I was recently challenged to consider who I am and where I am, and was presented with an exercise which was quite revealing in a number of ways.
The exercise helped me to clarify the areas of life where I seek improvement, determine some things I can work on to achieve more and start taking action to create the positive changes I want.
The exercise simply started with drawing a long ladder...
So, if the ladder demonstrates success, achievement, happiness and contentment, where would you place yourself on that ladder compared to everyone else? And are you happy with your position compared to the other people you have included?
Who?
Who should you compare yourself to to be able to judge your position? Should you consider friends, people you work with and anyone else you know? Or should you even compare yourself to publicly known figures such as Will Smith, Bill Gates or Ussain Bolt for example?
How?
How long should the ladder be? And how can you gauge where you are compared to other people? Is it better to stick with one ladder representing everything, or do you need various ladders to represent things such as financial status , emotional status and maybe spiritual status?
What?
Then, what process can you use to determine where you stand on each ladder you have drawn?
Try This Approach:
- Start at the bottom or the top of any ladder and list the attributes that you believe reflect a person in that position e.g. mortgage-free home-owner with various properties who is a well-educated company owner and enjoys travel on a regular basis for the person at the top of a financial ladder versus someone who is unemployed and homeless at the bottom. Fill in the spaces in between with any attributes you've identified to create a complete ladder - however many steps as are needed, for each ladder you have created.
- Use the attributes to consider where you would place yourself compared to other people on your ladders. It may be that you know some of the same people on each ladder – maybe close friends, siblings, work colleagues. But then maybe different people will appear based upon your beliefs about what they represent. For example, Sir Richard Branson may appear on one of your ladders if you hold him in high esteem. Or maybe Will Smith, Jim Rohn or Mother Theresa to represent different principles?
Once you are clear on your overall assessment of where you stand with regard to other people, what to do next. Why are you doing this anyway?
Why?
Well, are you happy with where you stand compared to other people? Or do you want to change your position to move either up or down?
It could be that drawing different ladders to represent the life aspects which matter to you has helped you to identify one area which requires greater effort than the others. Maybe you've reached a satisfactory level of financial success but your emotional contentment with regard to relationships could be improved.
If this is the case, why is that so? Is it because you're a hard-worker who enjoys the thrill of making the sale in the office and works 10 hours each day to achieve results but who doesn't spend enough time with your family as a result of the long hours? Or is it because you're a single person who has not had a relationship for some time and you really miss companionship and love?
Once you have the 'why', you can start to work on the 'how', the 'what' and the 'when'– that is, how can I fix it? What can I do to make it better? And when do I start?
So, in the first possibility, if you're working long hours to achieve your sales targets and the financial status you enjoy, is there someone else in the office who achieves the same results as you but in less time? Talk to them, seek their expertise – the insights they offer may help you to achieve more but in less time. And once you have that wrapped, you can spend more quality time with your family because you're getting home from work earlier than you used to.
Result: your emotional contentment increases, moving you upwards on your ladder.
In the second possibility, maybe it's because you're a shy person who doesn't enjoy meeting new people or you haven't had the time because you work so hard? If it's the former (you're shy), work on exercises to increase your confidence - read books, use google, maybe even watch Gok Wan... then fix a point in time where you intend to attend a speed dating event, or join an on-line dating agency. Basically decide when you intend to start meeting new people and join the dating game again! If it's the latter (you work long hours), what do you intend to do to change that – see first possibility above.
Result: your emotional contentment increases, moving you upwards on your ladder.
With regard to the 'when', why wait? If there are things you can work on now, then work on them now - “lost time is never found again” (Benjamin Franklin).
Reward Your Success!
Any actions you take to change your position on one ladder is likely to impact your position on the other ladders you drew and you should reward your success!
So, try this exercise if you find that you compare yourself to others and use it to identify ways in which you can achieve improvements that you want.
Please share how you get along in the comments below and I may be able to use your feedback to share further exercises to help you achieve even more.
Good luck!
