The other day, someone asked me how I empower myself. It was a question no one had asked me before, but after a moment’s reflection, I replied with four words. Learn. Work. Connect. Serve.
1. Learn
College, my physician father used to say, is where you go to learn how to learn. While that statement does apply to college, it can be broadened to include any experience that teaches us lessons — be it a sport, a craft, an art or an application of a skill. Our challenge — indeed our responsibility — is to integrate those experiences into learning lessons.
2. Work
There is dignity to work. Putting yourself into your work means you are applying what you know to what you can do. There is a satisfaction to labor, a job well done. Hard work may be the most satisfying because you know you have applied not only your knowledge but your energy. Fatigue from work (not overwork) indicates that you have put forth the effort.
3. Connect
Loneliness has become so widespread that it is a health condition affecting one in five Americans. Too many of us lack the connection with others. Robert Waldinger, MD, who leads the Harvard, the longest-running study of adults dating back to the late Thirties, writes in his book, The Good Life, that what matters most in life is not wealth or health. It is the connection to others. From relationships, we create a community, a place where we feel we belong.
4. Serve
The purpose of life is to serve yourself and others. You serve yourself by applying the four words above. Doing so puts you in a position to serve others.
The late Frances Hesselbein taught us to lead is to serve. Her good friend Alan Mulally, former CEO of Ford Motor Company, lives by this mantra, with one addition:
5. Love
Without love, our lives would be empty. We both need it to enrich us as we, in turn, use it to enrich others. Love powers our ability to serve.
What you do with those five words — and any others you find relevant — will enable you to define how you want to live your life. Choose wisely, and continue to apply what you have learned to make a positive difference for yourself and others.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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