Scott
You make a great point on a topic that I have been mulling over for the last few weeks.
I had to think long and hard to figure out what things make me feel really fulfilled. I realised that there are two main categories for me: positive feedback on a piece of creative work; and the personal satisfaction of getting a big task finished – the garden overhauled, a room redecorated, etc.
But on the other hand, take the seven categories of health, family, financial, Intellectual, social, professional, and spiritual. There is general agreement that we should cultivate all of these areas – if one of them falls behind, a general sense of imbalance creeps across our lives.
In one of his bulletins, Don Wetmore points out that if we make one small improvement in each of these seven areas every day for a year, then we will have made approx. 2,500 general life improvements when the year is up.
I know that may sound a little simplistic, but it highlights the point that there is a huge amount we can be doing to make our lives feel better.
However, it’s unlikely that we will get a noticeable buzz out of any of the above. Only when we look back after a year and do a self scrutiny for general satisfaction levels will we be able to see the benefits.
These are two very different types of things: the big once off assignments with the big satisfaction pay-off, (and the resultant self-esteem boost), and the general maintenance/improvement projects. (Even using the word project here can blur the issue: DA defines a project as a task with more than one step … but general self maintenance never ends, so it is not really a project in this sense).
The confusion between different types of goals can sabotage 30,000 to 50,000 foot thinking sessions. The prospect of sending a draft novel to a publisher beats the hell out of the prospect of walking or praying for fifteen minutes a day. Both are equally important to a person, and it would be tragic if they were graded by the immediate elation they generated.
Neglecting the balance between the seven areas will cause a sense of dissatisfaction that will probably just feed the desire for more big pay-off projects, which will just perpetuate a vicious circle.
The seven areas is a good checklist to keep to hand during the weekly review. I’d say most of us consider exercise and diet during the weekly review – but it seems to me that all seven areas are on the same level as physical well-being: they just aren’t talked about as much. DA reminds us that we can be kicked into higher level thinking from time to time by a big life event: the chance of a great job in another country for example.
But if we make sure that we are not neglecting the seven areas on a week to week basis, there will be a pay-off at some deep level. At the very least you should be able to look back after a year and realise that things just seem a little more stable than they used to. You will FEEL better.
I think it was Daniel Goleman who said that a huge amount of our lives is effectively spent on mood management – we steer things and gravitate towards things to make us feel good. The big pay-off is always attractive, but if you accept that the seven areas need to be gently cultivated also, you will gain a long term sense of contentment.
Its not an “either/or” scenario.
Dave