One Fine Day
My inspiration for the title of this article was not what you would expect. No, it wasn’t drawn from that iconic 1963 ditty by the Chiffons (although it is catchy) and it wasn’t drawn from that classic Pfeiffer-Clooney 1996 romantic comedy, where in my opinion Mae Whitman, the eight-year-old stole the show. It was in fact drawn from a quote by Trevor Nunn, British Theatre Director: ‘One fine day I discovered that more complex plays really have to be directed’.
Conscious Direction
And so, it is with your life. All complex dimensions of your life must be directed. With conscious building and conscious mastery of all of the dimensions of you, you stand firm on your dimensions (your pillars) when the world is shaking. I am writing this article during Covid-19 times. What better time to introduce to you my concept of ‘The Four Pillars of Me’? (Scroll down to review the pillars diagram). Indeed, our world is shaking.
Success is not success unless it is balanced across all four pillars. What is the definition of a successful and remarkable life? Cal Newport (author of So Good they Can’t Ignore you) defines it as: doing something meaningful you enjoy; you have a flexible schedule that you control; you earn recognition and good enough compensation. This definition overlays well with the pillars model. It doesn’t necessarily address the pillars of relationships and health and well-being but oh, how our current Covid-19 times addresses this and highlights the concept of, if one pillar is shaky (health and well-being) then there is a knock-on effect with the potential for all pillars to crumble.
Conscious Disruption
Indeed, your complex plays (all four pillars of your life) really do need to be consciously and regularly directed. Thank you, Trevor Nunn. There has been a power in ‘hitting the pause button’ on our lives over the last few months. There has been a power in the disruption, an invitation to pivot, to shift context if you will. We have an opportunity to see clearly the fragility of our pillars and to develop a new understanding on the interrelatedness of all dimensions and the power of the whole.
‘Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the light’. – Dumbledore. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
These current times are an invitation to put spotlights on all of your pillars and to get to work on stabilizing the shaky ones. For many, the spotlight has only been on a couple of pillars for far too long. For many, society encouraged you to focus on only a couple of pillars to the detriment of others.
Shed the Tuxedo
Quite by accident, when I was forming my thoughts on this topic I came upon a clip. It was Pierce Brosnan aka James Bond, giving a Commencement Speech at Dickinson College in 2019. He captured perfectly the idea of not necessarily just using the spotlight society hands us.
‘So where are you going? Many have sought the route of the flashy, the high-powered job or well-regarded profession because it’s meaningful or they want the thrill of the penthouse suites and swanky clothes. Well, I have worn the tuxedo and I can tell you this, our world doesn’t need you to chase the superspy lifestyle, it needs you to find a passion and a mission’.
So, on this ‘one fine day’ of discovery and paradigm shift, proudly brought to us by Covid-19 and its forced hitting of the ‘pause button’, how will you consciously direct the four pillars of you? Will you shed the tuxedo? How will you consistently direct your pillars so that you actually DO end up experiencing your one fine day i.e. your best work and your best life?
