Life Quotient for Individuals

By Lex McKee with background images courtesy of NASA/Hubble

Living a life to the full is about living in two worlds - the world of thought (where your values, beliefs, and attitudes define your vitality and joie de vivre), and the material world (where your daily habitual actions determine the results you enjoy). For these reasons, the Life Quotient questionnaire takes into account your internal and material worlds.

This questionnaire sheet can be downloaded and then printed off from the link provided in the notes below. Also available in MindManager 2012 format.

Each question should be given a rating between ‘0’ = not true for you, and ‘5’ = one of your core strengths. Four support slides follow each question slide.

MOVEMENT All living organisms live, and move, and have their being. There is a sense of liberty (and thus of a life-to-the-full) around mobility. We are either moving towards something we want, or away from something we don't want. These three questions focus on the positive aspect of what we do want.

I am moving towards a clear purpose in my life

• Without doubt, a life-to-the-full is a life 'on purpose'. In the words of Henry David Thoreau:

• "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."

• Having a purpose is without life though if it isn't accompanied by corresponding movement towards it. Thoreau went to the woods - he took the action required.

• Or equally eloquently as the New Testament puts it, "Faith without works is dead."

• First steps then, in pursuing a life to the full, is deciding on a purpose. All other steps involve moving towards that purpose.

• Live life deliberately...

I move towards my specific goals on a daily basis

• You can't happily be alive one day and dead the next - not if you are to live a life-to-the-full. So we need to take consistent, habitual action towards our goals on a daily basis.

• This involves: • knowing our goals • tracking our progress

(movement) • taking action day-by-day

I feel I have a real sense of momentum towards more of what I want in life

• As with the outer world, so with the inner world. Movement is propelled. Something drives it. Consider the literal meaning of "motivation" - there's movement in that word!

• So, to enjoy a life-to-the-full, we must feel motivated, or as I have put it here, have a sense of momentum towards more of what we want more of in life.

The three questions again

Rate yourself from 0-5

The three questions for “Nutrition”

Nutrition has several purposes: To give us energy To supply the building blocks for growth To be enjoyable. What gives people energy? In a word, "Attention"! Solitary confinement is designed to be unpleasant because the sensory deprivation shrivels the soul of any normal human. So, are you getting enough positive attention? To grow, we need information - we need feedback - we need communication. So many people feel starved of sufficient interaction with others. So, I include 'communication' under nutrition.

I believe I receive sufficient positive attention

• The emphasis is on the 'positive attention' - some people get unwelcome attention.

• Without enough positive 'strokes' (as they are known in Transactional Analysis), our nervous system suffers. Appalling experiments on primates (experiments of which I do NOT approve) showed actual neurological damage to young primates who were deprived of positive attention. Even negative attention is better than no attention at all, as every tempestuous toddler demonstrates at some stage in their development... and some executives never grow beyond this stage!

• This is so fundamental to our well-being that I invented a new currency of attention, the Neuro, to encourage people to pay more attention to one another.

I am entering into sufficient interaction with others

• Interaction with others is nourishing. It edifies us - an old-fashioned word for ‘building us up’. So then, attention and interaction energise and edify

I make sure I boost my energy on a daily basis

• The end result of good nutrition is a sense of energy - vitality. Many people seem slothful - living their lives in a state of low-energy. Dynamic people, on the other hand, have a certain 'Spark!' They've got some 'Oomph!' to them!!

• They've got a confidence, a healthy glow, a self-assurance, that are the signs of a good diet.

• One major way to achieve this is to make sure you have a daily diet of inputs that energise you.

• This goes way beyond the positive attention and interaction with others that we've mentioned previously.

• For the more introverted amongst us, energy comes from times of quiet reflection - this is food for the soul. Many religious disciplines talk of having a "Quiet Time" in order to nourish the inner life.

• I feel I would be unwise to be prescriptive here. You alone know (or are beginning to learn) what really energises you. Music plays an important role in the nutrition of the souls of many. Most of us can boost our energy by listening to some music with which we have positive associations. The important action to take here is to make sure we are proactively feeding on that which energises us on a daily basis. I'd recommend three good 'meals' a day!

Once more, the questions for “Nutrition”

Rate yourself from 0-5

The three questions for “Reproduction”

Many of Nature's cruel dramas are played out over the issue of who gets to mate with whom. Even plants are very competitive when it comes to making sure their genetic distinctiveness is passed on to the future. In the terms of the late Stephen Covey, this is about leaving a legacy - making a lasting difference. If movement was 'on purpose' - reproduction is about leaving the artefacts that maintain your vision long after you've been promoted to the next life! Stephen Covey's work is a perfect, shining example. We talk of "procreation" when we think of breeding. Our model is more metaphorical, so we will talk of "creation" and "creativity" instead... planting the 'seeds' of your thoughts in the minds of others. Many great religious leaders have chosen not to procreate. Are they any less alive? I don't think so. Their legacy remains. I mourn the passing of the late, great Sir Patrick Moore. He is a great example of a non-religious figure whose natural enthusiasm and articulate communication skills ignited thousands of young minds with a desire to delve deeper into astronomy.

I am very creative • Creativity in Nature is all about seeds. Our ideas

are seeds, and those who live a life to the full have lots of ideas, dreams, and visions. They then use movement to take action towards fulfilling these ideas.

• How many people say, "Oh, I wish I could play an instrument"? or "I wish I could draw"?

• Expressing your god-given creativity (remembering that most religions have the Creator as their divinity, and believe we are made in the divine image) is a force of life.

• My belief is that everyone is creative - they may just have to find the way. I have challenges around singing in tune - and I don't paint very well (yet), but that doesn't mean I'm not creative. I express my creativity in other ways.

I readily share my ideas with others

• Reproduction in Nature is rarely an individual activity. Plants share pollen, and the birds, bees, and chimpanzees are all 'doing it'.

• For our metaphor, let's suggest that a life-to-the-full cannot be a life of isolation. It is a life of interaction. Creative ideas and outputs have to be shared if they are to germinate and take root.

I am enthusiastic

• "My enthusiasm is contagious" • Our metaphor of non-physical reproduction is

completed by the vehicle that transports the ideas. This is, without doubt, our natural enthusiasm.

• I hope that all of us have had the joy of meeting a teacher or enthusiast whose very energy was enough to kindle our interest - or even light the fire of the same passion within us.

• That History Teacher, the Maths Teacher, the English Teacher who switched you on to a subject - rarely was it because of the content, but rather because of the passion.

• People who live a life to the full are full of passion... it's a life force.

• Enthusiasm = • Fascinatingly, renewing our divine associations

with being a creator, "Enthusiasm" literally means having god within. The idea of being in an ecstatic state through being filled with the divine spirit – and god is the life-force. Nice.

Once more, the “Reproduction” questions

Rate yourself from 0-5

The three questions for “Excretion”

Stuff happens... but to avoid being poisoned by the toxic waste that life inevitably produces you must be able to: learn let go (and move on) avoid it next time. Portia Nelson's biography in 5 chapters: I I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost ... I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out. II I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

III I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in ... it's a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately. IV I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. V I walk down another street.

I proactively seek to learn from my mistakes

• A Chinese proverb says, "If a man strikes you on the cheek, shame on him. If the same man strikes you twice, shame on you!"

• Life strikes us on the cheek. Sometimes it's our fault, sometimes it isn't. In terms of living a life to the full, the blame is irrelevant, the key is in what you learn and what you do next.

• Those who do not learn from their mistakes (and the mistakes of others) are destined to repeat them.

I am able to let go of the emotional baggage of errors

• We've all met people who have been 'poisoned' by life. Most, however, haven't been poisoned by life so much as being poisoned by clinging on to their reaction to what happened.

• Bitterness is a poison. • The next step in living a life to the

full is to let go and move on! • This takes a high degree of

emotional maturity (see 'Growth') but is added here because of the impact of the retention of such poisonous attitudes on our vitality.

• Forgiveness is tough, but unforgiveness is far tougher.

I am able to use my experience to avoid such waste in future

• People say, "Forgive and Forget" - but that, to me, is insanity. We must remember the lessons learned or else how shall we avoid similar dangers in the future?

• Learn from it and earn from it!

Once more, the “Excretion” questions

Rate yourself from 0-5

The three questions for “Growth”

In Nature, signs of life in the growth arena are height, strength, territory, and size of the group you are a part of. The latter two are outside the individual so are not technically the life-signs a biologist would look for, but they are signs of vitality. For us, we are interested in the maturity of growth shown in: Strength Knowledge Wisdom

I am growing stronger day-by-day

• Individuals cannot be fully alive and enjoying a life to the full unless they are physically healthy - a healthy mind needs a healthy body.

• To score a maximum of '5' in this area, you must be fit and healthy, and pursuing health and fitness on a daily basis.

• Clearly there are issues as we age, so this is about being the best that you can realistically be at your current time of life.

I am learning more and more, month by month • Continuous learning is

ageless - and, in fact, should only improve with age since you have more knowledge to associate new knowledge with.

• "To those who have, even more shall be given."

I am developing deeper wisdom as the years go by

• This is experiential wisdom - the quality of character often looked for in interviews. It's about you having been there, done that, got the T Shirt... and having become a better person for it! It's about being more "grown up".

• It is impossible to rate yourself as a '5' on this one unless you are proactively and positively reflective - learning well the deeper lessons in the school of life.

Once more, the “Growth”questions

Rate yourself from 0-5

The three questions for “Respiration”

Respiration is really about making a contribution - giving something back to the environment in which you live and move and have your being.

I make a positive contribution to my community

• This contribution could be in the form of giving your time, money, or expertise (or all three) to community causes.

I make a positive contribution to my social circle

• We've all met people who take, take, take - but rarely give. They are asphyxiating to be around.

• A '5' on this aspect of Respiration is that you give other people air time - and space to breathe.

• You’ve got to listen to breathe in and out!!

I seek to make a positive contribution in every encounter

• This culture frame-of-reference is a game-changer. If you are proactively seeking to make a positive contribution in any exchange with any person or group you meet, you're heading for a '5' here.

• By way of stark contrast, we've all met selfish, rude, or aggressive people - who are at a low ebb when it comes to being truly alive.

• I like the late Stephen Covey's attitude: to always seek a win-win. This is the spirit of respiration.

• (Interestingly, many languages and religions use "breath", "wind", and "spirit" synonymously. We also have the fascinating concept of "inspiration" - literally, to breath in. But don't just breath in, give it out or you'll burst!)

Once more, the “Respiration” questions

Rate yourself from 0-5

The three questions for “Sensitivity”

Sensitivity is about being connected - hardwired into your internal environment, and softwired into your external environment so that you are aware and alert. I am connected (I am a networker) I am alert (I have sensory acuity) I am aware - (I am emotionally intelligent) Sensitivity is the application of Social Intelligence - both in the Intrapersonal and Interpersonal aspects.

I am a great Networker – well-connected within my community

• This reflects the "strength of weak bonds" - the idea that we prosper when we have a multitude of 'weak' connections, rather than relying on a few strong connections.

I am alert to the opportunities and threats in my environment

• All Living Organisms live in a context where they must be alert to opportunities and threats. Only in this way may they avoid being harmed and, equally importantly, notice where opportunities to thrive exist.

• A key to rating yourself on this one is how much you live in the 'Now' - being fully alert in the present. Daydreamers can get eaten!

• If you find that you regularly miss cues in your environment - if you're a poor listener, for example, then you are not yet at a '5' on the rating scale.

I am aware and responsive to the feeling and ‘state’ of those around me

• Emotional Intelligence is the ability to be sympathetic or even empathetic. It includes the skill to be able to 'read' others accurately - their body language, their non-verbal cues. It is also the ability to pick up the fuller message from their verbal cues – below the surface.

Once more, the “Sensitivity” questions

Rate yourself from 0-5

You should now have seven sets of scores. These add up to a maximum possible Life

Quotient of 35.

How alive are you? What actions will you take to boost your

Life Quotient?

If you liked this questionnaire there are two more to follow in

the series…

“The Living Leadership LQ” And

“The Living Organisations LQ”

Remember the questionnaire mind map sheet can be downloaded and then printed off from the link provided in the notes below. This will make it easier for you to calculate your Life Quotient.

I can be contacted at: Lex_mckee@me.com Also, please checkout:

www.entertrainment.co