[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”You Have 9 Decades of Life…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”]
What will you do with them?
Life expectancy in the United States, you say, is only a bit short of 80 years on average, so what do you mean, Murphy, that I have 9 decades of life?
My thinking: an average life expectancy of between 78 and 79 years means that half of us (for all you statisticians out there, allow me this over-simplification) will live beyond that number and well into our ninth decade. At Leadership Design Group, we are optimists. If we are planning for our one, wild and crazy life, why not plan to be in the half that enters—and sometimes exceeds—the ninth decade? So be an optimist with us for a few minutes of reading today and let’s think through the question at the top of this post together.
Why Decades of Life?
If you spend time with any of the Leadership Design Group mentors, you will hear a lot about the Decades of Life. Why do we speak in decades? Four reasons offer some insight into how we view life and its growth and development throughout our single, one, precious life.
A decade is the smallest unit of time that offers a strategic look at our life
We all think in small units of time: what will I do in the next hour or day? What have I accomplished this week? These are important questions and can keep us on course through the topsy-turvy of life. But they also can trap us into small thinking and prevent us from the larger and longer view of how we want to invest the one life we have available.
Looking at our lives in decades, the ones past and the one we are entering or are in is a powerful tool for ordering our hours, days and weeks in ways that will help us be all of who we are designed to be.
Looking at our past in decades is a powerful tool for understanding how we are designed
At Leadership Design Group, we use a tool called “Doing Your Decades” to kick-start leadership mentoring. Seeing what forces have formed us, what events have satisfied or shamed us and what people, ideas and media have affected us paints a wonderful picture on the broad canvas of our life to this point…in all its best and worst moments. It tells a powerful story of who we are becoming and what things need to change to be all of who we are designed to be.
Looking at our future in the decade ahead is a powerful tool for development
Taking a look at the decade in front of us allows us to ask and answer large questions: Who must I be in order to impact my world in the way I am called to? What conditions will enable me to be that person? What must happen to create those conditions? What forces may conspire to prevent them? What people, ideas, and inspiration will encourage me forward? What should I do now to get moving?
Clarity in how we envision our life can create very different thinking patterns about how we use the smaller units of time on our decade-long journey.
Looking at life in decades creates intentionality to the rhythms of our life
If you follow our work at Leadership Design Group, you know “intentional” is one of our favorite words. Seeing clearly how we were formed and what needs to happen to be all we are designed to be offers a far more intentional path to walk. We know from whence we have come and have a clear eye on where we are headed, so each step along the way has the potential to be far more purpose-filled, even though it is one small step.
Questions for Your Decades of Life
Here are some questions to illustrate the value of thinking in decades of life (for those nearing the end of your current decade, think “the coming decade” for “current”):
- What one or two things did I learn in my last decade that have most impacted who I am at this point in life?
- What one thing would I most like to learn in this decade?
- What one or two friends in my last decade had the greatest value in making me who I am?
- What friend do I think will most encourage me on to who I want to be in this decade of life?
- How did I develop physically in my last decade? Has the development been good or not-so-good?
- Who do I want to be physically at the end of this decade of life?
- What one or two beliefs are the strongest spars in the foundation of my values, integrity and character? What did I do to reinforce them in my last decade?
- What things am I believing about myself that I need to change in this decade?
- What progress did I make last decade toward a financial foundation that will allow me to be who I am designed to be?
- Where do I want to be financially at the end of my current decade of life?
- How has my family formed me for the good or not-so-good during the last decade? How did I form my own family in the ways I want it to be?
- Who will my family be at the end of this decade? What part will I play?
- How have I used, honed and clarified my calling in my last decade?
- What do I want to have accomplished toward my calling by the end of this decade?
- For those who know me best, what emotion would they say most characterized my last decade?
- What emotions do I want to define me in this decade? Over which do I need better control?
- What have I created in my last decade which brings most joy?
- What do I want to create in this decade of life?
If you noticed that I asked a pair of questions for each of life’s 8 Dimensions and Core, Bravo! Designing whole people for their whole life is why we exist.
What’s Ahead?
Intentional thinking about the past decades and our current decade creates a path for us, a roadmap from who and where we are to who and where we want to be.
How about you?
Who will you be at the end of this decade? What will you need to accomplish this year to get there? This month? This week?
What will you do today…?
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