation with Mo Gawdat where we discussed the profound impact of defining your own happiness and how that clarity shapes your life choices. 

He said “In every moment in your life, it's a comparison between what you want life to be and what life actually gives you. If you run that comparison and life actually meets your expectations, you feel happy.”  

If you missed it, I highly recommend listening to the episode.

When they began their workshop, the program leaders were surprised to find that only 21% of participants had ever defined what a great life means to them. Just 9% had identified their purpose, 12% had set a vision for their life, 17% had established concrete goals and milestones, and a mere 3% had developed anything resembling a life strategy. 

Striking, isn't it? Honestly, I didn't have a long-term personal plan either for a long time. But over the past decade I became a lot more intentional developing my own life strategy. 

A journey that I also explored with Élisabeth Moreno on the podcast.

Her path is truly incredible. However, to achieve such success and experience deep personal and professional fulfillment, she had to struggle to affirm what she truly wanted her life to be. 

“What I like to remind people is that we shouldn't let others define what we should become. For many, it was impossible for me to become a business leader, impossible for me to run subsidiaries of major international tech companies, and even less possible for me to become a minister in a country where I wasn't born. And yet, it happened because life is stronger than anything. And I have a hunger for life.” 

In our conversation, we delved into how setting clear, purpose-driven goals can serve as a catalyst for personal and professional growth, and how breaking down barriers can unlock potential. Her major advice to our listeners? "Invest as much in yourself as you invest in your job, in your company. Learn who you are. Learn what you love, what excites you, what gives you stars in your eyes and butterflies in your stomach. Become the best version of yourself. Because that, no one can take away from you. You may leave your job, lose your company, or lose your money, but you will never lose who you are if you respect yourself." 

So, let’s get to work! 

The methodology adapts the seven standard steps of a corporate strategy project to individual life planning. Each step is guided by a question: 

1. How do I define a great life? 
2. What is my life purpose? 
3. What is my life vision? 
4. How do I assess my life portfolio? Meaning doing a portfolio analysis of how you spend your 168-hour week 
5. What can I learn from benchmarks? i.e. setting life satisfaction benchmarks 
6. What portfolio choices can I make? In this step, you integrate the outcomes from the first five steps to make informed choices and identify potential changes in your life. 
7. How can I ensure a successful, sustained life change? Here, you create a plan to implement your decisions. 

 By taking notes all over the journey, you end up having an initial version of your life strategy on a single page. And you can download a worksheet to help you do this here. 

I’ve found this process incredibly enlightening, and it actually echoes the deeply moving discussion I had with former Netflix CMO, author, and entrepreneur Bozoma Saint John (or “Boz” as she likes to be called).

In the podcast, she shared the life experiences that shaped her, and the lessons she learned from them to grow. Specifically, she shared the tragedy of losing her husband too early and how she dealt with it: “His death inspired me. I wish he hadn’t have died. With every cell in my being. It still brings me to tears even as I sit here. But he wouldn't have died for nothing. He died, and I am going to take inspiration from it. I'm going to live a bigger life because of it. I'm going to live a more expressive life because of it. I'm going to live a more urgent life because of it.” 

I share the same urgency than Boz to live a meaningful life every day. Boz's powerful perspective on turning personal tragedy into a catalyst for growth resonates deeply with my own belief in the transformative power of adversity.

Getting back to the “Strategize your life” methodology, among all the steps, I was particularly surprised by the time allocation exercise. It made me realize that I wasn’t utilizing the 168 hours of each week in a way that aligned with my life goals. 

Just like business units, the program has its equivalents strategic life areas (SLAs): relationships; body, mind, and spirituality; community and society; job, learning, and finances; interests and entertainment; and personal care.

Ask yourself: “Does my current time allocation reflect what truly matters to me?”. Then, you’ll know what changes need to be made. 

Frankly, completing all seven steps is more challenging than you might expect and could take a few hours. However, I can guarantee it’s absolutely worth it. 

As we return to our personal and professional lives, I encourage you to align your daily actions with your larger vision and take control of your destiny. I hope you had a wonderful summer and are energized. Remember, you have the power to lead your life and shape it as positively as you desire. 

Of course, I would be pleased to hear your feedback and return on experience if you do this "Strategize your Life” exercise. Feel free to leave your comments here, I will be happy to discuss with you. Thank you all and talk soon! 

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