Choice 2: Go For Extraordinary, Don’t Settle for Ordinary®

Roles are where life happens. Roles are so fundamental to human identity that when we ask people to tell us about themselves, they always answer in terms of roles: “I am an engineer;” “I am a spouse;” “I am a parent.”

How can we keep them all in balance? By applying the principles of the Time Matrix (from Choice 1) to each of our roles.  Otherwise, our most important role might get crowded out by the urgent demands of lesser roles.  For example, our work role might take so much of our bandwidth that there’s little or nothing left for family and self-care.  Being intentional about each of our roles can provide the balance needed in all of our roles.

One of the most effective ways is to identify the few most important roles in your life today, evaluate how you think you are doing in each of them, then define what success looks like in each role. This provides a framework your brain needs to decide what really needs to happen each day.

First, decide how success in this role will look and feel.

Then capture it in the title of that role. For example, change the role title of “Marketing Director” to “Business Catalyst,” or “Photographer” to “Visual Artist.” The extraordinary role title should reflect the energy that will come from an expanded perspective.

Craft a Q2 Role Statement for each role.

Second, craft a brief statement for that describes both the outcomes you want and the key activities or methods that will help you achieve them. This statement will guide your planning and decision-making as you move toward your goal using this formula:

“As (role title) I will (extraordinary outcomes) through (activities.)”

Extraordinary roles become a catalyst for our brains to motivate us and move us toward the deepest purposes we have in our lives.