You Weighed In On The 8 Spheres Of Business + Life

Re*shift: all about how expertise entrepreneurs can re-imagine, re-invent and re-position ourselves for our post-50 chapter(s). (New to Re*shift? Sign up just below to get future editions sent directly to your inbox.)

When I started writing about re*shifting after 50, little did I know the irony that awaited.

A few days after I posted a first cut at the 8 Spheres of Business + Life, the hubs tripped over a curb and took a nasty fall. Luckily, he fell on sand (vs. say concrete) and “only” bruised a hip and several ribs.

Even so it’s a 4 to 6 week recovery and required lots of short-term human (that would be me) intervention. For a week, he was unable to do any of the day-to-day things for himself that we all take for granted. Thankfully, he’s on the mend, but…

For that week, it put the HEALTH category front and center in both our lives. As in there was no space in our maxxed out brains for anything beyond the immediately urgent.

Of course if you’ve ever had (or cared for a loved one with) a health challenge—short or long—you know how quickly your priorities can shift.

Which is why it’s even MORE important to think through these business + life categories now, before you’re in crisis on any of them. A little thoughtful planning beats knee-jerking when things go sideways.

Onward to the excellent feedback you shared on the 8 spheres (all names used with permission).

Kris Jennings said: “One concept that feels missing is world/environment. I think it comes up in impact and communities, but an explicit question around how I feel I’m contributing to the world and/or the health of the world (environment).”

On the other hand, Lindsay Pedersen remarked: “I sort of think of Service or “micro-impact” slightly differently from Impact on the world.  If I see a day on my calendar where I feel like I’ll help someone, that’s Service. Impact is more broad…I happen to be more motivated by the micro than the macro.”

Note how these two comments express different motivators? Which is the point really: no two re*shifting goals and experiences are exactly alike.

And then there’s this from Matt Mullenix: “Although your impact category suggests it, I think “Legacy” might be a better term here for us over-50s…Legacy is an outsized driver in my own decision matrix now.  I have some time and agency left to shape a meaningful, purposeful legacy. At our age, most of us will have just one shot left at that.”

And finally, from Heather Whelpley: “Something about fun feels like it’s missing from the list. It might not be a separate category, I’m not sure, but it feels important to me to simply have fun and bring joy into my life!”

Each of these ideas are spot on—stay tuned as I weave them into the 8 spheres (and update the assessment I’ve been testing)…