It's Your Choice

Two hundred years ago the average age of companies was measured in generations. The average age of companies today is running at 30 years, and futurists predict that within the next 20 years the average age of companies will be just 5 years. These statistics carry profound ramifications for each one of us because the working life of the average individual is 50 years! For the first time in modern business history, each of us is being forced to face up to the reality that we are, in effect, in business for ourselves. Although we sell time, the value placed upon the time we sell is determined by the quality of our product – our knowledge! The more effective we are at applying our knowledge, the higher the value the market will place on our time! The quality of your knowledge product though is not, in isolation, sufficient because your potential customers are all companies and these are, by their very nature, made up of teams of people - teams of people with diversified knowledge and skills. Therefore, the true measure of how valuable your product is relates directly to how effective you are at delivering direct results through making meaningful contributions to the team within which you operate.

From an age where we were told what to do, and we did it, we have moved into an environment where we often have to assess for ourselves what needs to be done - and then we have to figure out what we are best at doing in order to make the contribution that needs to be made. This reality means that we have to take responsibility for ourselves and pay careful attention to compiling, and continuously revising, our personal business plan. No company will, today, plan your career – you have to do that for yourself! This is where the true challenge lies, because to plan our lives, to formulate our business plan, we have to have clarity as to who we are - we have to understand ourselves. Sure, we all want to be happy, healthy, and loved, but our minds are so turbulent and our bodies under such stress as a result, that we fail to pay attention to that one part of our being that acts as the cement for everything else and helps us identify our purpose and direction in life – our soul. The first step in understanding yourself is to understand the connectivity between the three aspects of who you are – your body, your mind, and your soul: Your Body is the collection of molecules that enables you to experience the world. It includes the sensory equipment that connects you to your environment (hearing, feeling, seeing, tasting and smelling) and the motor system that enables you to act (your vocal apparatus, hands and feet). Each day your sensory experiences are influenced by the ever-changing chemistry and electricity of your nervous system, which in turn influences every cell and organ in your body. In this way, your experiences affect you biologically. Your Mind is a field of thoughts, engaging in a continuous conversation about what has happened, what is happening and what might happen to you. In response to your perpetual experiences you form opinions, discriminations, evaluations and judgements, coloured by emotional reactions. Your thoughts, memories, desires and feelings are various expressions of your mind. Your Soul is the silent witness to your mind and body. Your body is changing – look at a photograph of yourself from ten years ago and see how different it is to what you look like today. Your mind is changing – your beliefs about yourself and the world are different today compared to earlier times in your life. Quietly your soul observes all this, providing continuity to your identity and providing you with the stability you need to maintain balance. When your observing soul, thought-generating mind and physical body are aligned, you are most likely to translate your intentions into choices that result in the outcome you desire. It is a decision from the soul that allows you to move through the door of change in such a way that you have absolutely no intention of retreating. This resolve we know as commitment - a commitment to ourselves!