Today, I’m sharing with you another amazing article I read recently on the subject of “life”.
You might wonder why I’m writing (or covering) so much on the subject of “life” on a platform dedicated to entrepreneurship.
Well, that’s the entire point of becoming a “entrepreneur” – one who is not just successful in investing his financial capital, but also enriches his human capital.
Also, an avid reader of this blog recently wrote – “…your values play a much more vital role in shaping up how you live rather than what bank balance you have. And by live, I mean really live, not simply exist.”
Anyways, the article I’m sharing today was recently written by Clayton M. Christensen, a renowned Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.
Christensen is also known for his study of innovation in commercial enterprises, as he articulated in his masterpiece book The Innovator’s Dilemma.
The article was titled “How Will You Measure Your Life?”, which tried to answer three key questions you must have in your life:
- How can I be sure that I’ll be happy in my career?
- How can I be sure that my relationships with my spouse and my family become an enduring source of happiness?
- How can I be sure I’ll stay out of jail?
As Christensen writes, “…though the last question sounds lighthearted, it’s not. Two of the 32 people in my Rhodes scholar class spent time in jail.”
Look around and you will find enough cases of “normal and respectable” people who did not answer this third question, and are now spending life in jail. Bernard Madoff, and Jeff Skilling (Enron) and just a few of them.
The reason I would like you to read this article is not just to get answers to these three questions on life, but also because some of these answers will help you in directing your entrepreneurial life.
Christensen’s point about avoiding the “marginal costs” mistake is one enlightening lesson that I have taken from this article, as this is one of the key reasons for a lot of entrepreneurial mistakes I have made in my lifetime.
Then, the points on “remembering the importance of humility” and “choosing the right yardstick” are gems in themselves that can add a lot of meaning to your life and entrepreneurial behaviour.
I have read and re-read this article several times over the past few days, and I’m sure you will also do the same…for each reading will bring forth some big lesson that might mean a lot to you.
Here’s the link to the original article.
Let me know the biggest lesson you got from it (in the Comments section below).