Greg Bishop, a Park City attorney, recently took a 12-month sabbatical from his job leading the legal, compliance, and HR functions of a public company. He and his wife traveled the country in an Airstream motorhome with their mountain bikes, road bikes, and dogs. To fully embrace their wanderlust, they traveled on state roads whenever possible and soaked up the local vibe by randomly driving around the places they visited.
Their boundless freedom to explore was made possible because they knew that wherever they went, they could always find their way back by using their GPS. GPS – or Global Positioning System – is a series of about 30 satellites that orbit the earth at an altitude of about 12,427 miles (20,000 km). Regardless of where you are on the planet, at least four satellites are ‘visible’ to you.
In regular intervals, each satellite transmits the current time as well as information about its current position. Traveling at the speed of light, these signals can be read by any GPS receiver, such as a smartphone. Once a GPS receiver receives this information from three satellites, it can calculate the current position through a process known as trilateration.
In the quest for a successful career, the life part of the work-life balance is often short-changed. Mr. Bishop explains that while retirement is not a cure-all for habits developed over 30 or more years, it is an opportunity to decide what guiding principles will govern your journey going forward.
During his sabbatical, he and his wife agreed on four governing values – four positioning satellites, if you will – as a way to keep them on their desired path. Having agreed on the central tenets, they condensed them into the acronym “LIVE”:
L: Love fully;
I: Improve ourselves;
V: Value others; and
E: Embrace our passions.
They went so far as to create a family symbol (of sorts) as a visual reminder not only to LIVE but to enjoy their time in the rich desert of their careers before they climb to the mountain peaks of their retirement.
One of the common casualties of a career-focused existence is that personal relationships tend to suffer from neglect. To Love Fully means to purposely embrace each personal relationship – with your partner, your family, your friends, and your God – with unconditional love and acceptance.
Regardless of your career path, it is very likely that you spent years – both before and during your employment – learning the skills necessary for you to do your job well. To Improve Yourself in retirement means to formulate a deliberate plan to improve your physical fitness, cognitive abilities, social temperament, and emotional well-being.
Time is always a precious commodity, especially during our employment years where too often the want to do is squeezed out in favor of the have to do. To Value Others means always to be kind to everyone – those you know and more importantly, those you don’t. Kindness is the gift you give to another that benefits not only that person but also you and anyone else who witnesses it.
Another frequent casualty of a career-focused life is the inability to devote as much time and energy as you would have liked to those things that bring you happiness. To Embrace Your Passions means to give yourself permission to embrace those things you enjoy doing but haven’t been able to do as much as you would have liked.
About: Greg Bishop is a business-oriented corporate attorney who always strives for improvement. He makes it a practice to only hire people who are smarter than him so that his team can raise the bar in helping the company be successful. He is passionate about living life to the fullest and helping others reach their full potential.
If you are interested in even more lifestyle-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.
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