"Culture of One": Building the Life You Want

This week’s podcast is about investing in you. This requires you to get to know who you are. In a time of uncertainty, there is a substantial advantage to truly understanding yourself. The exercise below and the lessons in this podcast will help you develop your compass for your life map.

To begin this necessary work, try the exercise I’ve outlined below. Alan discusses this exercise more in depth in the podcast at minute marker 13:15. I encourage you to give it a listen.

“Culture of One” Exercise: Developing Your Life Map Compass 

1. Make sure you have at least one hour blocked off for this exercise. 
2. Go to your favorite spot, indoors or outdoors, wherever you like to spend time. If you can’t go there physically, imagine the most beautiful place in your mind.  
3. Go there alone, and don’t bring any of your devices with you. 
4. Instead, bring a pad of paper and something to write with. 
5. Select a topic from the list below. Or come up with a new topic. This will be your prompt for the rest of the exercise. 

Topics to start with (not limited to these): siblings, parents, job, employer, employees, religion, fears, passions, limitations, obstacles, emotions, risks, talents, health, education, hobbies, friends, relationships.

1. Write your topic down at the top of the page and then write down everything that comes to mind when you think about that topic.
2. Get all of your feelings and emotions out onto the paper. Even if the thoughts don’t make sense or don’t have a direct connection. Whatever pops into your mind, write it down!
3. Spend an hour, or two (or even a whole day) writing everything you think about these topics. 
4. Sleep on it. Then repeat the process the next day.
5. After you have a solid list going, analyze it. What themes come through? What connections can you make between the different themes? What thoughts resonate with you the most? What do you think they mean?
6. What could these themes tell you about your personal values? How can they help you define your authentic goals?
7. Insights do not come instantly or overnight.  Like any work with an advisor or counselor, insights and behavioral changes come with time. Perhap you nail one value to live by or make one goal for your life through this exercise. Consistent work on you will help you add to your plan, and with time, you will notice that decisions become easier as you live by your values and work towards authentic goals you have set for yourself.

What’s next? Make another list:

You’ve gotten to know yourself a bit better, now take this knowledge and apply it to your life and your relationships. Create another list of traits that you value and simple steps to bring these traits into your everyday life. 

• Example: be more direct, be truthful, share more about myself 
• Practice these traits in your daily interactions
• Try it, recognize small wins, build confidence, build the habit 

I often feel a real advantage in my life. I have clarity in decisions. Oftentimes, the answers are obvious to me when facing life and business challenges. I have worked hard at knowing who I am, I have defined my personal values. I know what I stand for. So when I bump into new people, ideas or challenges - I know what fits me.  I want this for the Outside Insights community. And I would love to hear if the tools in the podcast were helpful to you. Always feel free to share your stories with me by replying directly to this email. 

Until next time, friends. 

Chris