Strategize Your Life: Applying Corporate Strategy Principles to Build a Great Life

Key Takeaways

1. Learn a 7-step approach to design a personalized life strategy inspired by corporate strategy principles.
2. Discover how to assess, prioritize, and balance life’s key areas effectively.
3. Create a strategic life portfolio to align your time, energy, and goals for a fulfilling and meaningful life.

In ever-changing and fast paced world, creating a structured approach to life can be transformative. Inspired by the methods used in corporate strategy, Strategize Your Life offers a seven-step framework to design a personal life strategy.

By aligning the principles of corporate strategic thinking with personal aspirations, this approach enables individuals to chart a course toward a fulfilling and meaningful life.

From Boardrooms to Personal Growth: The Origin of Strategize Your Life

After years of experience in corporate consultancy, I began to see parallels between corporate strategy and personal decision-making.

In corporate settings, strategic thinking is used to position organizations for success. If we apply these principles to personal life, we can identify choices that lead to a great life.

Though a word of caution, unlike corporate strategies that focus on “winning,” life strategies center on living well and finding fulfillment.

Corporate vs. Life Strategy

Here’s a direct comparison:

The Seven Steps to a Life Strategy

1. Define Success

Corporate Context: How does the organization define success?
Life Application: What does a great life mean to me?

Success in life isn’t merely about wealth, fame, or power. These factors provide limited satisfaction due to phenomena like hedonic adaptation (the tendency to revert to a baseline level of happiness) and social comparison. Instead, a great life encompasses deeper elements like purpose, relationships, and achievements.

2. Identify Purpose

Corporate Context: What is the organization’s purpose?
Life Application: What is my life purpose?

Purpose acts as the guiding star. It reflects how we contribute to the world and aligns our actions with our values.

3. Develop a Vision

Corporate Context: What is the organization’s vision?
Life Application: What is my life vision?

A life vision provides clarity about the future we want to create, serving as a motivational framework for decision-making.

4. Assess the Portfolio

Corporate Context: How does the organization assess its business portfolio?
Life Application: How do I assess my life portfolio?

Your life portfolio includes the activities, relationships, and commitments you invest in. By evaluating these elements, you can identify areas that require more attention or adjustment.

Create your own life portfolio, download free template for quick start.

5. Learn from Best Practices

Corporate Context: What can we learn from benchmarks?
Life Application: What practices or habits can I adopt to improve my life?

Drawing inspiration from successful strategies or frameworks, such as the PERMA-V model from positive psychology, can provide actionable insights.

The PERMA-V Framework

• P (Positive Emotions): Cultivate contentment and joy.
• E (Engagement): Pursue activities that immerse you in a state of flow.
• R (Relationships): Build deep connections with family, friends, and others.
• M (Meaning): Contribute to something greater than yourself.
• A (Achievement): Set and accomplish meaningful goals.
• V (Vitality): Maintain physical and mental health.

6. Make Integrated Choices

Corporate Context: What portfolio choices should the organization make?
Life Application: What life portfolio choices should I prioritize?

This step consolidates insights from the previous steps to craft a cohesive strategy. For instance, if relationships and health are high-priority but neglected areas, intentional actions like reconnecting with loved ones or adopting a fitness routine can create positive change.

7. Ensure Sustained Change

Corporate Context: How can the organization ensure successful, sustained change?
Life Application: How can I maintain long-term personal growth?

Consistency and adaptability are key. Regularly reviewing your strategy ensures alignment with evolving goals and circumstances.

Strategic Life Units and the Life Portfolio Matrix

In corporate strategy, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix evaluates business units based on market share and growth potential. Similarly, the Strategic Life Portfolio maps life areas based on their importance and satisfaction.

Creating Your Life Portfolio

1. Identify Strategic Life Units: Divide your life into key areas like relationships, health, career, hobbies, and community involvement.
2. Evaluate Time Investment: Analyze how you currently spend your 168 weekly hours.
3. Rate Importance and Satisfaction: Assign scores (0-10) to reflect each unit’s significance and your satisfaction with it.

The Strategic Life Portfolio Matrix

• X-Axis: Satisfaction levels.
• Y-Axis: Importance levels.
• Bubble Size: Time invested.

This visual tool highlights areas needing immediate attention (high importance, low satisfaction) and areas of over-investment (low importance, high time).

Example: Dev’s Portfolio

• High Importance, Low Satisfaction: Significant other, mental health, societal engagement, and education.
• High Time Investment, Low Importance: Online entertainment.

For Dev, reallocating time from low-priority areas to high-priority ones could significantly enhance his quality of life.

Aligning the Portfolio with a Great Life

A well-balanced life portfolio supports your purpose and vision. Ideally, important areas should also have high satisfaction levels, with significant time allocated to them. However, achieving this requires proactive adjustments.

Practical Tips for Realignment

• Reconnect with old friends to improve relationships.
• Limit social media usage to free up time for meaningful activities.
• Set specific goals to enhance satisfaction in neglected areas.

The Role of Serendipity in Life Strategy

While having a strategy is crucial, life also requires flexibility and openness to unexpected opportunities. As Seneca wisely stated:

• “If you do not know which port you are sailing to, no wind is favorable.”
• “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”

A well-crafted life strategy prepares you to make the most of life’s serendipitous moments.

Final Thoughts

Strategize Your Life blends corporate strategy principles with personal growth to create a structured approach for living a fulfilling life.

By following the seven steps, assessing your life portfolio, and staying adaptable, you can design a life that aligns with your values, purpose, and vision. Take the first step today and craft your strategy for a great life.

Create your own life portfolio, download free template for quick start.