The EOS Life

1. Discover Your Personal Sweet Spot: Do What You Love

"You have a genetic encoding that is unique to you. You have a talent or superpower. You have a personal sweet spot. There is something that you love to do and that you are great at doing. You are passionate about it. It is your purpose."

Identify your unique abilities. Use the Delegate and Elevate tool to list all your work activities and categorize them into four quadrants: love/great at, like/good at, don't like/good at, and don't like/not good at. Your goal is to spend most of your time in the top-left quadrant, doing what you love and excel at.

Delegate or eliminate lower-value tasks. Gradually remove activities from the bottom two quadrants by delegating them to others or eliminating them entirely. This process frees you to focus on high-value work that energizes you and provides the most benefit to your organization.

Commit to continuous improvement. Aim to delegate at least one task per quarter from your bottom quadrants. This ongoing process will help you evolve your role and increase your effectiveness over time. Remember, this journey may lead to significant career changes or refinements in your current position.

2. Surround Yourself with People Who Share Your Values

"You must always hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize with your Core Values in mind."

Define your Core Values. Work with your leadership team to identify the fundamental principles that guide your organization. These values should be non-negotiable and reflect the essence of your company culture.

Use the People Analyzer tool. Evaluate current and potential team members based on how well they embody your Core Values. Rate each person as "+", "+/-", or "-" for each value. Those who consistently fall below the bar should be replaced with individuals who align better with your values.

Apply this process to:

• Hiring decisions
• Performance reviews
• Team building
• Client and vendor relationships

Expand your value-aligned circle. Apply this principle beyond your immediate team to clients, vendors, and even personal relationships. Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals will create a more harmonious and energizing environment in all aspects of your life.

3. Make a Huge Difference Through Your Work

"The number-one way you can have an impact on this world is to create more leaders."

Define your impact. Use the Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) tool to clarify your company's core focus, long-term goals, and the unique value you provide to your target market. This clarity will guide your efforts to make a meaningful difference.

Develop leaders within your organization. Commit to mentoring and developing future leaders who can, in turn, create more leaders. This multiplier effect can significantly expand your impact over time.

Ways to develop leaders:

• Provide mentorship opportunities
• Delegate important responsibilities
• Invest in training and education
• Create a culture of continuous learning

Think beyond your company. Consider how your work impacts employees, customers, families, and communities. Strive to create positive change that extends far beyond your immediate business goals.

4. Earn What You Deserve by Providing Value

"You can have everything in life you want—if you will just help other people get what they want."

Focus on value creation. Your compensation should be directly proportional to the value you provide. Continuously look for ways to solve problems and meet needs for your clients, customers, and organization.

Elevate your work. Avoid doing "$25-an-hour work" if you want to earn six figures or more. Delegate administrative tasks and lower-value activities to focus on high-impact work that justifies higher compensation.

Examples of high-value activities:

• Strategic planning
• Building key relationships
• Solving complex problems
• Developing new products or services

Embrace economic leverage. Recognize that investing in support (e.g., hiring an assistant) can free you to focus on higher-value work, ultimately increasing your earning potential and impact.

5. Create Time for Personal Passions and Rejuvenation

"You are not balanced if you're working 100% of the time. You are not complete."

Define your work container. Determine the ideal number of hours per week and weeks per year you want to work. This becomes your 100% capacity, which you must protect to maintain balance and energy.

Prioritize time off. Commit to a specific number of days off per year, including weekends, vacations, and personal time. Regular breaks are essential for recharging and maintaining peak performance.

Pursue personal passions. Identify activities outside of work that energize and fulfill you. Make time for these pursuits to create a well-rounded life and prevent burnout.

Potential personal passions:

• Travel
• Hobbies (e.g., sports, arts, reading)
• Volunteering
• Learning new skills
• Spending time with family and friends

6. Commit to Living Your Ideal Life: The EOS Life Journey

"Living The EOS Life is truly a journey. It's not a switch you turn on. It's not like 'click,' you're living The EOS Life. You have to make gradual progress every day toward living the life you were born to live."

Embrace the journey. Understand that achieving The EOS Life is an ongoing process of improvement and refinement. Set a long-term goal (e.g., 10 years) for fully living your ideal life.

Regular self-assessment. Use the EOS Life Model to rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 for each of the five elements:

1. Doing what you love
2. With people you love
3. Making a huge difference
4. Being compensated appropriately
5. Having time for other passions

Commit to quarterly progress. During regular Clarity Breaks, review your EOS Life journal and identify specific actions to improve at least one element each quarter. Consistently working on these areas will lead to significant long-term progress.

7. Harness and Maximize Your Energy with 10 Disciplines

"Each one of these disciplines is fast, simple, and powerful. They will help you expand, focus, and manage your energy."

Implement energy management practices. Adopt the 10 disciplines to optimize your personal energy and effectiveness:

1. 10-Year Thinking
2. Take Time Off
3. Know Thyself
4. Be Still
5. Know Your 100%
6. Say No Often
7. Don't Do $25-an-Hour Work
8. Prepare Every Night
9. Put Everything in One Place
10. (10th discipline not provided in the given text)

Start with small changes. Choose one or two disciplines to focus on initially, and gradually incorporate more as you build momentum. Consistency in applying these practices will lead to significant improvements in your energy and productivity over time.

8. Embrace Long-Term Thinking for Better Decision-Making

"When you shift to long-range thinking, time will suddenly slow down. A peace will come over you. You will start to make better decisions. You will become more consistent."

Adopt a 10-year mindset. Shift your thinking from short-term concerns to long-range planning. This perspective helps you make better decisions and stay focused on what truly matters.

Set a 10-year goal. Identify the most important thing you want to accomplish a decade from now. Use this goal to guide your current decisions and actions.

Prepare for cycles. Recognize that every 10-year period will likely include ups and downs. Expect and plan for:

• Two great years
• Six good years
• Two terrible years

Maintain cash reserves (6 months of operating expenses) to weather downturns and stay focused on long-term success.

9. Know Yourself Deeply and Be Authentically You

"The sooner you decide to be yourself 100% of the time, the sooner you'll have more energy. Because you won't have to fake it anymore. Being something you are not consumes a lot of energy."

Explore self-discovery tools. Use personality assessments, therapy, or honest feedback from others to gain deeper insights into your strengths, weaknesses, and unique traits.

Embrace your authentic self. Allow yourself to be quirky and unique. Stop trying to be different versions of yourself in various contexts, as this consumes valuable energy.

Leverage your strengths. Once you understand your natural abilities and preferences, focus on maximizing these strengths rather than trying to fix every weakness.

10. Master Time Management and Learn to Say No

"If it isn't a hell yes, then it's a no."

Protect your time and energy. Learn to say no to commitments and activities that don't align with your goals or values. This practice frees you to focus on what's truly important.

Prepare for each day. Every night, plan out the next day in detail. This habit helps you sleep better, wake up with clarity, and hit the ground running.

Use a centralized system. Keep all your tasks, ideas, and plans in one place (e.g., a legal pad or digital tool). This practice reduces mental clutter and improves focus.

Eliminate low-value work. Delegate or eliminate $25-an-hour tasks to free up your energy for high-impact activities that justify higher compensation and create more value.

Last updated: October 9, 2024