Recently I spoke at a conference?about how to have success in our careers. In my introduction?I also shared other areas in which we must succeed:?Faith, Family, Joy, and Health. If we succeed in our careers, but fail in these areas, I believe we don’t achieve?life success.?
A few weeks later, a friend gave me a book called Oola: Find Balance in an Unbalanced World?by Dave Braun and Troy Amdahl. The authors share seven key priorities for successful living they refer to as?the Seven F?s of Life, which include?the five areas I shared at the conference.?As you pursue success in your leadership and career, I want to remind you of these seven areas.
Oola: The Seven F?s
The authors listed seven areas of a successful life in this order:
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- Fitness
- Finance
- Family
- Field
- Faith
- Friends
- Fun
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They added Finance and Friends to my original list of five. And I like?that.?Personally though, I would change the order of priority for these areas. I think we should aim to have success in all seven areas, but if forced to rank them by priority, how would you stack them?
Creating Your Seven Priorities
I invite you to do that today. Below is my order according to priority and my understanding of each one.
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- Faith ? As a Christian, faith informs all of my decisions and colors my life values. It answers all my difficult questions and guides my course.
- Family ? We must be intentional to uplift and protect our families.
- Fitness ?We must give our physical health priority if we are to maximize our effectiveness in the other areas.
- Finance ? We must be good stewards of what we are given and what we earn. The more successful we are financially, the more we can fund our dreams and the dreams and lives of others.
- Field ? Our vocation. We must carefully determine our field of study and of work in order to utilize our gifts and callings.
- Fun ? Are we content? Do we play? Regardless of the success one attains in the other areas, if we do not experience authentic joy, peace, and contentment in our hearts, we fail to really live to our full potential.?
- Friends ? Do we cultivate and value meaningful relationships? We must be selective about the relationships we get into. And we must intentionally build the core?relationships in our lives.
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So I invite you now to order these seven priorities of success in your life. Remember your aim should be to succeed in them all. Ordering them only serves to place?value on?the ones you give?priority should you be forced to choose. Would you add or subtract any? Think about what is most important to you. Determine which areas may need more of your attention. And give thought to how you can authentically live a life that reflects your seven priorities.
Your Friend,
For Further Reading:
The Five Priorities of a Successful Life
Values of a Great Team
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