Leaders need to help others live a good life

In order to help others live a good life. We need to spend time thinking about what a good life is. 

As leaders, I think it’s important to always be contemplating the philosophy of a good life because it is our responsibility to provide an environment for humans to flourish. We only get 4,000 weeks on earth and many of those weeks are at work. Let’s fill up those weeks with happiness, success, and fulfillment. 

Happiness is found by being grateful for what I’ve got.  

Success is getting what I want. 

Fulfillment is giving what I’ve got.  

Keith J. Cunningham (The Road Less Stupid) 

Here is my understanding or rant on these three critical aspects of a good life: 

HAPPINESS 

Growing up in the U.S. educational system and being a competitive person, I have always been one eager to “rank” high. By nature, comparison to others is a habit. Over the past couple years, I’ve come to realize comparison is the poison pill to happiness. As Theodore Roosevelt said: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” 

Gratitude is the antidote and a way forward in the journey of life. 

SUCCESS 

Satisfaction and contentment come from advancement and progress. I want to be the best version of myself for my family, my friends, my teammates, and my community.  

Dan Sullivan states it best: “The definition of hell is: Your last day on Earth, the person you became meets the person you could have become.” 

Achieving great things is necessary to maximize our God given talents. I would argue it’s a duty. 

FULFILLMENT 

The best synthesis I have found of fulfillment is in the book Tuesdays with Morrie. Mitch writes, “Giving is living.” 

The most at peace people I have ever met are those willing to share. The willingness to contribute to others. The door to a good life opens outward. 

I’m captivated by the idea of stewardship because it’s all about letting go and contributing to the cause. Stewardship is all about inoculating the ego. In the stewardship paradigm, the ego is the enemy. Fulfillment is on the other side of ego.  

It has been a challenging year at Century as we are in the storm of transformation. I know this year will go down into the record books as a pivotal year of the cultural shift we are creating. 

Wishing you a week full of gratitude (happiness), growth (success), and contribution to others (fulfillment). 

Onward, 

Matt