Strategize Your Life: Applying Strategic Thinking to Personal Development

00:00 Summarizing a life strategy on a single page

In the video "Use Strategic Thinking to Create the Life You Want," Rainer Strack discusses how to apply strategic thinking used in boardrooms to your own life. He introduces a seven-step program that helps viewers develop their own life strategy on a single page, summarizing a life strategy for personal development.

00:20 Where did this idea come from?

The video discusses the concept of using strategic thinking to create the life you want. The speaker explains that the idea originated from their experience at the Boston Consulting Group, where they worked on numerous strategy projects. Drawing inspiration from their background in physics and management, the speaker realized that applying strategic thinking to their own life could lead to new insights and opportunities, giving birth to the concept of "Strategize Your Life."

00:54 What is a life strategy?

The video discusses the concept of life strategy, comparing it to corporate strategy and emphasizing that life is about living a great life, not just winning. It outlines a seven-step process for creating a life strategy, including defining success, purpose, vision, and assessing one's life portfolio. The video highlights the importance of making portfolio choices and ensuring successful, sustained change in order to live a great life.

02:41 How do I define a great life?

In the video "Use Strategic Thinking to Create the Life You Want," the speaker discusses how to define a great life and introduces the PERMA-V model from positive psychology. The speaker challenges the common belief that money, fame, and power lead to a great life, explaining that they only have a limited effect on happiness due to hedonic adaptation and social comparison. Instead, the PERMA-V model emphasizes six key elements for creating a fulfilling life: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, achievement, and vitality. The model encourages individuals to focus on finding contentment, being in a state of flow, nurturing deep relationships, contributing to the world, accomplishing goals, and prioritizing health.

04:15 How do I assess my life portfolio?

The video discusses using strategic thinking to create the life you want by assessing your life portfolio. The speaker compares corporate portfolio management to life, proposing strategic life units to invest time, money, and energy in. They identify 16 strategic life units grouped into 6 strategic life areas and provide a 2-by-2 matrix called the strategic life portfolio to plot the importance and satisfaction of these units. The speaker gives an example of how to plot these units and encourages viewers to go through the exercise to gain insight into their own lives.

07:40 What portfolio choices can I make?

The video discusses using strategic thinking to create the life you want. The speaker explains how to make portfolio choices based on the importance and satisfaction of various life areas. They emphasize that you can change the parameters of importance, satisfaction, and time allocation. The speaker suggests identifying areas where you are not satisfied or don't spend enough time, and making changes to improve them. They also mention the importance of aligning your portfolio with your purpose and vision for a great life. Examples include reconnecting with friends to improve relationships and reducing time spent on social media to free up time for other activities.

09:20 Where do I go from here?

In the video "Use Strategic Thinking to Create the Life You Want," the speaker emphasizes the importance of creating a life strategy. The video outlines a seven-step process for developing this strategy and highlights the necessity of knowing one's direction, even in uncertain times. The speaker references the stoic philosopher Seneca, who emphasized the importance of being open to opportunities and preparation meeting opportunity. The video underscores the role of strategic thinking in preparing for a great life.