The Ultimate Life Map – The Ultimate Leadership Tool

I have recently come across a Ted Talk and a book that has sparked my interest to writing this post. They were talks on leadership, motivation, and methods on how to produce the best results out of people as it relates to our occupations. However, leadership, motivation and how to reach our peak potential matter not only to the work we do but to the life we live and for that reason I believe these talks have valuable information for us all.

For a significant portion of our life, we all work, spending approximately a third of our day doing so. With the remaining time, we spend half of it sleeping, or we should, and the other half exploring the passions of life or trying to keep up with different demands.

Leadership is not a skill reserved only for management but an essential skill for us all. We all need to find ways to stay motivated so that we can lead ourselves through the entanglement that is life. Of course, that is if we wish to reach our full potential. I have no idea what my “full potential” is or if it is indeed possible to attain, however, I believe in the pursuit of our dreams and living a life we love, and that takes autonomous leadership.

If you are interested in my thoughts on “Self-Mastery” and “Peak Potential” you might enjoy listing to this podcast I recorded or having a read of this article I wrote.

The work and life patterns will look different for each of us, but the underlying fundamentals remain the same. We require motivation to take action so we can traverse this journey of life as we wish. And what we truly desire is to create a lifestyle in which we have a satisfactory level of freedom, fulfillment, and happiness. For those of you familiar with my work I have called this The Ultimate Life Map.

It starts with “Why.” Knowing our ‘why,’ the reason we exist, often also referred to as our “life’s purpose,” is the source of all our motivation that becomes the reason for our, thoughts and behaviors. The better we connect to our “why” the more purposeful we become. With purpose, we eliminate all that is unnecessary, removing the roadblocks as we move towards this peak state or “full potential.”

It would be easy to say that is the solution or “secret” to living a life of success. And success is not the amount of cash, awards or possessions we have. I believe success is attaining what we set out to achieve and occurs as a result of living integral to our values. Life in which we continually seek and advance towards deep happiness and dissolve suffering.

A life that we are not living in conformity – such is the life of the status quo, one with less autonomy and intrinsically sourced leadership.

Easy said than done! Discovering our “why” and then using it as our life compass. Here are two issues that one might face. Firstly, we can still find ourselves filling our time with all that is unessential in pursuit of our success. Doing, thinking, having and saying things that are of very little importance to our ultimate goal.

To keep us on track there are certain life elements that with the right level of focus and energy will help us to nurture our fundamental human nature. I have coined these the Life Principles. When aligned with our ‘Why’ we will be in better form in reaching “self-mastery.”

The second problem we may face is the time we waste in procrastination. In the constant search for our “life’s purpose” we may become concerned that we might never discover it. We may even lose hope, give-up and become purposeless.

Our why isn’t innately within us. What is innate and common to all life is the desire for happiness and freedom from suffering. We are not born with our life’s purpose. It is unlikely that we’ll find it under the couch. It is not discovered in procrastination but in action. We create meaning by autonomously exploring life. By becoming the captain of our ship and the master of our Self.

I believe the purpose for all life is survival and reproduction. Therefore, if you are alive, life’s real purpose if available. Those asleep will miss out on the abundant array of opportunities surrounding us every day. Wake up to this fact. In personal experience, it is not so easy to do, but once you get a little taste, it becomes harder to fall back to sleep.

If you are not sure what your “why” is I’d be happy to chat with you – send me an email, and we can take it from there. Alternatively, you can have a listen to my interview with Danny Dover or my solo show here – about how to discover your “why’ and pursue life with purpose.

In each moment we either choose to actively partake in actions that impede our ability to live loud, and that limits purpose or with thoughts and behaviors that make us thrive.

Being that the human race is blessed, or cursed, depending on the perspective, with a consciousness we can develop more significant meaning or intentionality for the life we live that ventures beyond this fundamental purpose that is true for all life. It is this primary purpose that has given us the biological tools that can be harnessed for good or for bad, or clarity or confusion – as Dzigar Kongtrul, author of The Intelligent Heart said in his book.

Our state of consciousness can shadow our awareness or illuminate it. In the light, we can see more clearly. The vision of our “why” becomes more apparent and we can start moving with a greater sense of intentionality. We must commit, and we must act. I believe magic does exist the next time you bite into a piece of fruit you have the opportunity to witness this. However, sitting idly in pray that magic will happen for you without awareness, focus, energy and purposeful action you may find yourself sitting for too long.

Where do we begin? What action should we take?

We first start by defining our Life Compass. The compass guides us. It allows us to make more purposeful decisions and action as it relates to our values, skills, desires, needs, dreams, and passions. It gives us the opportunity to be the leaders of our life that we need to be. Not confined by external demands or expectations.

When we start out in this approach things will likely feel very vague, but in the experience, we can shape our compass and the elements within. Removing what isn’t working and doing more to improve all that is working. Our ‘Why’ will evolve. The Ultimate Life will form and be lived.

Further Reading and Resources 

TED Talks: Ideas worth spreading

Psychology Today: Psychology Today is devoted exclusively to everybody’s favourite subject – Ourselves

Life Hack: Tips for Life

Elite Daily: The Voice of Generation Y

Four Hour Work Week: How to escape the 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich.

The Minimalists: How to pursue a minimalist lifestyle and be happier.

Mind Hacks: Tips and Tricks for Using Your Brain

Rich Roll: Plantpowered Wellness Advocate

The Art of Charm: Build confidence, feel comfortable and networking differently.

American Psychological Association: The largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United State

The Art of Manliness: Encouraging men to be better husbands, fathers, brothers, citizens.

Tiny Buddha: Simple wisdom for complex lives.

Brain Pickings: An inventory of cross-disciplinary interestingness, spanning art, science, design, history, philosophy, and more.

Mind Body Green: Lifestyle media brand dedicated to inspiring you to live your best life.

Zen Habits: Find simplicity and mindfulness in life.

Creative NonFiction: “true stories well told.” 

Addicted 2 Success: Motivation & Inspiration Website full of quotes and inspiring articles for entrepreneurs.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree: science-based answers and expert insight on how to be awesome at life.

The Positivity Blog: Practical articles on happiness, self-esteem, productivity and social skills.

Coaching