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Integer.
The word still elicits thoughts (most of them bad!) of university mathematics flooding into consciousness from somewhere deep in my repressed memories. Integers. Differential equations. Imaginary numbers. (Really? Imaginary?!). Integers and I weren’t really compatible.
Integrity.
Now there is a word more comfortable for me. I served in the United States Air Force and the first of our three core values was, “Integrity in All We Do.” I can be passionate about integrity.
Shalom.
Another very comfortable word for me. I lived three years in Israel and used this word every day. It means “peace,” of course. But it also carries a much deeper and richer connotation.
Shalom, Integrity, Integer. All three of these words carry the same thought: Whole. Complete. The (world / person / organization / item) operating as it is designed and as it should be.
The best of mentoring is, in addition to being Intentional and promoting Deep-Change, is Whole-Life mentoring. At Leadership Design Group, we are committed to this kind of mentoring. Here are seven necessary facts to help you think about what it means to consider one’s Whole-Life:
Whole-Life encompasses every one of the 8 Dimensions of Life
We are 8-dimensional people. Whole-life mentoring includes working with people in every one of the 8 dimensions. Mentoring blogs are full of articles and thoughts on mentoring in the workplace, business mentoring, mentoring in certain skills or abilities, or in a sport. These are all good.
But they are not Whole-Life. The best of mentors pursue development in those they mentor in every dimension of life.
A Whole Life flows from a Core Belief System
At the core of the 8-Dimensions of a Whole Life lies a Belief System: what the person believes is true, what is true about him or herself, what is true about others, and what is true about his or her purpose in life.
Whole-Life mentoring recognizes the core belief system influences and sometimes defines a person in each of those 8-Dimensions of life. The best mentors help those they mentor explore and define that belief system, understand how it is influencing the 8 Dimensions of their lives and discover discontinuities between the belief system and how the mentoree is living that prevents them from living into and out of all they are designed to be.
Whole-Life encompasses the depth of “Shalom’s” meaning
Whole-Life mentors recognize that when we live as whole people, we live “as we are designed to live.” Our life is “as it should be.” They understand and model the truth that there is a unique design and a unique purpose for every individual.
Of course none of us has fully arrived. All of us have areas and dimensions of our lives where we are not living “as we are designed to live.” In Whole-Life mentoring, we constantly work on those areas, seeking to close the gap between who we are and who we are designed to be.
Whole-Life does not mean “8 equal parts”
At Leadership Design Group, we often ask those we mentor to evaluate their current time, attention and focus in each of the 8 dimensions of life. Often, we must emphasize we do not expect (and in fact would be suspicious of) a person who is paying exactly equal attention to every one of their life dimensions.
Life simply is not like that. Life has seasons. Life throws us curveballs. Life often requires us at times to focus hard on one or two dimensions. Life is, well, just life!
The best of mentoring does not seek someone to spread out equally over 8 dimensions of life. Rather, we insure those we mentor are focusing on the right dimensions at the right time. That way, in time, all of one’s life is fully explored.
Whole-Life does not require working on all 8 dimensions all of the time
Because life throws curveballs, the best mentors feel no pressure to work on every dimension all the time. At Leadership Design Group, we strive to help those we mentor choose the top two or three dimensions they themselves believe needs most work during each time of mentoring.
We do our best not to allow a mentoree to ignore, neglect or avoid a dimension of their life over the long-term. Growth, wholeness, maturing in each dimension is the ultimate focus.
Whole-Life is not linear
Whole-Life thinking is integrated and circular, it is not linear. We cannot live into and out of who we are designed to be in one dimension, then step to the next, then the next, then the next, until we have paid intentional attention to all eight dimensions. This helps the mentor and mentoree understand the continual journey to being a “whole person.” The life of active, on-the-grow people is fluid and in constant motion.
Each dimension impacts and affects all the others. We are human. We are never finished. Whole-Life is circular.
Whole-Life is a way of thinking
Finally, Whole-Life is not a program, approach, checklist or technique. It is a way of thinking. The best of mentors learn to see themselves and others as whole people, then help others see and develop themselves in the same way.
At Leadership Design Group, we encourage and practice dealing with the whole person. We seek to dialogue with others who view mentoring in the same way.
What are the 3-5 best ways you see those you mentor as whole people?
What are your best 3-5 ways you see yourself as a whole person?
We would sincerely enjoy hearing from you.
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