I was totally struck by this statement the first time I saw it. It completely changed my view and perception of life. I had never thought of viewing life in such a perspective.
Think about it 'You are the Chief Executive Officer of your life'. Most of us work in a company or probably manage their own business whatever it may be. Every company has a structure where the CEO is usually the head.
A CEO of a company is generally the person who takes charge of all the decision regarding the growth and development of a company which include all sectors and fields of the company. He/She is responsible for the success/failure of a company and works towards improving it in every aspect to achieve its vision/goals.
Every company/organization is established as a means for achieving defined objectives. It's got different divisions/department depending on the size of the company each having its own end objectives/goals for each department.
Think about it this way, your life as your company. Start viewing your life as the company you work for and you as the CEO.
Real Life Application:
As the CEO of your life you are in charge of all the decision required to the overall improvement of all aspects of your life. You are the end determinant of how you chose to live your life. That means you are responsible for any success or failure in your life. As the CEO of your life, you realize that if you neglect any area of your life then the overall life performance will be affected. So how do you do this?
Ask yourself the following:
What kind of CEO are you? Are you a competitive CEO? Are you working hard towards the highest achievement of your company/life?
How about your company? What is its overall performance? - This applies to where you are in life. What's the growth of your company? Are you working towards growing your company everyday or is your company stagnate? Is it about to crash down or is it thriving?
How are the different departments in your company performing? In companies they've got different departments such as human resource department, sales & marketing, finance e.t.c depending on the size of the company. In your life, how are the different departments faring? These include; career, wealth, health(nutrition and fitness), Relationships(family, friends, love) and spirituality.
Are you making sure you are not neglecting any of them? A company's overall performance is dragged down if one of the department is neglected.
Are you neglecting any of your department? It's sad that most people concentrate more on career and wealth neglecting all the other aspects of their life which are equally important and hence find that most people are never happy with their life even with the acquired wealth. Some people work all their life for wealth, neglecting their health and end up using all the acquired wealth to sustain their health. How about your friends, family, love life,spirituality how are those departments of your life faring?
What are the short term and long term goals for your company? Just like all companies have goals, what are your life goals? what are you goals 1,2,5 -10years from now. Do you write them down? Where do you want to see yourself in 1,2,3 or 10 years from now and as the CEO of your life what decisions are you making to ensure you achieve them?
As the CEO of your life how often are you reviewing your company? Most companies do quarterly or half year reviews on their performances and identify the improvements they've made and what needs to be improved. What's your review on your life thus far,what improvements have you made and what need to be improved?
What is the strategy and vision of your company? It is the ultimate duty of every CEO to set direction for their company, its mission statement. As the CEO of your life what have you set as the direction of your life? What's your mission in life? Your life's purpose? Your life's goals? Have you identified them and are you working towards them? Without a clear direction in life, life can be hollow.
What are your company's core values? Every company is defined by their values. Vision is where the company is going whereas values is how the company gets there. . I remember in my previous company we had to remember the core values of the company and were always reminded to live in line with them to achieve the company's vision. For example one of the core value was professionalism and you had to ensure that you were professional in everything you did at work. As the CEO of your life, what are the principles that define you? What are your core values in life? What are your beliefs? Are you living in alignment with them to achieve your life's goal
What's your team comprised of? Every CEO hires and fires his senior management team and the management team does the same for the rest of the staff in the organization. This is to remove the non performers in the company dragging the company down and replacing them with the performers a dedicated team for the betterment of the company. They also get good advisers.
In real life you need people who elevate and help you become a better person. So as the CEO of your life are you ensuring you have the best team around you? Are your friends helping you grow or dragging you down. Are they helping you towards the attainment of your life's goals? Do you have any advisers? in this case a mentor? Someone you look up to?
As a CEO, are you sharpening your skills to stay sane and skillful, to stay top of the heap? - For better performance, most CEO's will provide additional training and education to their employees in the various departments and themselves too for better performance of the company.
As the CEO of your life are you making sure your learning and growing? Studying books and materials to make you better and that help you learn and grow overall, and by overall I mean all aspects of your life. All the departments of your life{health(nutrition & fitness), career, wealth, spirituality, relationship(family, friends and love)}. You could be knowledgeable on how to build a successful career but do you know what it takes to build a loving relationship? To build a strong family bond? What keeping your health in check and healthy living involves?
The key note here is that, for every company to be successful, every CEO will work on ensuring that non of the departments of the company are neglected. They are well aware that neglecting any part of their department will affect the overall performance of the company on the downside. In real life being the CEO of your life means you are responsible for the success or failure in your life. And just like in every company you need to realize that neglecting a certain department in your life will affect your larger life and thus won't lead you to living your best life. Living your best life and a life of excellence means living a balanced life. Ensuring that all areas of your life are at peak performance. Being the CEO of your life means that you hold the key to your destiny. Be the conscious creator of the life you wish to live.
Below is a note that was said to be a 'death-bed essay' by Apple co- founder, Steve Jobs which was being spread on social media between the month of November and December last year. I personally came across it first on Instagram. However it was found out that, the words were actually NOT by Steve Jobs as they weren't confirmed to be true by anyone close to him. However, the words are really powerful and true and I believe that no matter who said or wrote the words they can be quite helpful in our daily lives. They personally got me thinking about my life. They are very deep and introspective.
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Steve jobs’ Last Words -
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I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world.
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In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success.
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However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.
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At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.
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In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of god of death drawing closer…
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Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth…
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Should be something that is more important:
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Perhaps relationships, perhaps art, perhaps a dream from younger days ... Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me.
-God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth.
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The wealth I have won in my life I cannot bring with me.
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What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love.
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That’s the true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on.
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Love can travel a thousand miles. Life has no limit. Go where you want to go. Reach the height you want to reach. It is all in your heart and in your hands.
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What is the most expensive bed in the world? - "Sick bed" …
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You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you.
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Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – "Life". When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading – "Book of Healthy Life". Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down.
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Treasure love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends... Treat yourself well. Cherish others.
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