How will you measure your life?
This question has fascinated me to no end, and I often find myself reflecting on it.
It’s not optimization that interests me as much as regret minimization.
Let's dive into my review of How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen.
1) Answer This: Who Do You Want to Become?
This was an interesting question for me to approach. I realized that I never really asked myself who I want to be but always asked where I want to be.
2) Be committed
Starting is half the work done and perfection is a trap. Momentum kills procrastination.
I can't stress this enough. Being committed to your aspirations of who you want to be is paramount to your purpose. Don't simply define your purpose without any mode of acting on it.
So what does it mean to be committed to your purpose?
I'll keep it simple here: if you're ever at a moral, ethical, or other type of crossroads in life, remind yourself of who you want to be. Remind yourself of your values and why you have them to begin with. If you act against your values, either they aren't your true values or you've lost sight of them. Being committed is about being aware of your values and making decisions in favor of them.
Do the work to discover your values, be intentional and self-aware
Life is too short to not.
3) Find the Right Metric to Measure Your Life By
The last part to defining and acting on your purpose is to define how you're going to measure it. Now that I've defined who I want to be and how to stay committed to it, I can put a number behind my efforts. Talk about satisfying the analytical itch!
