The system Part 3

Living in the Bucket

The System Part3

In my previous post, I gave an overview of the concept of Roles as a way to compartmentalize how you prioritize the use of your resources in your quest for self-fulfillment.   This post (the final of three) will round out that discussion with the introduction of the concept of Arenas and also a worksheet that you can use to tie it all together.

Arenas, the backdrop for Activities

Our existence is not lived out in a vacuum.  We perform our Activities and Roles in a number of environments  which I am going to call Arenas. 

 In order to make this clearer, I am going to use a tool provided by Ms. Carol Anderson and her company, Money Quotient, a Financial Life Coaching firm in Portland, Oregon.

 

 

You will note that The Wheel of Life has nine categories (or Arenas) in which you can act out your Roles and Activities.  Try to think how you might apply your Roles in each on these Arenas.  Perhaps, you might think of new Activities through this process.  You might also rate your degree of satisfaction with your Arena participation on the "spokes" of the wheel, from Unsatisfied (zero being the hub) to Very Satisfied (ten being the rim).

 

Putting it all together

The worksheet below is designed to help you combine all of these concepts.   Start with the Role.  Identify what Arenas in which you can play that Role and specify what Activities you can achieve.   Decide if it is a Vigor Activity or not (to help with planned frequency).   Then, set a frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.) and, at your ninety-day review, check off if you accomplished them or not.  If not, re-evaluate the activity and either carry it forward to the next worksheet or eliminate it.

 

 

Role	Arena	Activity	Vigor (Y/N?)	Frequency	Accomplished (Y/N?)	Carry Forward (Y/N?)

 

 

 

 

The Final Product

You have now accomplished what I, in my years of advising, have found to be the single most important step towards leading a balanced and fulfilling life, a Goal List.  It’s now a simple matter of arranging your resources and making decisions on their allocation by straightforwardly asking yourself the question:

“Does this action support the Activities I have set for myself?”

If you can’t answer yes, then you should pass on expending resources (time, money, energy, etc.) on that action.  This process alone will produce significant change by making you more efficient.

Now that you have the basics in hand, it is my intention to post monthly examples of how this System works in my daily experience.  Perhaps you may want to share your experiences as well.  There is a place to post discussion on this blog page.

That’s all for this month.  Until next time, I wish you fulfillment.

 

Bob

 

 

Living in the Bucket

The System Part 2

In my previous post,  I gave an overview of the concept of Roles as a way to compartmentalize how you Prioritize the use of your resources in your quest for self-fulfillment.   This post will deal with the practical application of those concepts.

Activities – The Implementation of Roles

In my last post, I gave an example of one of the activities I started this year under the Role of Father.   While Roles seldom change (they do evolve over time), Activities are constantly being reviewed and adjusted.  Think of them as the “how” to the “what”.  Activities are the actions that put your Roles into reality.

Roles

Refer back to my pie chart of Realms in my last post.   Notice under Personal I listed Fitness.  The activities that I am currently using to implement that objective are: going to the gym, hiking and walking.  Now that I have identified the Activity, all that is left is to set measurable Goals to execute. To do that, we must be specific and responsible.

Specific

If you can’t measure it, then how can you tell you are on track?  My gym goals are:  400 minutes per month of aerobics and twelve strength training sessions per month.  I keep this score in Excel.  Here’s my progress through July:

 

Responsibility

I mentioned in the previous post that if you are unwilling to take responsibility for your own actions, this exercise will be a waste of time.  The Lakota Sioux have a saying “what you do speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you say”.   Personal Responsibility is at the core of this system.  Don’t set an Activity that you aren’t committed to!  It is also important to assure that you will be fulfilled in the Role in which you are working.

 

 

Vigor Activities

There is a special category of Activities that gives an added boost towards your goal of realizing you’re Roles, Vigor Activities.   One of the  major resources you will need to do any Activity is what I like to call Vigor.  These activities are easy to identify.  The longer you do them, they more energized you feel.  They are different for each person, but they all have the same effect: a vigorization of your stamina to complete your Activities.  I know, for me, one of my Vigor Activities in the Health Realm is hiking in the woods.  No matter how many miles I log on the trail, I always feel rejuvenated at the end of the hike.

 

An Example

I asked my good friend Cynthia Hubbs if she would paint a picture of how these Vigor Activities combine to form a river of Vigor that fuels the accomplishment of your Roles.  This is what she came up with:

 

Note I had her divide these into Domains to help group them for thought.   Just as the sun melts the snow, releasing it in water form, so do these Domains release the Vigor that we need to function in our Roles.   As the Vigor is released, it joins with the other currents to form a “River of Vigor” that feeds your Energy to accomplish your Activities.

Give some thought to this important concept.  What do you love to do?  As I said, one way to recognize a Vigor Activity is, if you did it all day, you find you have more energy than when you started.  Once you identify these Vigor Activities, make sure you do one or more of them each day, or you may find yourself too exhausted to do any Activities; thus insuring failure at your Role execution.

We are almost finished.   My next post will deal with the concept of Arenas and then we will finish up with a worksheet you can use to apply all of these concepts in your daily living.

Until then, I wish you fulfillment.

Bob