The Deferred Life Plan
The most powerful metaphor in The Monk and the Riddle is what Komisar calls "The Deferred Life Plan." The Deferred Life Plan is when you defer doing what you really want to do to do what you feel like you have to do. There are two steps in The Deferred Life Plan:
step one: do what you must to do
step two: do what you want to do
With the Deferred Life Plan you often succeed at something that doesn't matter! It's like climbing a ladder that's leaning against the wrong wall. You end up doing something you don't care about; something you don't value; something that fails to express who you are.
Komisar talks about a defining moment in his life. He was on the fast track to partnership in his law firm when Apple offered him a job. He looked down the long corridor at this firm and realized it was a dead-end. "What I had to weigh was whether I should stay on a well-defined path to professional and financial success as a lawyer or venture into a creative life in business with no specific destination in mind." Komisar said, "When I considered the risk of staying at my law firm, I had to face the possibility of an unfulfilled life, of working endlessly on things that did not matter and that at times violated my core values."
Komisar opted for The Whole Life Plan. He said, "I chose to pursue what seemed most important to my life at the time."
Too many people are opting for The Deferred Life Plan. I just don't think God intended for us to start enjoying life when we retire at sixty-five. We ought to love what we do so much that we never want to stop doing it.
I have an acronym to counteract TGIF. I know too many people who live for the weekend. On one level there's nothing wrong with that. But it ought to be counterbalanced by TGIM. If you really love what you do, you don't need to dread Monday morning. You can look forward to Monday morning and Friday afternoon.
So here's the $64,000 question: is your ladder leaning against the right wall?
step one: do what you must to do
step two: do what you want to do
With the Deferred Life Plan you often succeed at something that doesn't matter! It's like climbing a ladder that's leaning against the wrong wall. You end up doing something you don't care about; something you don't value; something that fails to express who you are.
Komisar talks about a defining moment in his life. He was on the fast track to partnership in his law firm when Apple offered him a job. He looked down the long corridor at this firm and realized it was a dead-end. "What I had to weigh was whether I should stay on a well-defined path to professional and financial success as a lawyer or venture into a creative life in business with no specific destination in mind." Komisar said, "When I considered the risk of staying at my law firm, I had to face the possibility of an unfulfilled life, of working endlessly on things that did not matter and that at times violated my core values."
Komisar opted for The Whole Life Plan. He said, "I chose to pursue what seemed most important to my life at the time."
Too many people are opting for The Deferred Life Plan. I just don't think God intended for us to start enjoying life when we retire at sixty-five. We ought to love what we do so much that we never want to stop doing it.
I have an acronym to counteract TGIF. I know too many people who live for the weekend. On one level there's nothing wrong with that. But it ought to be counterbalanced by TGIM. If you really love what you do, you don't need to dread Monday morning. You can look forward to Monday morning and Friday afternoon.
So here's the $64,000 question: is your ladder leaning against the right wall?
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home