amp0193
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I heard a talk recently where the speaker mentioned the Four Burners Theory.
It goes like this:
I'm curious what you all think of this concept, and how you currently have your "burners" prioritized.
My response:
This concept really resonated for me, and I think has shown to be true in my own experience.
My current burners (and % of my total capacity):
I'm aiming for "really successful" in business and have a goal in mind I'm trying to reach. I am more than willing to sacrifice a social life and my health (but not my family) in this phase of my life to achieve that, and I have full intention of dialing it back and achieving a more equal balance between the 4 burners later on. My near-term goal is to get Work/Family burners equal, once business is on more solid footing.
I also think it's possible to "successful" while keeping all of the burners on... as long as you're patient and are ok to take a longer time to get there. But "really successful" would probably be out of reach without a sacrifice somewhere.
In any case, this is a thought exercise to make sure you are choosing the life you want to live, and the trade-offs that come with those choices, instead of letting the whims of life dictate it for you.
I added quotes around "successful" and "really successful" as what defines these is very much open to interpretation and will be different for everyone.
It goes like this:
Imagine that your life is represented by a stove with 4 burners on it and each burner symbolizes a major part of your life
The four burners theory states that in order to be successful, you have to cut off at least one of your burners and in order to be really successful, you have to cut off two.
- The first burner represents your family life
- The second burner represents your friendships
- The third burner represents your health
- The fourth burner represents your work life
I'm curious what you all think of this concept, and how you currently have your "burners" prioritized.
My response:
This concept really resonated for me, and I think has shown to be true in my own experience.
My current burners (and % of my total capacity):
- Work (60%) - Business is struggling a little recently, and I'm putting in extra effort to reverse course.
- Family (35%) - The extra effort at work is by and large, not impacting family time. I'm almost entirely logged off on weekends, and have quality time with the family for 4-5 hours every weekday too.
- Friends (3%) - I'm doing something with friends about once a month... but being social is definitely not top of mind right now.
- Health (2%) - I eat well, and am fairly active doing things with the kids, but virtually zero time exercising.
I'm aiming for "really successful" in business and have a goal in mind I'm trying to reach. I am more than willing to sacrifice a social life and my health (but not my family) in this phase of my life to achieve that, and I have full intention of dialing it back and achieving a more equal balance between the 4 burners later on. My near-term goal is to get Work/Family burners equal, once business is on more solid footing.
I also think it's possible to "successful" while keeping all of the burners on... as long as you're patient and are ok to take a longer time to get there. But "really successful" would probably be out of reach without a sacrifice somewhere.
In any case, this is a thought exercise to make sure you are choosing the life you want to live, and the trade-offs that come with those choices, instead of letting the whims of life dictate it for you.
I added quotes around "successful" and "really successful" as what defines these is very much open to interpretation and will be different for everyone.
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