Takeaways from this Blog:
1. Though 5 AT A TIME is an excellent method for career planning, it is also about personal growth.
2. Your fulfillment as a human being isn’t just about material security or financial gain; what kind of a person you are matters a great deal.
3. The “E Words” that support 5 AT A TIME are Education, Expansion, Enlightenment, Entrepreneurship, Empathy, and Earth.
4. You can grow as a Leader and a planner as you think about how to make a difference in each of these areas of responsibility.
5. Use points covered in this Blog #10 to “craft your personal wellness MOONSHOT”.
6. This is the last Blog in the Lienhart Leadership Practices 2020 Spring and Summer Series. Become a collector—read all 10 at bradlienhart.com. They tell a story and reinforce my thoughts expressed in 5 AT A TIME and how one can best plan their life 5-years at a time.
All of us have untapped potential not just to succeed and achieve for ourselves and our families, but to make a contribution to a greater good. We are all surrounded by millions of people who share this planet—some of them near and dear to us and some of them strangers who are halfway around the globe.
The “E Words” that support 5 AT A TIME and the world we live in, are like ROL (Return on Life) drivers. Each of these words is a commitment to be a smarter person and a better leader, to be a steward of the earth and the gifts we have been given.
As you are setting your 5 AT A TIME goals, reflect on each of the “E Words” and how you can incorporate them into your current and future “Holes of Life”. Plan and build bigger goals from one Hole to the next.
Think bigger about what you can accomplish and who you can be, strive for independence and self-reliance, constantly review your performance (Plan, Do, Evaluate) for ways to improve, trust and support your fellow man and woman, and strengthen your ecosystem (page 93 from 5 AT A TIME).
Education
Education is a cornerstone to maximizing your ROL over 18 Holes of Life. Not just structured education, but experience education, learning by doing and common sense.
It is noticeable during the C-19 crisis that the essential jobs to a large extent are trade jobs and trade entrepreneurs with their own businesses: the builders, the roofers, the HVAC service companies, lawn maintenance, truckers, delivery personnel, city workers, the garbage man and the postal woman, utility personnel, firefights, our great police force, EMT, and of course nurses and doctors who are going to work like they are going to war—all add up to about 100 million essential workers, many in their own businesses, and most don’t have any student debt.
The other big group that have not been laid off are military and National Guard—this is another great calling and low-cost educational choice.
Join the military and learn how to become a leader and learn all kinds of technical skills including being a doctor or a nurse. The big ship COMFORT, tied up in NY Harbor, is staffed with military trained medical personnel from nurses to surgeons.
I for one am a great fan of the “verge between Community College and a low-cost trade education married with a desire to own one’s own business”. I think trade entrepreneurship has found it’s place in American society and we may not need so many expensive, stade old style brick and mortar four-year universities.
Even training for many medical support professions (nursing, dental assistance, home health care, assisted living care, child care) are available at your local Community College and through their Continued Education curriculums –many of which are on line and very low cost.
Expansion
Expansion is all about growth. In this case, it includes both career growth and growth as a human being. Expansion of oneself does not come about by happenstance, there must be a plan, so why not make it a 5 AT A TIME 5-year plan following your 18 Holes of Life.
Growth targets can be tangible: promotions, raises, relocation. Growing as a person is a little more nebulous. What does that actually mean to you? What are the characteristics, principles, or moral standards you want to live by? Then assess whether your actions are aligned with your words.
If you are like most people, you will find some gaps. And that is okay because those gaps are what gives all of us room for growth and expansion. So put your expansion plan on paper: career plan on one side and personal growth plan on the other side.
We will round this expansion exercise out at the end of this Blog as we discuss building your Personal Wellness MOONSHOT. You should have a Personal MOONSHOT developed with each of your 5-year plans.
Enlightenment
Enlightenment is a favorite “E Word”. Enlightened self-interest is deciding what is best for you and the stakeholders (family, friends, colleagues, community) around you. Here you can be a little bit selfish and indulgent, but not for long. Enlightenment builds on Expansion.
When you focus on personal growth (the MOONSHOT), self-interest becomes less important and community becomes more important. If you read Blog #9 Repurposing, you will see this play out as you enter the last 7 Holes of Life.
Enlightenment can have a spiritual component. It can imply an exploration of what is considered divine and caring. It can lead to new lifestyles, new and more mature attitudes about many different subjects (and persons), a deeper faith or spiritual connection to humanity, the planet, and the ecosystem you occupy. Enlightenment is allowing light to enter our lives and change how we think about ourselves and others.
Enlightened self-interest may drive you to a new career or pursuit of happiness. You may actually honor some of those by gone New Year’s Eve resolutions, turn a new leaf, become a better person and become more empathetic toward others.
The C-19 crisis is bringing Enlightenment to many people and communities. Enlightened self-interest is “looking out for yourself, your family, and community all at the same time” and planning ahead how you will play the remaining Holes of Your Life.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is a concept to apply throughout our lives, whether in school, working for a public/private employer, or running our own business. Remember my earlier Blogs in this Series when we discussed the fact that Leaders Made Real Entrepreneurs and Real Entrepreneurs Need to Be Leaders.
And Leaders and Real Entrepreneurs Need to Be Good Planners. Good planning and complete planning (see Blogs that discussed the four important types of planning: strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency) are critical to successful entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship is a “mind set”, a way of thinking and a way of life, which embodies the concept of ideation, fresh thinking, and innovation. We see entrepreneurs of all walks of life, at all ages, and we see serial entrepreneurs who keep re-inventing themselves and coming up with unbelievable new ideas.
Entrepreneurship is all about Creativity and Making Things Happen “Just Think About It”. Leaders make Real Entrepreneurs because they are Agents for Positive Change.
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of others. It is different than sympathy. It implies an ability to understand another person’s situation or circumstances, whether or not you have experienced them yourself. Empathy is in many ways a cross-functional skill. It allows us to pull from our own experiences to recognize and comprehend how other people feel.
Empathy reflects carrying and compassion for those around you, like family, colleagues, and community. If we are empathic, we are thinking beyond ourselves and helping others to stabilize and grow.
This is where career (me) and family (we) become intertwined and the five-year planning cycle for career and life will become one. Sacrifices can be made on one side or the other for the greater good of the whole. In the short term, empathy can slow down or side-track a five-year plan.
But in general, in the long run, it is a quality that will keep the “S-Curve” of Career and Life moving in a positive and upward direction.
Being able to recognize and understand the feelings of other people is an invaluable life skill. Empathy helps to solidify relationships at home, at work, and in your ecosystem—the world you live in.
Earth
Earth is our 6th and final “E Word”. Our 18 Holes of Life will register only a tiny mark on the earth’s life. The key is to make our small, positive mark without leaving a black mark. Earth stewardship, as well as personal stewardship, is an important element of our Life and Career 5 AT A TIME planning process.
It relates to how we live and the care and feeding of the earth. Earth is our planning canvas and literally the course layout on which we play all 18 Holes of Life. Remember to use earth’s resources wisely, recycle and repurpose everything that makes economic sense, and replace your divots!
Sustainability is a key component of your 5 AT A TIME plan for each Hole of Life. We need to be conscious of waste and the footprint we leave on our earth. The earth must be protected for generations to follow.
Let’s finish this Blog #10, the last in our Spring/Summer 2020 Series with a focus on Wellness and crafting our Personal Wellness MOONSHOT that means the most to you. Remember MOONSHOTS have the best chance of success if fired off each month during the week of the full moon. Find the month with your birthday and start your 5 AT A TIME Life and Career planning process.
Use these questions from PREVENTION Magazine February 2020, to help build your MOONSHOT goals and plans. There is no limit on the number of MOONSHOTS you are allowed but do one at least with every 5-year plan.
1. Who do I want to be?
2. What results do I want to achieve in my life?
3. What does it mean for me to be well—to thrive?
4. When do I feel most alive?
5. What naturally brings me fulfillment?
6. What matters most to me?
7. What do I most want to devote my time and life energy to for the next 5, 10, 20, or 50 years?
Remember to be inclusive—all dimensions of your life matter, from emotional health to environmental stewardship, and note which responses give you the most energy and joy.
Learn how to order my book 5 AT A TIME from my website www.bradlienhart.com and enjoy my Leadership Practices blogs (all 10 of them) and series of 12 videos on you tube channel Lienhart Leadership Consulting, Linked In, Pinterest, as well as the website—and if I can help you or your Company with Leadership Coaching or an aspect of 5-year Life and Career planning please fill out the web page contact form. I can also be reached at lienhartb@yahoo.com.