Life is too short to do work that doesn’t matter. Being a “Corporate Captive” is as outdated as the fax machine or pager.
In the 21st Century, meaningful careers are available to anyone, anywhere. The 21st Century ‘career pathway’ is about finding opportunities to create the perfect personal balance of income, passion, purpose, impact, freedom, autonomy, and fulfilment.
This does not necessarily equate to side hustles, side gigs, or building the next ‘unicorn’ – although it could. A recent article from Year13 (article) touches on the intrinsic motivations of autonomy and growth.
What is ‘Growth’ and why do we need it?
Growth is an essential ingredient for individual evolution and to live a life of meaning.
I argue the purpose of life is to live a life in service of others, whatever shape that may take. To serve others does not mean to be subservient – it means to make an impact through finding personal passions that help you make an impact by helping others.
I believe a fundamental component of creating a life of meaning is the ability to make high quality decisions. So many decisions we make are not high quality.
Often decisions we make are influenced by external – parents, societal expectations, peers – rather than based on our own intrinsic values.
I recently came across this quote which is powerful in its simplicity:
“There are exactly two things that determine how your life will turn out: luck and the quality of your decisions. Luck, by definition, is something you can’t control. The quality of your decisions is something you can.”
Annie Duke, Professional Poker Player & Decision Strategist
Can LUCK be learned?
I believe you can create and control your own L.U.C.K.
I define L.U.C.K as the Living Union (of) Curiosity & Knowledge which can be used to improve the quality of your life.
By making decisions based on this idea of LUCK, you can learn to become L.U.C.K.E.E, one day at a time, by Living a Union (of) Curiosity, Knowledge, Experimentation & Experience.
Experimentation and experience broaden your knowledge through practice, which leads to greater control over your mindset. Hence, learning to become L.U.C.K.E.E. can improve the quality of your life.
High quality decision making creates momentum which can become an unstoppable force.
Momentum creates the personal change we need to evolve. Paraphrasing a quote by Roy T. Bennett, “you can have change without growth, but you cannot have growth without change.”
In other words, change is necessary for personal growth, and it is important to envisage the change you want to make so you can become the ideal version of you – your Future Self. The ideal version of your Future Self will inevitably change over time as you yourself change.
Do you have a Life Vision?
High quality decision making through the practice of being L.U.C.K.E.E creates a virtuous cycle of personal ‘life harmony’. This is known as the practice of ‘life visioning’.