Simple Calculation…
I completed a simple calculation today using myself as the subject for the purpose of illustration…
I work 5 days a week and have a 2 day weekend…
I calculated the total number of hours per week which I spend on work, sleeping and ‘other’ (basically everything else)…
Three Components…
Then I worked out these three components of my life into their simplest fractional form (ignoring annual leave and public holidays)…
Interestingly enough, a normal week for me is around 1/3 work, 1/3 sleeping and 1/3 for everything else…
What Fulfills Me?
What fulfills me during this time?
Sleeping is enjoyable, there’s nothing like a good sleep but sleep is like a necessary evil in that you need it to enable you to live a sustainable life, so I wouldn’t say that sleep (in and of itself) is fulfilling although it is very necessary, i.e. ‘foundational’ to support the rest of my life…
Everything else (‘other’) is enjoyable in that I’ll sit at the piano and play and sing, I’ll go for my runs and enjoy coming home to plug in my TomTom MySports watch to see how fast I ran, how far and to what altitude, I’ll spend time with my wife and children (have some laughs), head across the road to our local supermarket to buy groceries, read, watch movies, have showers, prepare and eat food, drink pineapple juice (write the occasional LinkedIn article) and there is definitely fulfilment in this…
But I think the greatest challenge is the 1/3 of my life which I spend ‘week in and week out’ at work…
At the company which I’ve been working for over the past six years, I have had the privilege to build a design team from scratch and experiment with ways as a team to make work more fulfilling…
This has been very satisfying and makes me keen to get to work every morning to see what we can think up next…
As we’ve grown along the journey some issues have been overcome and some maturity has been gained, i.e. the experiment in those areas is now over as the learnings are now established…
Others are still ongoing…
Feeling like you’re making a difference, feeling like you’re growing, feeling like you’re establishing confidence in your abilities, feeling like a sense of community is developing among the wider team, all these things are very fulfilling…
Work Environment…
To work in an environment where there is respect, positivity, and encouragement is a very nurturing experience but most importantly, I believe, is to work in an environment where you have a compelling vision of what you are trying to achieve…
Sleeping…
During the 1/3 sleeping time, our subconscious minds are telling us what we really want or fear and I guess that can be fulfilling as sometimes problems are solved overnight in our sleep when the answer comes to us but are we really changing the world in our sleep? Possibly, as some visions come to us in the night hours but probably at the end of our lives we won’t look back and say, “I’m so glad I lived so I could sleep”…
Recreating…
During the 1/3 ‘other’ time we experience rest, recreation, and relaxation along with nurturing our closest relationships with those closest to us (our families and friends)…
This can be very fulfilling, especially if these relationships are mutually beneficial, i.e. both parties of their own free will genuinely seek the good of the other and especially if we are particularly passionate about the leisure activities we engage in…
Work…
The final 1/3 of work is where we have, based on the strength of the other 2/3’s of our life experience, an opportunity to make a difference in society…
Our work earns us income which supports the other 2/3’s of our life but also gives us an opportunity to ‘give back’ to society in how we spend our time and our interactions with others in the workforce…
Passion…
What are our passions? What are the causes we care most about? How can we use our gifts and talents ‘to the best’ to make a difference? At the end of our lives, it would be both awesome and fulfilling to look back and see that we a) slept well, b) committed to our families and friends, enjoyed leisure experiences and c) contributed to society by using the creativity which we have been given – the ability to create, bless and benefit others…
So what am I saying?
Balance…
A fulfilled life is a balanced life…
1/3 sleeping…
1/3 playing and socializing…
1/3 working to make a difference for society as a whole and in so doing leaving an indelible virtual footprint on the world through those who ‘live on’ our legacy…
Andrew J Horton
23 January 2017
Leave a Reply