A reflection on wholeness and success
a) How can a broader "wholeness" perspective of success, one that includes consideration of multiple dimensions or areas of your life, help you navigate life?
A broader wholeness perspective of success, that includes multiple dimensions of my life, will help me navigate to living a life that finds peace in having balance. This life God has blessed us with is full of so many beautiful experiences and journeys that are meant to be explored. All these different things that give quality to our life (work, love, health, and spirituality) are meant to be good for us, not meant for us to be good at. I do not want to live a life where all my eggs are in one basket, where happiness is solely dependent on the success from work or on finding love. I will have no peace in life. I will be constantly stressed out being reliant on just one source to bring me joy. The joy of life has so many facets to it and in order to really celebrate one aspect of life, it needs to be recognized by a different aspect. Good health enables you the strength to have experiences with your friends and family, who then give you the support to achieve your dreams and celebrate your achievements.
b) What does a successful life look like to you? How would you describe a successful life and can you see any of your core values present?
For me, success looks peaceful. I see myself surrounded by people that make me feel safe, work that allows me to help others everyday, daily walks outside where I can appreciate all the little things around me and faith in God's love that is unshakable. Those are my core values. In this week's article, Peter Drucker wrote about the “Mirror Test” and asking yourself, “what kind of person do I want to see in the mirror in the morning?” To answer Mr. Drucker, I want to see a person that is kind to herself and kind to others, especially when it is difficult. That to me looks like a very successful person.
c) How can a wholeness perspective help you keep the time and energy you devote to your career in-balance and why is this perspective strategic for your success?
A wholeness perspective will help me manage the time and energy I devote to my career in balance by practicing giving my attention to different things at different times. Just like being able to appreciate the sun, the clouds, the stars and the moon all in the same day; I can focus on work, family, health and my faith all in the same day as well. This perspective is like being the sky, having room for many important things that need to be seen and always making time to highlight something different every few hours. This is important to my success because life isn't just about one thing, life isn't just about me. It’s about the many roots I need to tend in order to really grow.
Drucker, Peter. (2005). Managing oneself. Harvard business review. 77. 64-74, 185.
