Personal & Professional Being-Doing-Becoming Manifesto

"Rest in Reason, Move in Passion" - is one of my most favorite quote from Kahlil Gibran. In just a few words he packs an avalanche of advice on how to lead our lives.

I had my own fair share of reflection moments through life to figure out what do I really want to stand for, what is important for me both professional and personally. Also, most importantly, what themes and work am I committing my focus and attention to. There are no easy answers.

The questions are also not easy.

A decade ago when I was going through this turmoil, I had a breakthrough moment. Just like in the movies, especially the famous scene from Jerry McGuire where the protagonist has an epiphany and writes his manifesto. I too had my epiphany around this simple yet powerful distinction - in life we can't just have goals, they have to be further clarified.

In that breakthrough moment, I sat down and drafted my first version of BEING and DOING Goals. That was the first distinction - I need both BEING and DOING goals for myself. The former defines who you are, what your values are and who you want to be each moment. The latter, defines what you want to do with who you are, your strengths, your interests and your pursuits.

Fast forward a decade. Now I have an annual ritual to reflect on my BEING-DOING goals and update them. In 2023, I took a further step and added BECOMING to the trilogy - BECOMING being the best version of yourself you want to be, the legacy you want to leave to the world.

These are not easy intentions, not easy aspirations - yet the trick is to keep clarifying them, documenting them and working towards manifesting them.

One way i have worked towards is to put it out there - on social media, LinkedIn, etc. - so demonstrate your conviction and also to connect with likeminded people who are on the similar journey, or those who have been there done that and can support me on my journey.

So, here it goes .. snapshots of my BEING, DOING and BECOMING insights. These are built using various tools and self-reflection. Some of those being:

1. Character Strengths from VIACharacter.org
2. Gallup Strengths Profile Gallup
3. Career Anchors by Edgar Schein
4. Leadership Philosophy/Brand Statement as taught by Ed Cohen

"Be who you are"

"Mastery demands all of a Person" - Einstein

"Average will not be my legacy"

After identifying and iterating on my BEING-DOING-BECOMING goals, it was important to ensure that these anchors and aspirations are aligned to my day to day interactions, personal and professional choices.

That's when I have created this "Themes of Career Alignment" rubric for myself to evaluate my career options both in my current job and also other opportunities. This has come in really handy for me not to make spur of moment choices which will backfire later, or it has helped me a lot to evaluate my progress in a given organization if that opportunity is taking me closer to these or taking me away - based on this strategic self-awareness my career path has been kept consistent.

"Wherever you go, you are a Whole Person"

All that I have shared above I have also converted into a 3-5 day workshop for those interested to created their own "Personal & Professional Manifesto". I keep offering these to the teams I work with and also in my Mentoring and Coaching I do with upcoming HR/Talent/Learning/Business professionals.

So, do you know who you are? What are your BEING-DOING-BECOMING goals?

Please share here in the comments section and let us learn more about you and also inspire us with your goals.

Let me end with what I have began with - "Rest in Reason, Move in Passion".

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If you have enjoyed reading this blog, here are links to my earlier blogs.

Do check them out:

1. 22 Questions to reflection on as we being 2022
2. 9 Questions to ask if you are feeling "Lonely as a Leader"
3. 8 Powerful Questions to Live a Balanced Life
4. 3 Insights from a Simple Social Experiment
5. 5 Lessons from 50 Days of Daily Gratitude Practice
6. 9 Powerful Questions for Building Resilience
7. Rise of Phoenix: 8 Strategies for Successful Corporate Turnarounds
8. Oh Leader, Where are you?
9. 3 Life Lessons from a Beach Butterfly
10. 3 Focus areas for First 90 Days on a Job
11. 3 Tips for pursuing Excellence through Deliberate Practice
12. 5 Traits of Exceptional Managers and Leaders
13. 3 Reminders for Work and Character Development
14. 5 Leadership Lessons from Rumi’s Poetry
15. The Supreme Art of Being a Serving Leader
16. I am a Leader and a Coach who ..
17. 3 Gifts to share with the next generation
18. Four Lessons of Emotional Intelligence from “The Hulk”
19. Crossing the Chasm of resistance during Change
20. I met Nelson Mandela Today