Like all other architectures, the architect of your life should begin by finding the purpose for existence of the architecture. Before constructing a building, the architect is aware of the purpose of the construction - whether it’s a commercial building, residential or SOHO. Similarly, the enterprise architect is aware of the prime objective before starting the detailed assessment – to enable the business achieve its vision and mission, ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and systems.
Knowing the prime objective of your life’s architecture is the most critical component in the whole equation. This is what which guides you to choose some paths and ignore other. This is what which triggers activation of some components, till the required level, deactivating the redundant active components and ignoring the insignificant components which prompt you for attention.
If you have already figured out the prime objective of your life on this planet, make it visible by writing it below:
I would like to congratulate you if you have written down the objective in bold letters. Most of us are either not confident or not aware of these 2-3 lines which acts like the shining North Star for the lost traveler in the desert. These lines guide us to choose confidently, one out of the several decision points which we come across at life’s crossroads.
The best phase in your life to find out this objective is when your conscious mind is not biased. Usually, by the end of junior college / college this objective should have formed. But, it is never late to formulate the prime objective of your own life!
Since each of us is unique, this objective should be derived from your own self. It cannot be biased against any living or non-living entity on this planet. This should be the purpose for you to live and be happy till the time you are here. Perform a high level assessment of your own self. This assessment should be carried on your strengths, weaknesses, likings, dislikes, dependencies, threats, potential opportunities and drive. Lock yourself in an empty space, free your mind from any disturbing, interfering thoughts and just THINK. Think that what makes you happy, what is that one trigger that drives you and makes you to lose your sleep voluntarily, what will happen if you are to die today. This thinking process should involve just you. Keep meditating on this thought process till the picture gets clear and the purpose of your life is formed explicitly.
The purpose in life is to have a life of purpose. What would be this objective in the life of say, Warren Buffet – to generate maximum profit on the money invested by shareholders. Buffet’s relentless adherence on this consequential purpose made him what he is today and by what he will be remembered tomorrow. Consider the drive in the life of any nobel prize winner or Oscar winner, you will find a similar pattern – identification of the purpose in life and going all length possible to manifest it.
There could be a possibility that achievement of the latest discovered objective in your life is dependent on the current job you are into but this current job has no relation with this objective. For example, you discovered that your drive in life is writing but you are involved in some 9 to 5 job in a bank. This job helps you to earn your daily bread and pay for your EMIs but it has no role to play in giving birth to a new writer. In such cases, one should not lose focus from the objective. Incessant pursuit to realize the dreams into reality should never cease. Classical time management and personal financial management should be followed. Eye should be on the job at hand but vision should be on manifestation of the set objective. A gradual but constant effort should be put to ensure smooth cut-over from the job at hand to a full time writer.
Make sure you fill the lines above before moving ahead!
Now, when you know the purpose of your life, let’s move ahead.
At this stage you should focus on the missions supporting the vision. It is analogous with the vision-mission statement of any world class organization. For example, if the vision of an organization is to be the preferred partner in its area of service, the mission would have a strong focus on customer satisfaction. To determine the mission statements, you need to perform a detailed assessment. Let’s see how to do it!
Start with the high level assessment points which you have discovered and noted in the first phase. Prepare a table as mentioned below for each of the area assessed:
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Strength | Categorization | Assessed Strengths | Rating based on the objective to be achieved | Final rating based on inter-related components. | Plans to Improve |
| Emotional | A | 5 |
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| B | 4 |
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| Good Listener | 7 | 6 |
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| Personality | D | 1 |
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| E | 10 |
| NA | ||
| F | 8 |
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| External | G | 7 |
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| Internal | Cooking | 0 |
| NA | |
| Exercising | 4 | NA |
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In the “Assessed Strengths” column, list all your strengths which you have assessed to meet the purpose of the architecture in progress. The next step is to perform a gap assessment against each of the listed strength.
Consider a scale of 1 to 10. You need to rate your strengths as per this scale. Before assigning the rating, perform a gap assessment of the strength you possess against the optimum level required to meet the purpose. A strength rated 10 will imply the optimum level of that strength you possess to successfully meet the set objective. Strengths rated 1 lie at the farthest end from the optimum level required. The amount of effort which you need to put will be most for the strengths at the lower end of this scale.
A rating of 0 would imply that the strength has no role to play to meet the objective.
For example, you have decided to be a doctor, start your own clinic and spend your life treating diseases and illness which afflict mankind. Great! While assessing your strengths, you found that you are a good listener, but you need improvement. You rated this strength at level of 7. Now, while assessing your weaknesses, you found yourself to be impatient. This trait when combined with your strength as a good listener definitely dilutes the impact! So, till the time you work on this weakness, it will have an impact on the rating of 7 provided. So, based on this evaluation, you re-assign the previous rating of 7 to 6. You also assessed that you cook really well. But for this objective, unless you come up with a way to utilize this quality to sustain the objective till its completion, you can rate this as 0.
Remember that there are some traits, which if possessed, bulwarks any objective set by you. For example, exercising regularly or attending regular yoga classes is conducive to your health and mental well-being. If you possess traits like these, go ahead and include in the list of your strengths and provide a rating as per the frequency and depth of your involvement.
Remember to prioritize and emphasize more on the development plans machinated for the strength rated below 4.
Similarly, assess and populate tables on your weaknesses, likings, dislikes, dependencies, threats, potential opportunities and drive. Phew!
Table on weakness has been provided below for you to populate:
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Weakness | Categorization | Assessed Weaknesses | Rating based on the objective to be achieved | Final rating based on inter-related components. | Plans to Improve |
| Emotional | A |
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| B |
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| C |
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| Personality | D |
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| E |
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| F |
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| External | G |
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| Internal | H |
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| I |
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Now, you have done a detailed assessment of yourself from all possible angles and based on the ratings provided, you have vowed to generate results on the identified action items. All the best!
| Identified Action Items | Rating based on the objective to be achieved | Final rating based on inter-related components. | Plans to Improve |
| A |
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| G |
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| H |
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| I |
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