I like to immerse myself in the world of an author I love by reading several of these books. I did it with Marshall Goldsmith.
This is one of the beauties of our time.
When you enjoy something, you have a wealth of information to learn at your fingertips ( How To Read Digitally? A Click To Grow Or To Get Frustrated).
I’ve observed that I learn a lot more when I link my reading to a real project. That’s what I’m doing with my job as a coach. I devour the literature on the subject and apply what touches me with my clients.
And Marshall touched me.
So much so that I decided to train with him and his teams. (If you’re wondering if we can work together, book your free discovery call here)
Here is a summary of his latest book The Earned Life.
In this book, he reminds us that an earned life is not an accident but an intention.
Four ideas that stuck with me
1-The paradigm of each breath
Marshall is not a Buddhist of religion but a Buddhist of philosophy. He simplifies concepts and adapts them to our present life.
Everything changes, you and the world around you. Each new (conscious) breath allows you to pause, appreciate the moment, think about what you are going to say (is it worth it?), or let it go (if you can’t change it anymore).
2-What prevents us from choosing our life?
- Inertia. This is the worst enemy of change. When you understand, you can even take advantage of it. Let’s say you have a positive streak of 100 days of physical activity. Use the power of inertia and don’t change anything.(By the way I lost a 7-year streak here)
- Looking at other people’s lives does not advance our own. Going from one message to another on social networks without intention to learn or create is a waste of time.
- The pressure of our environment. We associate ourselves with our (provisional) identities, like for me “I am an “executive”, what will my peers think if I create a “solopreneur” coaching business? (a real question I was asking myself 😀)
- We lack imagination. It’s either this or that. It’s rarely true. We have rich and unique life experiences. When we take the time to reflect we realize that we have accumulated many skills. Digging into them allows you to find your niche.
3-The triple-A
Aligning yourself with this concept gives you unbelievable clarity.
Aspiration: Who do I want to be? Marshall offers an interesting exercise. Name your heroes. What fascinates you about their virtues? Observe your answers, it may give you a clue about your mission. Aspiration is the story of a lifetime. It ends with your last breath.
Ambitions: These are your goals. I like to alternate horizons.
- What do I want to achieve in 10 years?
- What do I want to achieve in one year?
- What do I want to achieve this quarter?
I try to have 3 to 5 maximum. And follow them every day by measuring the effort, not the result, thanks to active questions (did I do my best to?). And you can see that I don’t succeed every day (see picture below).
Actions: Your every day next steps.
Marshall notes that we tend to be either too aspirational or too ambitious/action-oriented. The secret to a life filled with happiness and meaning is to succeed in linking all three.
The Earned Life By Marshall Goldsmith (Including 4 Practical Ideas For Living YOUR Life)
4- Daily active questions. Or the art of matching execution to intention
I talked about it in the previous newsletter.
Marshall refines his concept by adding the community and the art of asking for help (feedforward ).
He is inspired by Alan Mulally the former CEO of Ford who saved the company from a catastrophic situation. One of his secrets is the routine he put in place with the Business Review. (you can listen to his story in this excellent podcast)
Marshall duplicated it by creating the Life Plan Review (LPR). He gathered 100 successful people in different fields and organized a weekly zoom call. Everyone publicly reviews (in small groups) their score on the active questions and uses “Feedforward” to ask for help.
—Give me two tips on how I can improve on this.
Once the suggestions are received, the person just finishes with a:
—Thank you.
No discussion or argument.
His book is filled with anecdotes about this experience.
As a result, each individual and the community as a whole help each other and progress.
Conclusion
Marshall gives us the secrets of a life dedicated to continuous improvement for himself and thousands of clients. It’s easy to understand and hard to apply. But after reading it, you can’t say you didn’t know.😀
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Related articles:
Why Don’t You Apply What I Told You? Feedforward, An Exercise To Help You Change
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
How to prepare your meetings with intention? Have you ever tried this simple technique?
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