Be the CEO of Your Life Inc.

Apart from being a catchy phrase, there is a lot to be said about being the CEO of your own life.
Whether you are working for a company as an employee or running your own business, most of us put a lot of effort and time in the company that provides our income. What if we started looking at our own life as the most important company we will ever work for, the company we are running ourselves.
This leads to an important question: how are we performing as CEO? Are we doing a good job or is there room for growth? And equally important: are we truly in charge of managing our own lives, because if we are not the CEO of our own Life Incorporated, than who is ultimately running it?
There are many characteristics of being a CEO that are applicable to how you run, organise and ultimately enjoy your life.

Creating the vision, map out the strategy: 

The main task of the CEO of a company is to set the vision, mission of the company and create a strategy to fulfil the vision.

Simon Sinek refers to this as 'Start with WHY'.

Before you get bogged down in details of HOW and WHAT you are doing, it is important to step back and realise WHY you are running this company. What is your mission in life, what is really important to you?

Goals: 

Based on the vision or mission statement, what are the short-term and long term goals? Most of you know that goal setting is important. Without clear goals in life, there can be no focus, no clarity. Although this is a well-known fact, most people do not spend the time necessary to set their goals.

Goal setting is a skill, a skill that can be learned. I recommend SMART goal setting, an acronym which stands for:

- Specific

- Measurable

- Attainable

- Realistic/Relevant

- Timed

I will go into more detail in a separate article.

Start by writing down your goals (don't keep them simply in your head) and communicate them: share them with people who have your best interest in mind and whose feedback you appreciate, which will add accountability and put the responsibility in attaining your goals in your own lap.

If you are not the CEO of your own life, that who is ultimately running it?

Set priorities : 

As pointed out above, there are many details involved in running our company, and many different paths to follow. It's important to set out priorities so that we allocate our time to those things that will actually move us forward towards attaining the goals we have set.

Company culture : 

There is a lot of talk about company culture these days. In many cases, this is seen as very important but also as something that can be quickly fixed. The culture in a company takes a lot of time and dedication to set up as it is the expression of the underlying core values, which are derived from it's mission statement and vision.

The culture of our lives are the values and beliefs we hold as important and that will determine the way we see the world. They create a map of the world, our own perception of reality.

Those values and beliefs are based on our life experience, our cultural background, upbringing, the people we meet, ... They can however be changed if they no longer service us.

Processes : 

In order to run a company, there usually are a multitude of processes. In our daily lives, the processes are the habits we have developed over time. Those habits are supported by the values and beliefs we hold dear. For example, if you believe that being on time is important, you will develop the habit of being punctual.

Departments: 

Just like there are multiple departments that make up a company, there are different areas that together will determine the quality of our life. These areas include:

• career and business
• finance
• health
• family & friends
• romance
• fun & recreation
• personal growth
• physical environment

If we put all our time and effort managing only one or two of these 'departments' the others will suffer and your life becomes unbalances. If you focus for example solely on your career to the detriment of your relationships, you might find you are a very successful but lonely person at the end of the day.

Likewise, improving one area of your life will undoubtedly have a positive impact on other areas.

Board of directors: 

As the CEO of a company, you are part of a team of executives (your board of directors). As a leader you do not have the responsibility to know everything. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Make sure you have people around you that are strong in those areas that you lack.

It is very important that you create a team around you of people that are able and willing to help you. People who have your best interest in mind and help you to grow.

These could be people close to you or a mentor or coach.

Stakeholder management: 

There are many people affected by our lives, many people we interact with on a day-to-day basis. It's crucial that we maintain healthy relationships with those people. In order to have any type of relationship with anyone, there needs to be communication.

Communication is one of life's most important skills.

This is Part 1 of a series of articles designed to get more out of life. 

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