Columns Paul Donkers

What to do with my life?

Are you doing what you really want to do with your life, or have you drifted away from your original ideas? Are you mostly looking for short-term kicks, or do you balance your time and energy with creating meaning for the longer term? Are you in control of where you are going, or are you mostly led by outside triggers?

Marshall Goldsmith writes about finding your life purpose in his book MOJO. He says, “in life there are five things that are most important.” We have to figure these out. They are, in random order of importance:

1. health
   
   
2. wealth (money)
   
   
3. relationships
   
   
4. meaning
   
   
5. happiness
   
   

According to Marshall, these are the most important building blocks that result in your MOJO. It’s something like: you feel good about yourself and you get energy from the things you do. Also, MOJO radiates to the outside and is visible to others. So, if you want to develop a better MOJO, start thinking about where you are with each of the five building blocks. You can do this for your private life as well as for your professional life.

If you want to make a start in getting a better understanding of your MOJO balance, you can use this simple self-assessment that we share below.

For this exercise we focus on two points from Marshall's summary: meaning (long term) and happiness (short term kicks). Now, assess for yourself: in the past week, to what extent did I spend time to create meaning (long term benefit) and how much time did I spend on chasing short term happiness?

I plotted my own professional MOJO balance for a week in the spring of 2017 hereunder.



Download your own blank MOJO balance chart here (PDF)

Comparing your activities in this way will trigger your self awareness and gives you a glimpse of where you put your emphasis on in the real world. It’s not about what you tell others and what you might aspire to, now you will see what you are actually doing in real life!

Because none of us has all the answers, I recommend discussing your balance with a few people from your inner circle. People who know you well and with whom you have a deep level of trust. Ask for their feedback. What ideas do they have for you? Listen and say thank you when they are finished. You always pick up something.

Hope this inspires.

Paul Donkers

"I am awake"
Buddha

Feel free to send us your professional or personal MOJO balance. Please use This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. We will respond back to you via email. Of course we’ll treat your input confidential.

Three books we recommend in this regard if you want to further improve your own MOJO or maintain a high MOJO:

2 read

MOJO by Marshall Goldsmith

What should I do with my life? Career choices from everyday people.

Master of your own destiny. The book that Herman and Paul wrote about taking control over the direction you're developing your career in.

2 watch

Clayton Christensen: How will you measure your life? TED talk.

Ricardo Semler: Radical Wisdom for life, school, work. TED talk

Stanford Commencement Address, Steve Jobs

Our resource hub is freely available. It makes us happy if you find added value for yourself, your team or for your company. And we absolutely love it when you also let us know about it.


Marshall Goldsmith with Paul Donkers in Sillicon Valley (San Fransisco) in the Fall of 2015