What Should You Do With Your Life? | Suzy Welch

Overview

This episode explores the profound question, What should you do with your life? through the lens of purpose, values, and authenticity. Featuring Suzy Welch, NYU Stern professor and author of Becoming You, the conversation delves into actionable frameworks for crafting a meaningful life, including identifying core values, understanding aptitudes, and aligning passions with economically viable interests.

Notable Quotes

- Happiness is not a goal but an outcome. It’s a byproduct of having your purpose. – Suzy Welch, on the distinction between happiness and purpose.

- It’s better to be the author of your life than the editor. The world will edit us soon enough. – Suzy Welch, on living authentically.

- You can live by default, deliberation, or design. Design is where you have a theory of yourself and your values guiding your life. – Suzy Welch, on intentional living.

🧭 Living by Design vs. Default

- Suzy Welch emphasizes the importance of asking yourself regularly, Am I doing what I want to be doing, with the people I want to be doing it with?

- She introduces the concept of living by design, where life is guided by a clear understanding of values and purpose, as opposed to living reactively by default.

- Welch’s methodology, taught in her NYU course and book, helps individuals craft a life aligned with their values, aptitudes, and interests.

💡 The Power of Values

- Welch identifies 15 core values, such as family-centrism, belonging, agency, and eudaimonia (flourishing), which serve as organizing principles for life decisions.

- She notes that only 7% of people can clearly articulate their values, often confusing them with virtues like kindness or fairness.

- Tools like the Values Bridge help individuals rank their values and assess how closely they are living in alignment with them.

🧠 Understanding Aptitudes and Personality

- Aptitudes are cognitive wiring traits, such as being a generalist vs. specialist or future-focused vs. present-focused.

- Welch highlights the importance of knowing how others experience your personality, often revealed through tools like 360 feedback.

- She shares her own humbling experience with 360 feedback, which revealed discrepancies between her self-perception and how others viewed her.

💼 Economically Viable Interests

- Welch stresses the need to align passions with aptitudes and economic realities.

- She critiques the advice to follow your passion, arguing that passion alone is insufficient if it doesn’t align with your skills or market demand.

- Her framework expands awareness of career possibilities, noting that most people limit themselves to a narrow set of options despite the vast array of industries and roles available.

✍️ Exercises for Self-Discovery

- Welch’s Six Squared exercise asks individuals to write a six-word memoir of their life to date and another envisioning their ideal life 25 years from now. Comparing the two reveals gaps and unfulfilled values.

- Other exercises, such as Exploring Fears and Alpha Omega, help participants uncover hidden desires and barriers to authenticity.