Many of you, our readers and participants, remember during our Level 2 seminar – Powerful Coaching, we offer participants the gift of time to consider “Who am I?” —

• What are my core values?
• What brings purpose and meaning in my life?
• For what issues would I place my spear in the ground?

These are just a few of the thoughtful and powerful reflections about who we are and what we hold dear. As an instructor, even after hundreds of groups we take through this process, I am always impacted by the discussions of others and my own reflections through the years. Every time this section is completed, I find myself grateful for the few minutes to reconsider these lifelong, important self-assessments. Because, with each year passing by, I feel thankful for another opportunity to pause and reflect.

The month of November brings with it not only changing colors, time, and temperature; it also brings a focus on important holidays. Time to see and be with those we hold dear in our lives. Time to celebrate life, thankfulness, and religious, spiritual beliefs that define who we are.

So, I invite you to spend a few moments to reflect upon how YOU measure your life. Clayton M. Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor and author of How Will You Measure Your Life? writes:

“The single most important factor in our long-term happiness is the relationships we have with our family and close friends.”

In our work, we often look to numbers; how much money we make, degrees, titles, positions or possessions we hold, achievement within our schools or districts, etc. There are no universal metrics to assess your life. Hey, it’s up to each of us to create our own way to measure where we are in life. Sometimes we compare with others – where they are and where we are, how much money we have in the bank, some may measure by how they look. Darius Foroux, author and podcaster writes specifically about how we can live a life that matters. He has studied how the most successful thinkers of our time measure their lives. What we learn might be surprising, enlightening and reinforcing. People who are considered successful in the eye of society often look at three factors to measure their lives. They are:

1. Energy
2. Work
3. Relationships

Yes, they are all very closely related. Let’s examine each this month in our segments. How each is defined, examples and some reflective questions for us during this month of gratitude and thankfulness.