Existential Octathletes

 

Chapter 4

Existential Octathletes 

This chapter compares self-action leaders to decathletes and the exercise of Self-Action Leadership to participation in a decathlon (or biathlon, triathlon, pentathlon, heptathlon, etc.). More specifically, it introduces the concept of an existential OCTATHLON, which would involve eight (8) different events or challenges, and explains why this athletic imagery serves as an apt metaphor to capture the essence of a concept known as Existential Intelligence, which we will define in this chapter, as well as the holistic life balance self-action leaders are encouraged to pursue—and are capable of attaining through the holistic exercise of SAL over time. 

Athletic Metaphors

Personal development teachers and coaches often employ athletic metaphors to illustrate challenges and opportunities that accompany personal and professional journeys in life. We do so not to exclude non-athletes from the discussion, but merely to paint a picture using vivid metaphorical brushstrokes that everyone can understand theoretically, if not practically speaking. 

One age-old athletic metaphor compares difficult work projects, onerous personal challengers, and even life itself to running a marathon. As a former marathoner who has completed the 26.2 mile distance 13 times, I can appreciate and relate to marathon metaphors. However, as a former basketball player, an avid fantasy baseball enthusiast, and a former collegiate middle-distance runner who excelled at the 800 meter distance (less than 2% of the marathon distance), I also recognize that a marathon is only one of many sporting metaphors that can be usefully applied to our lives and careers. 

For example, in the early years of this century, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz introduced an alternative paradigm to the traditional marathon metaphor that embraces the management of energy over time as opposed to the management of endurance over distance. According to Loehr and Schwartz, accessing the "Power of Full Engagement" in one's life or career is best achieved by approaching life not as a marathon, but as a "series of sprints," (1) whereby, in addition to enduring to the end of a project, etc. (marathon metaphor), we also focus on the wise and strategic management of our finite energy supplies along the way (sprint metaphor).

Loehr and Schwartz assert further than as a "Corporate Athlete," (2) "we build emotional, mental and spiritual capacity in the same way that we build physical capacity." (3).

An integral component of the SAL Philosophy is the introduction of a new athletic metaphor that builds on the concepts of both energy and endurance management. This holistic cutting-edge concept compares the metaphorical "athlete" (self-action leader) at hand not merely to a distance runner or sprinter, but to both. And it does not stop there. It also metaphorically adds throwing, jumping, and vaulting to the mix. 

Its aim is to develop self-action leaders who can effectively "compete" in not just one or two arenas of human performance, but all of the major ones and come (in time) to excel at them all. This fresh new paradigm postures a self-action leader as an OCTATHLETE, meaning an existential "athlete" that focuses on and "competes" in eight (8) different life arenas, each of which is essential to one's freedom, growth, happiness, success, and inner peace.

These EIGHT (8) life arenas include the following: 

• Constitutional
• Spiritual
• Physical
• Mental
• Emotional
• Social
• Financial
• Moral

Track and Field

Track & field athletes rarely participate in more than one, two, or three different events at any given competition. The decathlon is an exception to this rule because decathletes participate in not one, two, or three events, but TEN (10)! A decathlon is considered the supreme athletic event in all of track & field, and it is by far the most challenging and grueling.

Most track athletes specialize in ONE of the five (5) areas of competition:

• Sprinting — 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100 relay, 4x400 relay
• Running — middle distance (800m, 1500m, mile, 3000m, 5000m) and long distance (10,000m, Half Marathon, Marathon, etc.)
• Jumping — long jump, high jump
• Throwing — discus, hammer throw, javelin, shot put
• Vaulting — pole vault

Decathletes, on the other hand, participate in at least one event from all of these categories. In other words, they do it ALL!

Athletes vs. Decathletes

There are many things that separate a decathlete from a regular track & field athlete. The most obvious difference is that most track & field athletes specialize in ONE area of the sport and usually only compete in one, two, or three similar events at the most. This is especially true at the elite level, where the competition is simply too good for someone to be world class in more than one area of emphasis. This means that jumpers focus on leaping and vaulting, runners focus on endurance racing, sprinters focus on dashing, and throwers focus on hurling, etc. The only common exception to this rule is that elite sprinters will sometimes add the long jump and/or a relay race to their dashing events. 

This specialization is visually evident in the physique of track & field athletes. For example, it's rare to find an elite long-distance runner measuring in at over six feet or in excess of 150 pounds. To wit: the fastest marathoner in history, Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge—who is the only human being to ever break the two-hour barrier in the event—measures in at an extremely slight, almost jockey-esque 5-foot, 5-inches and 123 pounds. On the other hand, it is similarly unheard of to come across an elite shot putter under six feet tall and 250 pounds. To wit: the current world record holder in the shot put, Ryan Crouser of the United States, stands at a towering 6-foot, 7-inches and a whopping 320 pounds!

Let's look at another example.

Big, lean, rippling muscles can be quite helpful in the sprints, but you'll never see a bodybuilder toe the line for a 5,000 or 10,000 meter run. Consider, for instance, the legendary sprinter from Jamaica: Usain Bolt—the current world record holder in both the 100 meter (9.58 seconds) and 200 meter dash (19.19 seconds). Bolt is 6-foot, 5-inches and weighs 207 pounds. Compare that to Alistair Brownlee—a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist endurance triathlete from Great Britain, who measures in at only 6-foot, 0-inches and 154 pounds. 

Another difference between regular track & field athletes and decathletes is that an elite decathlete almost never performs at the level of an elite athlete in an individual event. This means that even the best decathletes in history cannot dash, jump, run, throw, or vault at the level of elite specialists in a given event.

While elite decathletes may come impressively close to specialists in some of their events, they rarely, if ever, break into the elite level in any one event. Their greatness doesn't stem from being the best in any single event, but from being very good at a compendium of 10 different events. In the words of Dan O'Brien, a former Olympic Champion (1996) and World Record Holder in the decathlon: the decathlon includes ten separate events and they all matter. You can't just work on one of them.

"The decathlon includes ten separate events and they all matter.

You can't just work on one of them."

—Dan O'Brien

This singular brand of eclectic excellence garners decathletes a special brand of approbation from the sporting world, including the title of: Greatest Athlete in the World, which is awarded to the winner of any World Championship decathlon competition. Kevin Mayer of France is the current world record holder in the decathlon with 9,126 points. This represents a monumental achievement in the combined event, yet none of Mayer's best marks in any individual event would have qualified him to compete in a world class final in that event. 

Mayer is an extremely balanced athlete—not the world's best in any one event—but the world's very best in all ten of them together. It's a unique, rare, and special ability, one to which the Greatest Athlete in the World title is appropriately awarded. 

Another difference between typical track & field athletes and decathletes is that decathletes spend a LOT more time training than their specialist counterparts. Instead of 15-20 hours of training a week, decathletes will spend upwards of 40-50 hours per week. This is partly because they must practice so many different skills. It is also because they must put even more time into weight training, endurance conditioning, and other cross-fit base-line exercises.

Specialist training is simpler than decathlete training. For example: throwers will spend much of their time doing strength exercises (i.e. weightlifting) and practicing their technique. Sprinters will also spend a lot of time in the weight room in addition to a variety of speed and strength drills on the track. Distance runners will do a little bit of strength work, albeit with lower weight and higher repetitions; they will then pile on the miles for base training and supplement it with speed, interval, hill, CrossFit, and other exercises on the road, trail, and track. Jumpers and vaulters, like throwers, will combine strength and speed work with honing their vaulting or leaping techniques. 

Decathletes must complete a comprehensive combination of all of the above. While most professional athletes consider their sport a full-time job, only decathletes routinely put in 8-plus hour workdays engaged in actual training exercises with less time off than any other track & field athletes. In summary, decathletes work harder and longer (by far) than any other track & field athletes.

Existential Intelligence

So, what does the decathlon have to do with Self-Action Leadership? This question can be answered by introducing a concept known as Existential Intelligence, or just XI for short.

To begin with, it is important to recognize that there are a lot of different ways to be smart.

A person's academic ability, often referred to as one's intellectual quotient—or IQ—has traditionally received the most honor and prestige throughout society. In recent decades, however, other forms of intelligence have gained greater academic and cultural attention and credibility. Some of these other intelligences include: emotional intelligence [EQ], social intelligence [SQ], spiritual intelligence, artistic intelligence, spatial intelligence, physical/athletic intelligence, etc. 

Many consider these additional arenas of intelligence to be as important, and in some cases even more so, than the traditional academic domain. It can be difficult to rank the importance of different kinds of intelligence because one intelligence will typically possess more utility and value in a given field than another. At Freedom Focused, we consider all of them to be important, and affirm that self-action leaders should strive for a balanced proficiency across a spectrum of different domains. While one or more arenas may be emphasized over others in a career, hobby, or other pursuit, all major areas of existential development should be afforded balanced attention and effort throughout life itself.   

Many different forms of intelligence are involved in the effective execution of Self-Action Leadership. Moreover, the study and practice of SAL over time engenders its own, unique and hybrid form of intelligence, the substance of which is a holistic by-produce of the synergistic amalgamation of eight key arenas of intelligence. Freedom Focused employs the term, Existential Intelligence, to describe this holistic brand of comprehensive life intelligence, which SAL empowers you to develop. This comprehensive form of balanced intelligence constitutes being smart across a general spectrum of your own humanity and life.

Specifically, Existential Intelligence incorporates EIGHT (8) different arenas of life leadership, including the: constitutional, spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, social, financial, and moral domains of life. At Freedom Focused, we refer to these areas as: The Eight Life Arenas of Self-Action Leadership and define Existential Intelligence as: holistic knowledge wisely and harmoniously applied across the eight life arenas of Self-Action Leadership.

EXISTENTIAL  INTELLIGENCE

Holistic knowledge wisely and harmoniously applied

across the eight life arenas of Self-Action Leadership.

EIGHT  (8)  LIFE  ARENAS  OF  SELF-ACTION  LEADERSHIP

Constitutional, Spiritual, Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social, Financial, and Moral domains of life.

Having introduced the concept of Existential Intelligence, let's now delve into the details of each domain included in Eight (8) Life Arenas of Self-Action Leadership.

Constitutional Arena

The constitutional arena involves the study and work you do as a self-action leader to consciously design, direct, and plan your life's vision, mission, values, goals, standards, social circle, etc. It involves drawing up a comprehensive PERSONAL CONSTITUTION or set of existential blueprints for your life and career. 

The Good Book teaches that "where there is no vision, the people perish." (4) The Constitutional Arena is the area of life where a self-action leader cultivates, organizes, and articulates a VISION of one's future. It serves as a foundation upon which the other seven (7) life arenas of SAL are built.    

Later on, when the SAL model is introduced in BOOK the FIFTH, I will walk you step-by-step through the process of designing and composing your own comprehensive Declaration of Independence and Self-Constitution. This values-identifying, vision and mission-establishing, standard-setting, and goal-producing project will serve as the most singular and significant homework assignment you will complete as part of your study of this Life Leadership textbook and your pursuit of the SAL Master Challenge.  

Constitutional intelligence is defined as: the ability to identify, clarify, articulate, and successfully pursue your life's vision, mission, values, standards, sociality, etc.

CONSTITUTIONAL  INTELLIGENCE

The ability to identify, clarify, articulate, and then successfully pursue

your life's vision, mission, values, standards, sociality, etc. 

Spiritual Arena

We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience.

We are spiritual beings having a physical experience"

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Spirituality and/or spiritual intelligence are defined in various ways by different scholars and organizations. One author and expert in the academic field of Spiritual Intelligence (yes, spirituality is an academic subject) by the name of Cindy Wigglesworth, defines spirituality as: "the innate human need to be connected to something larger than ourselves, something we consider to be divine or of exceptional nobility." (5)

Two other experts in the scholarly field of Spiritual Intelligence (Zohar and Marshall) suggest that as human beings: 

"We are driven, indeed we are defined, by a specifically human longing to find meaning and value in what we do and experience. We have a longing to see our lives in some larger, meaning-giving context ... We have a longing for something towards which we can aspire, for something that takes us beyond ourselves and the present moment, for something that gives us and our actions a sense of worth." (6)

The spiritual arena of life and work involves the effort you expend as a self-action leader to tune-in to internal, visceral sentience and communications that are spiritually felt, experienced, and discerned rather than physically heard, mentally processed, or intellectually interpreted. For some, one's spiritual life may be closely associated with one's religious beliefs; for others, it may not. Religion and spirituality are not always mutually inclusive. Even agnostics and atheists will sometimes admit to receiving direction, guidance, insight, and wisdom via an internal and viscerally intuited "Sixth Sense." 

Most (if not all) human beings have experienced this phenomenon, although we employ a hundred different names to describe it (e.g. God, the universe, nature, intuition, gut feeling, spider senses, inner compass, instincts, sixth sense, metaphysics, etc.)

Freedom Focused defines Spiritual Intelligence as: the desire, willingness, and capacity to detect, interpret, and effectively utilize information and wisdom that is metaphysically accessed or viscerally received.

SPIRITUAL  INTELLIGENCE

The desire, willingness, and capacity to detect, interpret, and effectively utilize information

and wisdom that is metaphysically accessed and/or viscerally received. 

Physical Arena

The physical arena consists of learning to properly care for your physical body. It involves fitness, nutrition, rest, relaxation, prevention, preparation, balance, and anything else involved in obtaining and then maintaining physical health, well-being, and mortal vigor and longevity. It also involves kinesthetic coordination and dexterity (i.e. athleticism). Thus, athletes typically exhibit high levels of physical intelligence.  

Freedom Focused defines physical intelligence as: acquiring and then acting on knowledge that leads to a fit, nourished, balanced, and otherwise healthy and mobile physical existence.

PHYSICAL  INTELLIGENCE

Acquiring and then acting on knowledge that leads to a fit, nourished,

balanced, and otherwise healthy and mobile physical existence. 

"Give me health and a day, and I will make

the pomp of emperors look ridiculous."

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mental Arena

The mental arena involves nurturing your mind and intellect through reading, studying, observing, asking questions, and most importantly, doing. People with high levels of mental intelligence value education (both formal and informal). They recognize that learning processes should not end at the completion of one's formal education. They continually hunger and thirst after new insights, knowledge, and wisdom about life, other people, and the world and universe around them. More importantly, they are courageous in wisely applying what they learn to real life situations and circumstances.  

Mental intelligence also involves the ability to effectively gauge your personal mental health. Those who are mentally intelligent possess the capacity, humility, and courage to seek out help from others when their mental hygiene is suffering beyond their own ability to address. 

Freedom Focused defines Mental Intelligence as: the desire, willingness, and capacity to continually nurture one's mind and intellect in an upward spiral of acquired knowledge and applied wisdom. It is also the ability to gauge one's own mental health and hygiene and the humility and courage to seek out help when one's mental health needs addressing. 

MENTAL  INTELLIGENCE

The desire, willingness, and capacity to continually nurture one's mind and intellect in an upward spiral

of acquired knowledge and applied wisdom. It is also the ability to gauge one's own mental health and hygiene and the humility and courage to seek out help when one's mental health needs addressing. 

As a start to your pursuit of mental intelligence and hygiene, Freedom Focused recommends Dale Carnegie's famous book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. From there, we further invite you to drink deeply from the wells of wisdom located in the SAL Library (see Appendix A for a complete list of titles).  

Emotional Arena

The emotional arena involves the myriad emotional states you have experienced in the past, are experiencing in the present, or will experience in the future.

Effectively managing your own emotions can
be one of life's greatest challenges.

Much has been written on the subject of emotional intelligence, or EQ. While a detailed treatment of the subject is beyond the scope of this text, we heartily encourage you to study the topic in greater detail, beginning with Daniel Goleman's landmark book on the subject. (7)

In defining Emotional Intelligence, Goleman cites the work of Howard Gardner and Peter Salovey in boiling "EQ" down to "five main domans." Including in these domains are: comprehending and effectively managing one's own emotions, successfully handling relationships by doing the same for others, and motivating oneself. (8) 

Freedom Focused borrows from these domains in the creation of our own definition, as follows: bridling and otherwise managing your own emotions while positively influencing others to do the same.

EMOTIONAL  INTELLIGENCE

Bridling and otherwise managing your own emotions while positively influencing others to do the same. 

"As more and more artificial intelligence is entering into the world,

more and more emotional intelligence must enter into leadership."

—Amit Ray

Social Arena

The social arena involves interpersonal relationships of all kinds. From couples, families, and neighborhoods, to teams, organizations, and nations, all kinds of human relations require social intelligence to thrive in the long run.

Listening is an especially important element of social intelligence.

Social intelligence requires a deep understanding of human nature, both individually and collectively speaking. Good people skills are not always easily developed, but they are worth their weight in gold in both personal and professional settings to those willing to pay the price to acquire them. 

Freedom Focused defines social intelligence as: the ability to navigate a variety of human relationships and social dynamics by effectively reading, understanding, empathizing and communicating with, and being tolerant toward a wide spectrum of people and groups. 

SOCIAL  INTELLIGENCE

The ability to navigate a variety of human relationships and social dynamics

by effectively reading, understanding, empathizing and communicating with,

and being tolerant toward a wide spectrum of people and groups. 

Social intelligence is all about the importance of relationships and the role that selflessness plays in nurturing quality relationships. It starts by recognizing that the world does not revolve around YOU. In the words of Daniel Goleman:

"Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy ... [and] compassion. When we focus [too much] on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection — or compassionate action." (9)

If you have not already read Dale Carnegie's famous book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Freedom Focused earnestly recommends this human relations' classic as an excellent place to start your study of social intelligence. You can then follow that up by reading Daniel Goleman's Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships. 

Financial Arena

The financial arena incorporates an individual's capacity to earn, budget, save, and invest money. Like it or not, money is an incredibly important variable in the life of anyone who lives in this world. In the pithy parlance of Zig Ziglar: money isn't everything, but it ranks right up there with oxygen. 

Zig is right.

In today's uber-modern global society, money is not just about freedom, power, and influence; it is absolutely essential for basic survival. While self-action leaders don't value riches in and of themselves, they do recognize the practical necessity and utility of money in a mortal realm, as well as its facilitation of personal and professional growth and progress. As such, effective self-action leaders make financial stability and security a high priority in their lives and careers.  

Freedom Focused defines financial intelligence as: the ability to earn, budget, save, and invest money for purposes of personal stability, security, independence, freedom, influence, power, and philanthropy.

FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE

The ability to earn, budget, save, and invest money for purposes of personal

stability, security, independence, freedom, influence, power, and philanthropy. 

No matter what your current financial situation may be, there is tremendous fiscal hope for all diligent, focused, and dedicated self-action leaders. I say this confidently as one who personally faced great financial difficulty and duress for the first decade of my adult life—experiences I will relate in greater detail in BOOK the SIXTH.

As you animate SAL principles and practices in your own life, your commitment to living discreetly and wisely can empower you to solve your own financial conundrums just as surely as you can solve dilemmas and puzzles in any other arenas of your life and career. In the comforting words of popular financial guru, Dave Ramsey: I believe that through knowledge and discipline, financial peace is possible for all of us.  

"I believe that through knowledge and discipline, financial peace is possible for all of us."

—Dave Ramsey

Freedom Focused agrees with Dave!

Moral Arena

The moral arena involves cultivating an active and sensitive conscience that readily recognizes the difference between right & wrong and good & evil. Intelligence in this domain then leads a self-action leader to consistently choose right over wrong and good over evil in the face of practical realities and daily dilemmas that arise in real life—even (and especially) when it is personally inconvenient to do so. High moral intelligence empowers a self-action leader with the power to discern goodness and rightness amidst the myriad complexities and seeming "gray areas" of real life and relationships. 

At Freedom Focused, we believe that all human beings are born with a conscience, or as Immanuel Kant put it: a "moral law within." This innate conscience and the level of your moral intelligence throughout your life will depend on the extent to which you cultivate, nurture, and educate this inner moral sense.

"Two things fill the mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe,

the more often and the more intensely the mind of thought is drawn to them:

the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me."

—Immanuel Kant

Freedom Focused defines moral intelligence as: possessing a knowledge of right and wrong, a sharpened conscience that readily discerns between good and evil, and the courage to act in accordance with principles of goodness, rightness, and truth.  

MORAL  INTELLIGENCE

Possessing a knowledge of right and wrong, a sharpened conscience that

readily discerns between good and evil, and the courage to act consistently

in accordance with principles of goodness, rightness, and truth. 

Existential Intelligence = Existential Balance

Every person who was, is, or ever will be born into this world possesses varying degrees of innate ability and talent in each of these eight arenas of human endeavor and SAL. Likewise, we are all born lacking to varying degrees in these same eight areas. Whatever knowledge, skills, or talents individuals lack must be intentionally pursued and consciously cultivated if they are to be obtained, developed, and eventually owned. It is ultimately up to each individual person to determine the extent of one's own Existential Intelligence.  

Freedom Focused makes no attempt to rank the importance of these eight different domains of intelligence. Rather, we hold that an effective balance of all eight domains is the ultimate goal. Such a balance becomes the essence of a high level of Existential Intelligence.

As human beings, we typically view our lives through a variety of isolated compartments and lenses (e.g. personal, professional, spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, social, sexual, financial, moral, etc.). We utilize the term "Existential" to conceptualize the whole of your life's existence, as represented by the eight life arenas of SAL. 

The EIGHT (8) Life Arenas of Self-Action Leadership

A common error made by many people is to assume that a person who is intelligent in one area (e.g. academic genius) would naturally possess Existential Intelligence as well.

This is not necessarily the case!

In truth and in fact, some of the most existentially foolish people in the world are geniuses in a given sub-intelligence. This is one reason why our world has endured so many self-inflicted tragedies such as: the financial duress and familial rot of elite athletes and entertainers, the ruined reputations and incarcerations of dishonest and unethical business tycoons, and the squandered opportunities or even premature deaths of talented artists and musicians snared in the tangled web of substance abuse.

No matter how smart you may be in one life arena, you will remain an existential infant if you neglect the other arenas. In extreme cases, this oversight may cost you your health, happiness, financial stability, relationships, or even your life!

Applicable here are the wise words of Mohandas Gandhi, who once said: [YOU] cannot do right in one department of life whilst ... occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole." (10)

"You cannot do right in one department of life whilst occupied in

doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole."

—Mohandas Gandhi

While self-improvement may occur in one arena at a time, systems thinking teaches that every thought, word, and deed influences (for good or ill) every other area of your life, and therefore your life as a whole. This means a positive impact or imprint in one arena produces a correlating influence upon all other arenas, thus positively influencing the entirety of your life's existence—and vice versa in the case of a negative impact or imprint. Likewise, imbalances of either excess or deficiency will similarly influence one's holistic existential balance and/or intelligence.  

Self-action leaders aim for growth across the full spectrum of their humanity (all 8 life arenas). Such balance enhances and advances their very being and existence, making them whole through a SAL-imbued "Golden Mean." (11)

Many people are masters at one area of their lives, yet slaves to other parts. For example, think of someone you know who is athletic, fit, and physically attractive, yet spiritually or morally bankrupt and always mired in disastrous relationships. On the other hand, have you ever met a good, kind, spiritual person with healthy relationships, but who suffers from preventable physical health problems.

Do you, by chance, know someone who is incredibly successful professionally and financially, but who lost his or her virtue, integrity, and family on their way to the "Top"? Or perhaps you have known someone who is so overly devoted to their family and church that they can't pay their own bills?

You probably know people who are incredibly talented, capable, and effective in one, two, or three of the eight (8) arenas, yet never attain the happiness, joy, and inner peace that is available only to those who are more balanced—a reward which can only come from investing an equitable expenditure of time and effort across the full spectrum of life arenas. To become a master of one area of your life at the expense of the others defeats the ultimate purposes of SAL.

At this point, perhaps you are feeling a little guilty about—or even overwhelmed by—your own life imbalances. 

Don't fret!

        YOU are not alone. 

Despite being the author of this concept and studying its particulars in great detail for nearly four decades, I openly confess that I remain guilty of many life imbalances myself! 

Indeed, I struggle right along with everyone else when it comes to my own daily application of SAL in its proper balance. It's not an easy pathway to tread; but it is a worthwhile journey to pursue, especially when you continually remind yourself that the goal is not PERFECTION—the goal is steady growth over long periods of time through the pursuit of ideals in the form of SAL principles and practices.

Knowing that I will continue to struggle with my own SAL to varying degrees for the rest of my life removes a great deal of pressure by perpetually posturing SAL as a positive and productive doctrine as opposed to a discouraging or defeating dogma.

Yes... I will continue to struggle no matter how long and hard I try.

        And so will you!

But the struggle is worthwhile because the rewards for doing so ultimately outweigh the price required to obtain them.

While holistic human perfection may not be possible in this world, piecemeal progress and perpetual personal polishing is not only possible, but guaranteed as you embrace the life-changing principles and practices championed in this text. None of us will ever reach perfection as mortals; but we can achieve a measure of existential completion and wholeness... one, small step at a time.    

With this hope in mind, I earnestly urge you to avoid beating yourself up over your present flaws, imbalances, and inadequacies. A much more positive and productive approach is to reinvest that same energy into incrementally inching toward tangible improvement—one small step-at-a-time.

Personal change is rarely easy; but it is always possible.

Self-Action Leadership empowers men and women, boys and girls with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration to become masters of their entire lives, not just selective slices of it. The concept of harmonizing the eight (8) core life arenas into increased states of balance is referred to as Existential Balance, which Freedom Focused defines as: a healthy state of equilibrium among the Eight (8) Life Arenas of Self-Action Leadership.

EXISTENTIAL BALANCE

A healthy state of equilibrium among the eight (8) Life Arenas of Self-Action Leadership (SAL).

"Just as a car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther

when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your

thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance."

—Brian Tracy

The goal of Self-Action Leadership is not to become an elite metaphysical "Athlete" in one, two, or even several of these eight (8) life arenas. The objective is to become a proficient—not to be confused with a perfect—metaphysical OCTATHLETE in all eight arenas, and thereby achieve high levels of both Existential Intelligence and Existential Balance. The quest for Existential Growth through Existential Intelligence is made possible by a balanced pursuit of these eight (8) life arenas of SAL. It is yet another way in which morally-informed Self-Action Leadership transcends morally-neutral self-leadership.  

In his book, How Will You Measure Your Life, the late Clayton Christensen—a highly acclaimed innovation expert and former Harvard Business School (HBS) professor—tells of his experience observing the life trajectories of classmates from his own college days as a student at HBS. He explained that at his five-year class reunion, nearly everyone seemed to be doing well, getting rich, and enjoying positive personal relationships. By their tenth reunion, however, things had begun to change, and that "despite [significant] professional accomplishments, ... many of them were clearly unhappy." (12)

He goes on to say: 

"Behind the facade of professional success, there were many who did not enjoy what they were doing for a living. There were, also, numerous stories of divorce or unhappy marriages. I remember one classmate who hadn't talked to his children in years, who was living on the opposite coast from them. Another was on her third marriage since we'd graduated." (13)

Christensen shared further that one of his classmates was the now infamous Jeffrey Skilling, former CEO of Enron—the ignominious energy corporation that swindled employees and investors out of billions in the early 2000s. Surprisingly, Christensen describes "the Jeffrey Skilling I knew of from our years at HBS [as a] good man." According to Christensen, "he was smart, he worked hard, [and] he loved his family." (14). Over time, Skilling obviously lost sight of his moral compass, among other things, and it was sad for Christensen to observe from afar the decline of someone who started out with so much promise. 

Such a scenario, and others similar to them, are extreme examples of what can occur when human beings fail to develop Existential Intelligence and Balance in their lives and careers. It's what happens when you focus all (or most) of your time, effort, and focus on one life arena while neglecting or abandoning the others.

Existential Octathletes

According to Loehr and Schwartz: "we build emotional, mental and spiritual capacity in precisely the same way that we build physical capacity ... [by engaging in] positive ... behavior that becomes automatic over time—fueled by some deeply held value." (15) Thus, whether you are training for an athletic decathlon or an existential octathlon, a price must be paid in focus, intention, effort, sacrifice, and time if you want to get results. The good news is that the rewards on the other side of said investments make the commitment and exertion more than worth it.

Freedom Focused defines an Existential Octathlete as: a self-action leader who strives for Existential Balance and Intelligence by concurrently focusing on one's development and growth in all eight (8) life arenas of Self-Action Leadership. Similarly, an Existential Octathlon refers to: the lifelong pursuit of Existential Balance, Growth, and Freedom across the eight (8) life arenas of Self-Action Leadership.

EXISTENTIAL OCTATHLETE

A self-action leader who continually strives for Existential Balance and Intelligence by concurrently focusing on one's development and growth in all eight (8) life arenas of Self-Action Leadership.

EXISTENTIAL OCTATHLON

The lifelong pursuit of Existential Balance, Growth, and Freedom

across the eight (8) life arenas of Self-Action Leadership.

In order to become a high-functioning self-action leader, you must do more than focus on one or two arenas of life and SAL; you must strive to develop all eight of them together in harmony and equilibrium. In other words, YOU must become a high-performing metaphysical OCTATHLETE. As you do so, you elevate your own Existential Intelligence and Balance to the greatest possible degree. Along the way, you begin to usher into your life the kind and degree of growth, progress, happiness, success, and inner peace that you most seek.

I recognize the ambitious nature of this holistic life objective. As such, I sincerely empathize with anyone who perceives this audacious existential quest to be daunting, if not overwhelming. No one ever said that achieving Existential Balance would be easy; you will certainly never hear me say that! 

No!

        It is not easy. 

But like any other worthwhile objective in life, it is worth the high price you must pay to obtain it. 

Why?

        Because the rewards ultimately outweigh the cost... many times over. 

In track and field, you can choose to compete in whatever event you wish; there is no moral imperative involved in your selection of contests. Real life is different. Whether we know it or not, and whether we like it or not, all human beings are Existential Octathletes. Unfortunately, not everyone is educated in and fully committed to, Existential Balance. This is one reason there is such a wide spectrum of figurative "Performance Scores" among collective humanity. 

At Freedom Focused, we believe that all human beings have a moral imperative (or duty)—for our own good and the welfare of others around us—to cultivate, develop, and continually nurture all eight (8) arenas of life and SAL to the best of our knowledge and ability. We are, of course, free to choose not to do so. In fact, many (if not most)—wittingly or not—fail to do so to a large degree, and the negative consequences that flow from such neglect are predictable and odious.

Existential Octathletes vs. Renaissance Men and Women

 

High-functioning self-action leaders are not necessarily Renaissance men or women with it comes to their specific personal aptitudes and talents. Indeed, many of us—like myself—may have a relatively narrow niche of concrete personal or professional skills. For example, I am an outstanding writer, speaker, leader, and organizer. But ask me to build, fix, install, operate, design, decorate, invent, market, sell, or troubleshoot anything even remotely artistic, mechanical, or technological and you will be sorely disappointed in my service. 

I am not a jack-of-all-trades.

        I am a master of a few trades.

As an executive, there's little point in hiring an artist to serve as a mechanic, or tapping a poet for a tech job. In some (and perhaps many) cases, it may be possible to teach, train, and equip someone with an average aptitude in a given area to eventually provide basic services in an acceptable manner in that field. To do so, however, is usually a poor use of your organization's finite time, energy, and resources. You are better off investing more time in recruiting an ideal candidate well suited to each open position. Thus, when it comes to most job openings, employers aren't looking for a Renaissance man or woman; they're simply seeking out a subject area expert with a specific set of demonstrable knowledge, skills, and talents.

However, employers do want all of their people to be well-balanced human beings who have personal and professional direction and vision (constitutional), are in-tune with their inner selves and outer environment (spiritual), are healthy and fit (physical), cognitively competent and stable (mental), emotionally mature (emotional), socially well adjusted and savvy (social), fiscally discreet, prudent, and wise (financial), and honest, trustworthy, and ethical (moral). Employers will not, of course, always get a workforce so ideally healthy and balanced, but rest assured it's the universally desired ideal.

Being an Existential Octathlete does not mean you must become an expert at a holistic array of work functions. Relatively few people are Renaissance men and women or "Jack-" or "Jill-of-all-trades." It merely means you are striving to develop the capacity to maintain a healthy equilibrium among the Eight (8) Life Arenas of Self-Action Leadership.

Developing Existential Balance is not easy.

        But it is possible!

Most (if not all) people—myself included—struggle throughout their lives to realize this elusive achievement. But you can become increasingly balanced over time through conscious and intentional effort conscientiously and consistently expended.

In Your Journal

• Which of the eight (8) Life Arenas of SAL do you exhibit the most natural strength?

• Which of the eight (8) Life Arenas of SAL do you exhibit the most natural weakness?

• Which of the eight (8) Life Arenas of SAL would you benefit most from focusing and working on?

• What other insights can you glean from the "Existential Octathlete" paradigm that will benefit your life and career moving forward?

—Dr. JJ

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

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Chapter 4 Notes:

1.  Loehr, J, & Schwartz, T. (2003). The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. Free Press: New York, NY. Page 12.

2.  Ibid. See pages 197-222.

3.  Ibid. Page 13.

4.  Proverbs 29:18 (The Old Testament)

5.  Wigglesworth, C. (2012). SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence. New York, NY: SelectBooks, Inc. Page 8.

6.  Zohar, D. & Marshall, I. (2000). SQ: CONNECTING with our SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE. New York, NY: Bloomsbury. Page 4.

7.  Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More than IQ. New York, NY: Bantam Books.

8.  Ibid. Page 42-43.

9.  Goleman, D. (2006). Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships. New York, NY: Arrow Books. Page 54.

10.  Covey, S. R. (2004). The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. New York, NY: Free Press. Page 150.

11.  Aristotle's "Golden Mean" will be formally introduced and explicated in greater detail in a later chapter.  

12. Christensen, C.M., Allworth, J., and Dillon, K. (2012). How Will You Measure Your Life. Harper Business: New York, NY. Page 2.

13.  Ibid.

14.  Ibid. Page 3.

15.  Loehr, J, & Schwartz, T. (2003). The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. New York, NY: Free Press. Pages 13-14.