Want to make real progress - give up on goals!

As a young and gullible manager I lapped up the goal-setting dogma that you too are probably familiar with – S.M.A.R.T. goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time- bounded (there are a number of variations on these words).  I mean, it seemed to make so much common sense at the time, so why question it?  And I certainly passed it on in many a training session.  

To all those to whom I passed on such glib, misleading but well-meaning advice, I humbly apologise.

People (well, managers at least) like to think that they set goals and achieve them – and thus make personal and corporate progress – meet the budget; reach the sales target; grow the business.  Perhaps you set personal goals too, especially around New Year – lose weight; get fit; save money; devote more time to…

When you set or accept a goal that you believe is important and work towards it – how does your motivation flow?  Sometimes procrastination automatically becomes the first priority?  Sometimes self-sabotage activities seem to mysteriously infiltrate your plans?  Sometimes circumstances change enough for that goal to quietly fade from the agenda?  Sometimes you get to ‘tick the box’, but then gradually slide back into the previous state?  If life was like a train rolling down a track then self-discipline would be the only quality that one needed to succeed.

What I have discovered (35 years later) is quite heretic – goals are NOT about achievement!  More importantly, there is a much better way to achieve real progress and outstanding corporate and personal results.  I wonder how many of Steve Jobs’ projects would have fitted the S.M.A.R.T. criteria?

S.M.A.R.T. goals are usually applied to what we should ‘do’ or to what we should ‘have’ – about actions and results.  What we ignore in that linear, mechanical view of the world is who we might ‘become’ in the process.  Now if you are a typical manager, please don’t switch of just yet!  I will attempt to get back to reality soon!  ‘Who we might become’ implies ‘change’ and ‘growth’ and that adds a much richer dimension to the simple linear intent of goals.  And in that dimension lies the source of the creative possibilities and innovation that Steve Jobs mastered so well.

Would you like to add that dimension to your personal or corporate life?  Here’s the higher truth…

It’s all about ‘change’ – and it’s only about ‘change’ – and within the change process there may well be markers or milestones – but for the purpose of realising this higher truth, let’s not call them goals.   And here’s the take-away diamond in all this – you!  It’s not what you achieve but who you become in the process that makes the real difference in the world.  And who you have the potential to become, is the person who would normally have the outcomes you seek as part of everyday life.  In other words the change ‘out there’ can only be sustained by the change ‘in here’.  So the question is ‘What do you want to change?’  And simultaneously the other side of the same coin is, ‘Who do you want to become?’  It’s the same question.  It’s easy at this point to balloon up to life purpose and all that, but it equally applies to meeting the budget, hitting the sales target or losing that weight.

Now, the value of S.M.A.R.T. is that it can get you clear on what you actually want to change and become.  It’s getting your mind and heart clear on what you really want, that ignites the engine of results.  So frankly I’d drop ‘Achievable’ and ‘Realistic’ completely, because they imply that you know not only what is achievable, but how it will be achieved.  If that is in fact true, then don’t bother setting the goal – just continue with the current well-worn process.  ‘Specific, Measureable and Time-bounded’ are good criteria for getting really clear – for objectifying ‘wants’ that usually start off as vague or fuzzy feelings.  Getting really clear doesn’t mean that you don’t have to take specific actions – but it allows that you can draw on all kinds of opportunities from the environment that you otherwise would not have noticed.

This is how life works anyway – whether we are aware of it or not.  From a totally speculative point of view, it seems to me that Steve Jobs heart’s desire (his passion) was to create something so unique and so special that it would be valued by the whole world.  I read that he was born out of wedlock, put up for adoption at birth, dropped out of school, and was even fired from his own company in 1985 when he was a globally-recognised CEO.  His obituaries acknowledge that he well and truly fulfilled that heart’s desire.  His history may well reflect the source of that all-consuming passion.

Our higher truth here is that change is the only constant and we are all part of an environment over which we have little influence.  By getting really clear in heart and mind as to what we want to change ‘out there’ and simultaneously ‘in here’, we engage with the environment and fuse those two elements into one powerful force of nature.  ‘How’ is not your concern – the environment takes care of that, because it contains every ‘how’ that ever was – and then some!  Your concern is simply ‘What’.  Mind you, growing to embody that desired change will bring its challenges, and growing pains – but that’s what life is all about! 

So, here’s the key to real (holistic) progress at work, at home, in relationship, and in the world – write it out and keep it in view every day… “WHAT CHANGE DO I WANT TODAY?”

There is an egoic part in each of us that wants 'out there' to change, while 'in here' remains the same.  If the two are already in alignment then the opportunity to affect the change will arise smoothly - because you already 'are' that change.  If there is little or no alignment then the opportunities remain elusive and affecting the change remains a struggle.

If you find it’s a struggle to affect the change you want, then reflect on the internal shift required to match the external shift desired.  That reflection will highlight your internal resistance - something you are not willing to let go of - something that's keeping you small.

Now you're set for real progress!

Your VitallyMe Report identifies the triggers for your own typical 'external shift desired', and matches that to your own typical 'internal shift required'.  Much smarter than S.M.A.R.T.!

Love me - know me - grow me is not a call for help!

That's all there is to life really!

Here, the words ‘love me’ refer to an unconditional kind of love such as a mother would have for her newborn baby.  It implies an unconditional acceptance of another person just as they are.  For me, the best definition around that is that ‘love is a space’ in which all of the emotions are free to exist.  So one’s capacity for love can be equated with how much space one can make for others to be just as they are.  Yet this is not a passive thing – it's not the same as being uninvolved – it is an active, creative, and often stretching thing.  So ‘love me’ means ‘create a space inside of you, in which I am okay just as I am’.  It's really only in such a space that you can ever get to ‘know me’.  For if it is not okay for me to be ‘just me’ in your presence then I will have to maintain defences or bury parts of me that you might not consider to be okay. 

But ‘know me’ has its traps as well.  When we have lived with, or near, someone for many years it is easy to presume that we ‘know’ them because of their habits and predictability.  Yet in this world all living things are either growing or dying.  When we die we certainly stop growing, but perhaps it's when we stop growing that we start to die?  So do we ‘know’ the person in the assumption that they are static?  Or do we ‘know’ them in the assumption that they are a ‘human becoming’ who may have plateaued or gotten lost or be struggling in some areas?  So, to ‘know me’ means to know where I'm going, to know my dreams and aspirations, to know my struggles and current challenges.  And when we can truly appreciate that in someone else, it helps to create an even bigger space – a bigger capacity for love – inside of us.

‘Grow me’ is of special importance because it allows that I can always fulfil more of my innate potential.  Parents so often project their own unfulfilled dreams onto their unsuspecting children.  Then they fall into the trap of thinking they know best how their children should develop.  But as poet Kahlil Gibran so beautifully put it, “Your children are not your children.   They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself...”  Your children will never be ‘like’ you or see the world the same way you do – they are separate, unique individuals with lessons different from yours. 

If God gives you a rose bush the best you can do is create a good environment for a rose bush.  If you harbour a desire of parenting an oak tree, then your efforts to selfishly make that real for you can only lead to disappointment and conflict and damage.  So ‘grow me’ requires that first you ‘know me’ and thus have some awareness of just what it is that you are growing.  If you are ever to truly ‘know me’ then you must first ‘love me’ and thereby make the space in which that can happen.

Perhaps we can apply that to small children, but what about teenagers and young adults?  How can you ‘know me’ when I don't even know myself yet?  And it seems to be the mission of every child to find and explore the limits of their parents.  We need to understand that ‘loving them’ means making that space – not necessarily accepting their behaviour.  For example, if you know that someone is struggling with the challenges of personal responsibility – often evidenced by a total refusal to take any – then there are active steps in terms of ‘grow me’ that can be set at an appropriate level for the learner.  But if, as the adult, you are still struggling with your own issues of power and control then it is quite likely you will find it very difficult to make the space for that person to be themselves – and without that space, they will only be able to equate ‘responsibility’ with ‘obedience’.  So they may only be able to learn that lesson well away from ‘your space’.

Okay, but children aside, can we apply this to other adults in general?  And anyway it's not my job to grow someone else!  That's certainly true and handing out gratuitous advice is unlikely to win many friends, but that's not how it works.  Have you ever wondered why you were attracted to the people with whom you have long-term relationships?  In every case there will be some aspect of their personality that they express overtly, which reflects some shadow aspect of our own personality.  In other words, they hold up in front of you, just by being themselves, something that you need to learn about yourself.  Initially we find that attractive – too often we finish up tolerating it or suffering through in spite of it!  So, provided that people in close relationships can ‘make the space’ and get to genuinely ‘know’ one another, then ‘grow me’ becomes a mutually supportive exercise.  But without the ‘space’ or the ‘know me’, it becomes a mutually interlocking racket from which neither party benefits.

Okay, but what about work – am I supposed to ‘love’ everyone I work with?  In one way or another we do ‘make the space’ for most of them anyway.  And we generally work near others in similar positions to ours, and therefore share at least some similar personality traits.  So more often than not it's people in that ‘other department’ that are the real problem!  And sometimes ‘grow me’ may actually mean that ‘fire me’ is the best option.  Remember that this is an active, creative process – not conflict avoidance. 

Exactly the same three-step process applies.  If I can ‘make a space’ big enough for someone to genuinely be themselves, and I can genuinely get to ‘know’ them, then ‘grow me’ becomes a mutually supportive exercise that benefits not only me as a person, but also my colleagues, my team, my customers, my suppliers and my organisation.  But this is not about baring one's soul or being passive when strong action is called for.  ‘Love me, know me, grow me’ is simply the three step process of creating trust – and it’s the subsequent ‘reasonable assurance’ of a relationship future that forms the whole basis of modern society, and determines our own personal success and fulfilment within it.

So how big do you want to become?

Your VitallyMe Report will show you how to further develop your ability to apply the ‘love me, know me, grow me’ process to those aspects of your life that matter most to you.

What do you want on your tombstone?

It takes a stonemason to chisel words on a tombstone. But, it’s up to each of us to ensure our life merits a report.

You can lead courageously and leave the world better than you found it, not copping out, cutting corners or failing to live up to your potential – but such a life doesn’t just happen.

Today’s blog is adapted from an original article by my dear friend Timothy Pascoe.  Tim is an internationally renowned, wise elder in the Australian business community. His website and weekly blogs are aimed at increasing “leadership action and traction”, but this article applies just as much to anyone wanting to live a purposeful, meaningful life...

I spent many hours at university in a lecture theatre that carried a plaque commemorating a famous professor of engineering.  The Latin tag was "ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos" – by their fruits ye shall know them.  It’s what we do that counts both in life and as leaders.  Here are seven elements to consider and act on if your desire is to leave the world a better place.

1.  Vision… not just goals.  Most of us have goals – for the current week, month or year.  But, the change-agent has a vision too: to develop a cure for cancer or to make their city more liveable.  Or, in business perhaps, to make their service the market leader.  What’s your vision or purpose?

2.  Benefits… not just costs.  Everything we do consumes energy and resources.  And, these need careful allocation.  However, the key is the payoff – to justify the cost and hard work of making things different.  What could your vision deliver for you, your family, friends, community or even wider?  Do you want to be ‘used up’ when you die – or weighed down with ‘if onlys’?

3.  Generosity… not just profits.  Most things worth doing have a wider, non-commercial or public dividend as well.  Your product may change an industry.  So, be willing to share some of the fruits – perhaps making your IP public.  Or offer your service free to not-for-profits or to help the next generation pick up your baton.

4.  Plans… not just responses.  Being proactive is central to full life.  It’s necessary (but not enough) to react and adjust.  You have to define for yourself what you’ll do with whom and how you’ll monitor progress – yes, even in relationships.  And, update or make new life plans as needed.

5.  Decisions… not just fudges.  Moving your organisation (or your life) to a new place takes tough action: dumping well-understood practices and changing people’s roles and expectations.  Do this fairly and compassionately; but do it!  The future has to supplant the past.

6.  Investment… not just expenditure.  New endeavours and outcomes require incremental improvement, day to day and week to week.  But, they also need upfront commitments for different equipment, better training and closer leadership.  It’s about capital as well as costs.  A full life requires financial responsibility as well.

7.  Self-development… not just default behaviour.  We have to model the change – in ourselves and how we lead.  New activities or circumstances demand new leadership styles.  Unless people see us make the effort, why should they?  We must lead from the front – inspiring and not just instructing.  What do you embody in your living that others might model?

When a great person dies, it’s hard to find sufficient space on their tombstone to capture what they’ve done.  This is as true for an outstanding business builder as it is for a renowned politician, scientist or community leader.  For you and me, the tombstone may not need to be all that large.  But, each and every day, we need to be mindful that we’re writing our story that the stonemason will one day abridge in a few well-chiselled words.  What will it be?  I’d like to think mine might read something like this: in his own small way, he left the world better than he found it.  

Please, share your own desired epitaph...

Your own VitallyMe Report may well help you get clear on what you want that epitaph to be.  Read more...

No Pain - No Gain?

                                                                                                       

What the world needs now is more pain!  Without discomfort and pain, not much happens. South-seas-island consciousness didn’t ever produce much progress. The major pieces of thinking and innovation that have moved the world along all came from cold climates.  It seems to me that none of the “PIIGS” countries in the current major financial turmoil are noted for their strong work ethics!

And why do we seek out personal development programs in the first place? I'd bet that it’s not because we're feeling on top of the world. We want to change something, to improve some aspect of life that is unsatisfying. And that may lead us on to follow a spiritual path. But what did those truly powerful personal development programs actually offer? They essentially facilitated a social outpouring of emotion that had not been acceptable in the previous couple of generations. Sure, it was good stuff, but was it perhaps motivated by the need for generational pain relief?

Any experienced corporate consultant will tell you that what best motivates organisational change is impending or existing pain. There’s nothing like an organisational crisis as a good motivation for teambuilding! 

It seems that when a state of comfort is attained, the urge to grow and change fades away. What most people want is a painkiller rather than a vitamin pill. But is it all simply a case of ‘No pain – no gain’?

If we seek future 'pain avoidance' rather than immediate 'pain relief' we often get more than we expect. If we seek to understand the cause-and-effect of the pain, we may start to wonder; we may become curious enough to explore and learn. So pain and discomfort is probably the most common impetus for learning and growth. It can give us a forward momentum that, even after the pain has been relieved, can draw us onwards towards broader understandings and bigger life experiences. But there is one proviso on how far it can take us – we need to find it personally meaningful. What a magic switch – from pain avoidance to seeking meaning! 

I guess the highest meaning for an individual is around discovering a purpose in life that’s worth living for. Perhaps life is in fact meaningless, however what is certainly true is that all people have a desire, and even a need, to make something meaningful of it. Having pursued the subject for many years both personally and with many thousands of other seekers, my conclusion is that purpose and meaning are very much tied to the timeframe we hold in mind.

It would seem that the purpose of life on this planet is about the experience of being human – which may or may not get you out of bed in the morning! If we shorten that timeframe to one lifetime, it would seem that life purpose is about experiencing love in one or more of its many manifestations. But that tends to be the broad purpose of anyone’s life, so while it might be true, it is not necessarily personally meaningful. Shorten the timeframe again and a meaningful purpose might be to raise a family, find a particular kind of partner, learn to express joy, master independence etc. My purpose today is to write this blog!

So there are many layers or levels to a life purpose, each bounded by a different timeframe. Maslow's hierarchy of needs similarly reflects a different timeframe at each level. It is only Maslow's self-actualisation level where questions of life purpose even begin to arise.

So what is the purpose of a purpose? There is no doubt that if one vigorously pursues a purpose greater than oneself then opportunities for personal development appear on all sides. If we seize those opportunities, we learn to make finer and finer distinctions in that area and our level of awareness will increase. Chances are we will get to grow to eventually become the person who embodies that original purpose. So a purpose is simply a vehicle for growth.

Fulfilling a purpose causes it to lose its meaningfulness – and can leave us wondering what the whole journey was about. So we can languish on that level of awareness – and instead of 10 year’s precious life experience we get one year’s experience 10 times! 

There is a Chinese curse, attributed to Confucius, that says “May you live in interesting times”. I consider it a blessing rather than a curse, because “interesting times” such as those right now, create the pain that kicks the cycle off again. Pain that is not easily resolved will fire up resourcefulness, cause us to again search for a higher, meaningful purpose, and off we will go on a new, and hopefully higher, level of the journey.

Here’s the how the cycle works: Pain (the felt need for change) leads to Seeking (finding a meaningful purpose), which leads to Striving (to make it real), which leads to Attaining (success – and subsequent loss of higher purpose), which leads eventually back to Pain (the felt need for a higher level of experience) etc etc. Has that been your experience?

No pain – no gain? Bring it on!

Or do you know another way?


VitallyMe helps you discover the personal development that's right for you - read more...

In Search of a Leader

There are probably as many ideas about leadership as there are followers.  The one that sums it up best for me is from Alan Keith (CEO of a biotech company) who said, "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen." 

I like that definition very much, but I wonder how often you have experienced that – in a team, in an organisation, or indeed in a country?  If you attended one of those breakthrough type programs from a bygone era, then you likely have first hand experience that it is actually possible.  But where is your sense of that today?

When was the last time you felt you were contributing to making something extraordinary happen?  Last week I wrote about creating practical magic.  By the above definition good leadership, it seems, demands that kind of skill as well as the pre-requisite technical and relationship expertise.

Considering the parlous state of leadership in the world today I wonder what we as individuals can do?  Of course we have our vote every so often – but will someone with practical leadership magic please stand up?

James Kouzes and Barry Posner, in their nearly 30 years of investigations, involving over 15,000 managers and leaders, found that followers expected leaders to have four primary characteristics:

• ·         Honesty
• ·         Forward-Looking
• ·         Competent
• ·         Inspiring

That’s a pretty good filter to apply to anyone in a leadership role, and particularly challenging if you apply it to your political choices, but I believe this captures much more than just a few follower whims.  It’s more like a distilled ‘Wisdom of Crowds’.

This four item combination is a measure of personal development, a test of self-mastery and most significantly, an indication of one’s level of awareness.  I won’t expand on each item here other than to say that the second item implies mastery of conceptual skills; the third implies mastery of action skills; the fourth implies mastery of relationship skills; and the first implies more than truthfulness – it implies personal integrity and authenticity – the key indicators of trans-egoic awareness.

Imagine a leader who exudes those four qualities.  Would that not spark your desire to contribute to making something extraordinary happen?  That’s leadership magic!

Now let’s bring it closer to home.  Try those four characteristics as a self-test, but not from your own subjective view.  How would your friends, your family or your followers rate you on each point?

If you rate well on all four then please stand up – your company and your country need you now!

Your own VitallyMe report will highlight for you, many more than the 4 qualities cited above.  It will identify your strengths as well as your challenges in Relationships, Actions and Thinking.  And it will help you discover how to develop the leader in you.  Click here for more...

Turning Knowledge into Practical Magic

Could you use a little more magic in your life?  Could your partner?  Could your job?

As adults we generally accept that magic is an illusion, in which we haven't yet been able to connect effect with cause.  We know of course that there must be that connection – yet paradoxically, as an audience, we still get that boost of excitement, that emotional rise, when the rabbit comes out of the hat.  Although for the magician the surprise is probably not so great!

So where does that boost, that emotional rise, come from and how can we get more of it? 

There is a normal point in early childhood called ‘object constancy’ where the child realises that mum still exists, even when she is not present.  From then on things can delight us by popping in and out of existence – and magic is absolutely real.  And what a lovely world that is when we believe in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, and the Easter Bunny.  We believe that someday that Prince will come, that good will triumph over evil, and that someday, somehow, things will all turn out okay. 

Then we grow up!  We come to know that for every effect there is a cause, even if we can’t see it in the moment.  The more our learning and experience turn into knowing, the more our sense of magic fades.  So ultimately, knowledge kills off magic and something precious gets lost. 

We come to know our partner so well – we come to know our job so well – we come to know our society so well – and the magic dies.  Is it any wonder that people turn to alcohol or drugs for a good time?  Perhaps it is an attempt to escape from an existence that no longer holds any magic.  There doesn't seem to be much magic around in the world today – we mostly seem to come from ‘knowing’ – from technical expertise or hard-won life experience that can easily make us cynical. 

Here are some symptoms of being stuck in knowing:

• Organisations which are over-managed and under-led
• Relationships which are safe and flat and dull
• Individuals who are smart, and right, and broke, (or worse, alone)

Knowledge kills Magic!  Yet knowledge is the very base on which we build our society – a base that lifts us out of superstition and ignorance.  How can we not ‘know’ when we surely believe that we do?  Be aware that whenever you say ‘I know’, you set specific limits on any outcome – and on any possibility of magic.  Paradoxically, saying ‘I don't know’ isn't it either – while this may not set limits, it takes you out of the equation, and leaves it up to luck (or to the rest of the world).  It sounds like something from a book on Zen – ‘The way of magic lies neither in knowing, nor in not knowing’! 

But I'm not advocating ignorance!  What I am advocating is letting go of ‘attachment to knowing’ – of bringing pre-existing views to every new experience.  Magic, the joy in the moment, and that elusive ‘quality of life’, come from ‘not knowing’ – from living in the questions themselves, from living in the possibilities.  So what is a question big enough to live in?  Well, what is your desired outcome for yourself, or for your relationship or for your work?  Once upon a time the child in you knew all that very clearly as well – you just called it ‘wishing’.  As adults, let’s call it your ‘heart’s desire’, or your ‘passion’.  That is something truly real and truly your own, and the true source of magic.  So, how to make magic – that is, how to create exciting experiences where effect does not follow logically and predictably from cause – is a process that starts with that private, internal journey and reality check.  That’s the first step – ‘What do I really want?’

Then it is about realising that what you perceive as going on ‘out there’ in your outer life is a reflection of what’s actually going on ‘in here’ in your inner life.  This doesn’t mean that you are omnipotent – or that the state of the world is all your fault!  It is just the next step towards creating magic, and it applies equally to passion in relationship, synergy in teams, or ‘outside-of-the-dots’ results in business.  So the second step is asking ‘What does my external experience reflect about my inner journey at this time?’

People have said it in many ways – “life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived”, “plan like an adult, and believe like a child”, “argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours!”  All truisms – but here is the personal development key that will get you there...  Santa Claus is not real – but the magic inside of you, that you have probably lost touch with, is absolutely real. 

It’s the connection between our personal internal reality and our external experience that works by magic – that is, in mostly unconscious ways – and we can learn to utilise that magic connection to create the outcomes we desire. But not by believing in some invisible benevolent force outside of us – it all comes back to our attachment to ‘knowing’.  It is you who creates the magic, or not!  It doesn't just happen! 

Your honest mixing of your genuine heart’s desire and your reflection on your inner journey will fire up new creativity and insights.  But don’t let your new learning turn into knowledge!  Let it turn instead into a growing awareness of the magic connection between your internal reality and your external experience.  Let your greater awareness inform you of greater external opportunities that have been hitherto hidden.  By definition, these opportunities are outside of your ‘knowing’ or you would already be exploring them, and it is your current ‘knowing’ that keeps them hidden from your awareness.

Of course, after recognising an opportunity, you have to take external action.  That changes your external experience which in turn reflects on the state of your internal journey and most likely moves you closer to your heart’s desire.  This may all sound a bit cosmic, but it works just as well for creating closeness in a relationship right now as it does for creating corporate success in the longer term.  Give it a try!

A life worth living requires only three things – a genuine expression of your heart’s desire, a willingness to act on that, and a basic awareness of Practical Magic.

Your own VitallyMe Report will help turn your own self-knowledge into your own style of Practical Magic.  Read more...

Welcome to the Personality Shop

We don’t sell off the rack – all garments are tailor-made.  We also do repairs and alterations!

Personality is what makes us different from one another – we have gathered different habits, we have developed different skills, we have learned particular behaviours and various forms of self-expression.  That makes us unique, but there are always some parts of any personality that don’t work so well, so we usually have to find ways to compensate.

In our Personality Shop you can upgrade various parts of your personality!  Perhaps some parts are worn out and don't work so well anymore?  Perhaps you're just tired of wearing the same old suit year after year?  For me it was ‘impulse’ – my personality was given ‘impulse bypass surgery’ at three years old – so I always found taking initiative difficult (my suit) – or more specifically, asking someone else for what I wanted (my shirt) – or even more specifically, identifying something I actually wanted for myself (my underwear).

 

In the Personality Shop I discovered how badly I needed a change of underwear!  Turned out that my suit was okay – just somewhat out-dated.  I’d been hanging on to it – kind of hoping it would come back into fashion – but it was just getting more and more uncomfortable!

So are there parts of your personality that may be out-dated?  Or even perhaps from a different era?

I just read a brilliant book called 'The Fourth Turning'.  The authors have discovered that whole generations have particular personalities.  That will come as no surprise to you if you have children or grandchildren, but these historians found that generational personalities are identifiable, predictable, and get recycled only once every 80 years!

Within that 80 year cycle there are four generational personality types that determine societal and national attitudes and consequently create particular kinds of historical events.  Of course within any one generation the full range of personality types can be found, but the whole generation becomes biased to a limited range of acceptable views and behaviours. 

This means that if you live to be 80 years old there will be one 20 year period in your life that best matches your personality.  At that time you will embody the culture, you will be a natural leader and there is every likelihood that life will be good for you.  Now, which 20 year period of your life that is, depends on when you were born, your own personality type, and the turning of the generational personality cycle.  So every dog does have his day! 

But what about the other 60 years when there is less alignment or no match at all?  Well, life can be pretty average and quite unsatisfying when you don't fit in.  You could become a rebellious youth – or a grumpy old person – or perhaps you just need to change your underwear?

At this very time we are experiencing a seasonal turning of the generations, and a new generational personality type will soon come to power.  According to the ‘The Fourth Turning’ that season is winter, the worst part of the 80 year cycle and that inevitably brings bad, bad times for almost everyone.  How well will your ‘suit’ stand up to the next twenty years of winter?  Perhaps some woollen underwear would help?  Perhaps a good overcoat is in order?

So welcome to the Personality Shop.  A VitallyMe Report will give your current personality a quick review before winter sets in.

We’ll post more on specific repairs and alterations in later blogs…

Would you like to know more about the generational personality of the winter season?