The Two Components of a Life with Meaning

Survey after survey shows the workforce is restless. And for good reason.

Many people are working longer and harder today than they ever had in their life. Yet they’re not being rewarded for their work.

Companies are still holding tight on pay raises. Productivity is up. Morale is down.

So many people are thinking about changing jobs or even making a career change.

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A holistic plan

We don’t think you should have a career plan. Now before you think we’re crazy, let us explain.

We encourage people to build a life plan. Of course, your career is part of your life, right?

In other words, you build your career plan indirectly but cohesively as part of a holistic life plan. Otherwise, it’s too easy to lose sight of the BIGG picture.

This is just as true for will-be entrepreneurs as it is for people in the corporate world. Of course, we believe you are an entrepreneur, even if you don’t ever want to own your own business.

You’re in charge of a very special enterprise – your life. It’s up to you to take the reigns, to take control, so you don’t end your
life with regrets.

The two components of life

BIGG success is life on your own terms. We want to talk about two terms today – the two components of life.

• Content
  

  What does your life contain?
  

  The work you do is part of the content of your life. So are the chores you take care of at home.
  

  Your hobbies are a part of your content. So is the food you eat.
  

  It includes your routines, like brushing your teeth and showering. Even sleeping is part of it all. You have a lot of content in your life.
  

• Context
  

  What is your personal environment?
  

  You may work at an office. Your home is part of your context.
  

  The people you associate with, at work and at home, are included in your context.
  

  Places away from home – where you eat, where you hang out, where you travel to – also make up the context of your life.
  

The key to a life with meaning

Okay, so those are the two components of life. But so far we haven’t talked about meaning.

Content and context are impersonal. You add the meaning to make them personal.

You do that with your choices. Choices involve tradeoffs.

You can’t have everything. But you can have everything you really want! There’s a BIGG difference.

Tradeoffs sounds like sort of a downer. It feels like you’re giving up something. And you are.

But you will discover that it’s exciting. You’ll give up what you don’t want to get more of what you really want!

Tradeoffs occur both within the two components and between them. The key is to maximize your meaning while minimizing your trade-offs. But it’s not quantitative; it’s qualitative.

In other words, it’s not as simple as substituting one thing for another. You may give up three things that aren’t so important to make time for the one thing that’s is really meaningful.

Content and context are the two components life. You give them meaning by clearly understanding who you are and who you want to be. Once you know that, you can make choices that help you get from where you are to where you want to be. That’s BIGG success!

It means a lot to us that you read our post today. Thanks so much.

Check back tomorrow for our top ten signs you’re working too hard. Until then, here’s to your BIGG success!

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00724-080411.mp3

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