For today’s edition of Wednesday Words, I’d like to share some tidbits from a book I recently read: “How Will You Measure Your Life?” by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon.
As a special treat to you, I will even spare you my own analysis. You’re welcome.
Your Strategy Is Not What You Say It Is
“You can talk all you want about having a strategy for your life, understanding motivation, and balancing aspirations with unanticipated opportunities. But ultimately, this means nothing if you do not align those with where you actually expend your money, time and energy. In other words, how you allocate your resources is where the rubber meets the road.”
“They {unhappy people} prioritized things that gave them immediate returns – such as a promotion, raise or bonus – rather than the things that require long-term work, the things that you won’t see a return on for decades, like raising good children.”
“If your family matters most to you, when you think about all the choices you’ve made with your time in a week, does your family seem to come out on top? Because if the decisions you make about where you invest your blood, sweat and tears are not consistent with the person you aspire to be, you’ll never become that person.”
The Ticking Clock
“When parents engaged in face-to-face conversation with the child {in the first two and a half years of life} – speaking in fully adult, sophisticated language as if the child could be part of a chatty, grown-up conversation – the impact on cognitive development was enormous…In short, when a parent engages in extra talk, many, many more of the synaptic pathways in the child’s brain are exercised and refined.”
“Outsourcing” Parenting
“When…parents seem to be carting their children around to an endless array of activities in which the kids are not truly engaged, it should start to raise red flags. Are the children developing from these experiences the deep, important processes such as teamwork, entrepreneurship, and learning the value of preparation? Or are they just going along for the ride?”
*****
It’s an interesting book, covering both career and relationship happiness, using lessons from some of the world’s greatest businesses. While a bit heavy on the research-and-business angles, I still took away a lot of food for thought.
Love this post. I especially like the first tidbit. I am printing it and putting it up on my bathroom mirror. This is exactly what my family suffers from. We're not aligning the work/activities we do with where we want to be long term. Seeing this on the bathroom mirror every morning will be a good reminder to work toward the long-term goals instead of always looking for immediate gratification.