10:22
Use Strategic Thinking to Create the Life You Want
Harvard Business Review
Overview
This video introduces a seven-step program called 'Strategize Your Life,' which adapts corporate strategy principles to personal life planning. It emphasizes defining what a 'great life' means, identifying life purpose and vision, and assessing one's 'life portfolio' – the various areas where time and energy are invested. The program uses a strategic life portfolio matrix to help individuals visualize their satisfaction and importance levels across different life units, guiding them to make intentional choices for a more fulfilling existence.
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Chapters
- Corporate strategy principles can be applied to personal life planning to create a 'life strategy'.
- A life strategy is defined as an integrated set of choices that positions a person to live a great life.
- The 'Strategize Your Life' program uses a seven-step process, mirroring corporate strategy development.
Understanding the core concept of life strategy provides a framework for intentionally designing your life rather than passively experiencing it.
Just as a company develops a strategy to win in its market, an individual can develop a life strategy to live a great life.
- A great life is not solely defined by external factors like money, fame, or power, as these have limited long-term impact due to hedonic adaptation and social comparison.
- Positive psychology offers a more holistic definition through the PERMA-V model: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement, and Vitality.
- Each component of PERMA-V contributes to overall well-being and a fulfilling life.
Moving beyond superficial definitions of success allows for a more authentic and sustainable pursuit of happiness and fulfillment.
The PERMA-V model suggests focusing on contentment (Positive Emotions), being in a flow state during activities (Engagement), nurturing deep connections (Relationships), contributing to something larger (Meaning), reaching goals (Achievement), and maintaining good health (Vitality).
- A 'life portfolio' consists of 'strategic life units' (SLUs) where individuals invest time, money, and energy.
- Examples of SLUs include relationships with a significant other, family, sports, job, and faith.
- These 16 identified SLUs are grouped into 6 broader strategic life areas.
Viewing your life as a portfolio helps you understand where your resources are actually being allocated, which is crucial for making intentional changes.
Instead of just 'spending time,' consider how you allocate your 168 hours per week across specific activities like 'time with spouse,' 'job tasks,' or 'personal fitness.'
- To assess your life portfolio, track time spent on each SLU, rate the importance of each SLU, and rate your satisfaction with each SLU.
- A strategic life portfolio matrix plots importance (y-axis) against satisfaction (x-axis), with bubble size representing time invested.
- This visualization highlights areas of high importance but low satisfaction, indicating urgent needs for attention.
Visualizing your life portfolio provides a clear, data-driven picture of your current life balance and satisfaction levels, revealing potential misalignments.
An engineer named Tony found he had low satisfaction and low time investment in 'significant other' and 'mental health' (high importance, low satisfaction) but high time investment in 'online entertainment' (lower importance, higher satisfaction).
- The strategic life portfolio matrix helps identify areas needing adjustment, particularly those in the 'urgent' quadrant (high importance, low satisfaction).
- You can change satisfaction levels and time allocation (bubble size), while importance may remain more stable.
- A 'right' portfolio is aligned with your definition of a great life, supporting your purpose and vision, often characterized by high satisfaction and significant time investment in important areas.
This step translates assessment into action, enabling you to consciously shift your time and energy towards what truly matters for a great life.
To improve satisfaction in relationships, a quick win might be reconnecting with old friends; reducing time spent on social media by deleting apps can free up hours for more meaningful activities.
- Developing a life strategy provides direction, especially crucial in uncertain times.
- Being open to opportunities and serendipity is important, but preparation is key.
- Luck is often a result of preparation meeting opportunity.
A well-defined life strategy acts as a compass, guiding your decisions and actions towards your desired future, even amidst life's unpredictability.
The Stoic philosopher Seneca's quote, 'Luck is when preparation meets opportunity,' emphasizes that strategic planning (preparation) increases the likelihood of capitalizing on fortunate events (opportunity).
Key takeaways
- Applying corporate strategy frameworks to personal life can lead to intentional design and fulfillment.
- A 'great life' is best defined by internal factors like positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, achievement, and vitality (PERMA-V), not just external markers.
- Understanding how you currently allocate your time, energy, and resources across different life areas (your 'life portfolio') is the first step to change.
- Visualizing your life portfolio using importance, satisfaction, and time invested highlights areas that need attention.
- Strategic choices involve adjusting satisfaction levels and time allocation to align your life with your values and vision.
- A life strategy provides direction and helps you prepare to seize opportunities, turning potential luck into realized outcomes.
Key terms
Life StrategyStrategize Your LifeGreat LifePERMA-V ModelPositive EmotionsEngagementRelationshipsMeaningAchievementVitalityStrategic Life Units (SLUs)Life PortfolioStrategic Life Portfolio Matrix
Test your understanding
- How does the concept of 'life strategy' differ from simply having goals?
- Why is the PERMA-V model considered a more robust definition of a 'great life' than traditional metrics like wealth or fame?
- What are the three key pieces of information needed to assess your 'life portfolio'?
- How can the 'strategic life portfolio matrix' help you identify areas for personal improvement?
- What is the relationship between 'preparation' and 'opportunity' in achieving a fulfilling life, according to the video?