During one of my reflection sessions, I tried to identify the core pillars of my life. I don’t remember the exact methodology (or even what made me go down this path), but I recall it involved a massive amount of journaling and a moderate dependence on ChatGPT.
The result was a list of six pillars with a simple underlying premise: if I can focus on just these six areas for the rest of my life and ensure each gets proper attention, I’ll consider it a life well-lived. Hence, why I’ve ended up placing these into L5: Values & Principles of my planning model.
Here are the six I landed on:
- Leadership — This primarily covers my day job, but also extends to anything I do outside of work to connect with and support others on their own leadership journey.
- Dharma Practice
- Sea Kayaking
- Family & Friends
- Yoga
- Health (*)
* Note: I actually only came up with five. ChatGPT convinced me to add health to the list a few months later. Turns out the AI has a point.
Fun fact: The pillars above are in priority order. I once shared this list with a family member and they got super upset at me for having F&F at #4. I told my wife of 20 years about this list and she goes, “yep, that sounds about right.”