Reflections on a Well Lived Life

NationSwell's Winter Signature Dinner Series

Here at NationSwell, we recognize the importance of fostering environments where leaders can convene, reflect, and connect amidst today's challenging landscape. Our Signature Dinners, a cornerstone of the NationSwell membership experience, offer our community a space to share professional insights and the personal journeys that inspire their work.

To welcome 2024, we hosted a dinner series across six cities, inviting NationSwell members and friends to explore what helps them lead a well-lived life. These purpose-driven leaders were encouraged to relax, connect, reflect, and embrace the year with a renewed sense of purpose and intention. Throughout these rich, meaningful, and wide-ranging discussions, valuable practices and wisdom were shared. Here are just a few takeaways that resonated with our team:

Our communities are full of changemakers – from younger generations speaking out about systemic change and philanthropy to others embracing the value of exchanging wisdom across generations – and there’s power in all of us to refuse the status quo, to reclaim and embrace DEIB and boldly confront fear and uncertainty by asking, "What is the cost of inaction?"

- San Francisco

Belonging starts with unapologetically belonging to yourself, embracing authenticity, and resisting FOPO (Fear of Other People’s Opinions).

- Phoenix

Reframing holds so much power – from “I have to” to “I get to”; small adjustments can make a huge impact.

- Dallas

A well-lived life isn't devoid of pain; too often, we prioritize happiness over health. It’s through hard times that we can really grow, build empathy, and truly connect with others, which is the beauty of the human experience.

- Washington, DC

While facing the overwhelm of competing priorities for our time, what we have control over is true presence with what is directly in front of us in any given moment.

- Phoenix

Neighborhood joy manifests in diverse and enriching ways like celebrating the unique vibrancy of our communities,?to venturing beyond comfort zones and joining running groups, creating lifelong Seinfeld friends, to reviving a collective commitment to nurturing "our children," fostering a sense of shared responsibility, to seeking our place within the community for personal fulfillment and contributing to the collective well-being – not only enriching our own lives but strengthening the fabric of the communities we call home.

- San Francisco

Stay tuned for learnings from our upcoming Signature Dinner Series on Innovation and Inspiration, where we will exchange insights, share experiences, and delve into the latest breakthroughs with like-minded change-makers across sectors and practice areas.