Find and leverage your Freedom Hours - even in the fast lane!

Researchers talk of “time affluence” – the feeling that you have the time to pursue activities and connections that are personally meaningful to you. They have shown that feeling time affluent has a direct influence on well-being and is a consistent predictor of it (whereas material affluence is not).

One of the life tools we recommend if you live in the fast lane is occasional deep reflection on what you’re juggling in your life - getting down in one list your roles and relationships and the expectations, commitments and compromises which come with them (see the Sustainability Lens of Mental Spinach p79). You may be wired to over-commitment to others’ needs and to big expectations at work but it’s easy to see your 168 hours per week absorbed by biting off more than you can chew and by ignoring your own needs.

What are Freedom Hours?

As an additional tool to avoid biting off too much or ignoring your own needs, we find it valuable to think in terms of Freedom Hours. These we define as the hours you can spend as you wish, with no external constraints or controls. It’s time when you can choose whether to go to the gym or the beach, watch a film or read, walk in the park, plan a trip, try a new hobby or a new musical instrument etc. It’s basically time when you have the opportunity to invest in your own needs – whether you choose to do that alone or with others.

And there’s nothing selfish about focusing occasionally on your own needs. If you don’t, you may be incapable of supporting the needs of others who depend on you. 

Counting, valuing and protecting your Freedom Hours

Not only do we unashamedly think in terms of Freedom Hours, we also occasionally count them. Or we try to find more of them by blocking out times in our diary and by being prepared to say “no” to competing opportunities or commitments. 

Freedom Hours are rare in a job. They’re possible if you work for yourself or if you work for an enlightened employer which encourages its employees to work a percentage of their week on relevant projects of their own choice. The converse is more common – where unclear or unreasonable employer/boss expectations or an individual’s perfectionism converts a 40 hour a week job into 55 hours or a 3-day a week job into 4 ½ days (often without due recompense). So be clear about employer expectations of you, be clear if they become seriously unreasonable and don’t let your own perfectionism take Freedom Hours away from you unless the situation really warrants it.

Using your Freedom Hours

We also reflect on or plan what we do with Freedom Hours . Your Freedom Hours may offer you the greatest opportunity to expand your horizons, transform your life and your sense of self, or enhance your career prospects. They may also be your greatest opportunity to step back from the pressures of the weekly treadmill and avoid burnout.

It’s both a challenge and an opportunity to use Freedom Hours in a way that translates into some form of enjoyment, rejuvenation, satisfaction, new horizons or personal growth that is important for you and your well-being. That can take some planning and preparation. 

The amazing leverage of Freedom Hours

In one life you can experience periods of vast Freedom Hours (perhaps as a university student or when semi-retired) or very few (as would a parent with a challenging full time job, pets, a mortgage and ageing parents).

Wherever you are in life, you can find vast leverage through thinking about Freedom Hours. There are three big leverage points. Each is both an opportunity and a challenge:

1. You may get a shock at how significantly you can increase your Freedom Hours in a typical week by modifying your own or others’ expectations of you or by getting more support at home or at work.

2. You may get another shock at how much more effectively you can apply your Freedom Hours towards your well-being or growth.

3. By building the habit of protecting and building your Freedom Hours and the habit of applying them well to things that matter to you, you will enjoy the benefits of leverage points 1 and 2 on an ongoing basis – and that’s where the biggest leverage of all often emerges.

Ask yourself:

• Do I get many hours in a typical week which I am free to direct to an activity totally of my own choice and with no external constraints or controls (Freedom Hours)? (Note the precise definition is not important. You might find some similar concept of more value or relevance – perhaps one which focuses on the hours you get for your favourite hobby or your most fulfilling activities).

• Which of my habits and mindsets are diminishing my Freedom Hours? (Perfectionism? Reluctance to say “No”? Not operating effectively? Procrastination? Leaving things half finished?)

• What expectations and responsibilities are diminishing my Freedom Hours? Have those expectations progressively changed without me really noticing? Can I modify those expectations or responsibilities or get more support?

• Am I using my Freedom Hours well? -  to pursue my personal priorities and goals? – perhaps to transform my sense of self? Are they bringing me pleasure…..or rejuvenating me?

• Can I develop the habits of protecting and building my Freedom Hours and applying them to things that matter to me?

• Do I feel guilty thinking like this given my responsibilities to my family, friends, colleagues etc? Why should I feel guilty?

 So the potential from exploring your Freedom Hours is vast.  Underestimating it is just underestimating your own potential.

Protect those Freedom Hours you have, use them well and find more of them.   

Covid-19 Addendum

Your current circumstances may have gifted you so many Freedom Hours that it’s easy to just let days pass with little structure or purpose. In one sense those Freedom Hours are not as pure as you might like as the range of options available for using them are nowhere near as broad as they would be without lockdown.

Many of the above questions still apply but lockdown brings some additional ones:

• How can I better use media and communications technology to widen the options available to me during lockdown?

• Which of the things I’ve been putting off will be easier to progress now I have more Freedom Hours or now that other people may be more accessible or have more time on their hands?

Ian's feature on the No Limitations Podcast series

It was a pleasure to chat with Gregory Robinson of Blenheim Partners for their No Limitations podcast series. In this long-form conversation we chatted about a whole range of topics, with a particular focus on my corporate career, as well as some of my earlier sporting and study highlights. This podcast series has featured a whole range of Australians who have made significant contributions, so it is an honour to join the list. I would highly recommend subscribing and listening to a range of the past episodes. 

Podcast shownotes

In Episode 43, "Down the Line", Blenheim Partners' Gregory Robinson speaks to Ian Pollard, Chairman of RGA Reinsurance Company of Australia and Director of Milton Corporation Ltd and the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. He was also the Chairman of Billabong International and Managing Director of Development Finance Corporation. Ian coaches CEO's and Senior Executives and authored numerous books on corporate finance, self-help and human capital.

In these challenging times, Ian shares lessons on how to cope with pressure, highlighting his experience at Billabong International, where the Board had to meet around a hundred times in a period of one year. He provides valuable insight and words of wisdom to new and aspiring Directors to enable them to leave a mark on the company.

Ian talks us through his fascinating youth as a Rhodes Scholar, Captain of the Australian Junior Davis Cup team where he faced an up-and-coming Bjorn Borg and being appointed Chair of a company at 25 years of age. An actuary by background, Ian's early career was in investment banking. He also founded the investment company Development Capital of Australia and is a pioneer of Australian corporate finance.

The Driver’s Seat is the Antidote to Groundhog Day

          “You get out of life what you put into it.” Clint Eastwood

What you get out of life, whether as fun, relationships or satisfaction, is mainly determined by what you put in. So life is an investment process.

You’re in the driver’s seat. Your doctor, partner, coach, teacher, employer and community are vital resources, but the final decisions are up to you.

There is no right way, merely options you identify, choices you make and your belief in your ability to grow. When you invest effectively (whether in yourself or in your relationships) the rewards can last and can continue to grow for a lifetime. Those lifelong rewards can also be much bigger and across many more dimensions than you might anticipate. 

There are likely to be inherent and ongoing tensions between your “professional” ambitions and your “lifestyle” aspirations, and also between your capacity to be in-the-moment and your planning for the long term. So, reflect on the life you want to lead and the next step, big or small, which could take you closer to it. 

You can’t control life, but you can significantly influence it and you can decide how you respond to it. When things don’t go in your favour, you have a choice – to feel and act like a victim or to stay in the driver’s seat.

Are your options and your world growing or shrinking?

Even when you’re stuck in a rut, on a treadmill or in chaos, there are opportunities and choices, small and large, which can vastly impact the quality and creativity of your life.

Your chances of finding those good opportunities and making the right choices are significantly determined by your mindsets, especially the presumptions you make about yourself. Positive mindsets inevitably grow your options and your world; negative mindsets shrink them.

Mindsets which shrink your world

“I like to stay in my comfort zone”

“I’m not good enough.”

“Nobody’s interested in my ideas.”

“My community sucks.”

“I don’t feel like going to the party.”

“Time with others tires me.”  

“I’ll wait for other to do something.”

“I can’t get over……”

“Life as I’ve known it ends at 50.”

“I hate change.”

Mindsets which grow your world

“I like to try something new” v

“I can do it.” v

“I’ve got something to offer here.” v

“What can I add to my community?” v

“Let’s party.” v

“People invigorate me.”      v

“Let’s do it.” v

“Let’s look forward and move on.” v

“I’m turning 50 – let’s celebrate.” v

“Change means growth. Embrace it.” v

Typically, those with mindsets which grow their options and their worlds conclude “I’ll put in the effort.” They have the confidence that in general their investment of effort will be rewarded. Those with the alternative mindsets won’t envisage a return on their investment and typically conclude, “I can’t be bothered.”

In contemplating your next investment in the life you want to lead, it may be worth taking a moment to:

Ask yourself:

• Do I see myself as being in the driver’s seat in my own life? Or am I depending on someone else to an unhealthy degree?

• How am I currently imagining my future world? Am I seeing it as growing or shrinking? Am I willing to invest significant time, attention and energy (physical, mental or emotional) in building it? If so, how and where do I find more of those resources? 

• If I’m seeing parts of it shrinking, are they parts I’m happy to see shrink? If I’m seeing parts of it grow, are they the parts I would like to see grow?

• Are there things which are important to who I am, yet I am badly neglecting them?

• What might be some new contexts I would like to explore or experiment with?

Covid-19 Addendum

Even in normal circumstances the passage of time can shrink your world unless you take conscious action to expand it. Unless you use and update your knowledge, you lose it. Unless you follow up on relationships and refresh them, they slowly die. Unless you open yourself to new ideas, experiences and relationships, your world shrinks. 

Self-isolation and lockdown in response to Covid-19 are likely to have increased the risk of your world shrinking. Some of your most significant sources of new experiences and new relationships have been totally cut off, from sport or the arts to partying, to travel or even moving overseas. It has also been an anxious and challenging time for many people, especially those for whom it has been tough just staying above water mentally and financially. When things around you open up, it might be the perfect time for exploring new and exciting avenues. Questions you might contemplate include:

• Who can I connect with that I haven’t spoken to for a long time?

• What new thing can I try this week that may give me a sense of joy and wonder and may be worth pursuing further?

• What have I been precluded from during lockdown that is now accessible and will bring me joy and rejuvenation?

• What helpful or worthwhile thing can I do for someone else now that the options for engaging have opened up?

The Danger of Busy - watch out for your full diary!

Busy has become a power word. It’s easy to associate a busy life with success and being needed – and hence having our relevance regularly reaffirmed. Being busy may be directly linked to perceptions of “a great work ethic”, something easily confused by some bosses who set the poor example of always arriving at the office early and leaving late.  

Our behaviour and judgement when rushed?

When we’re busiest our reserves of time, energy and attention can be heavily depleted and significantly impact our behaviour and our judgement.

For example, when we’re in a rush our thoughtfulness can be significantly compromised. This was well demonstrated by a Princeton University experiment along the lines of the Good Samaritan parable. Theology students on their way to making presentations were set up to pass a seemingly badly injured man. Some students were told they were running late for their presentations. Only 10% of those students stopped to help, compared with 63% of those who were told they had a few minutes to spare. Remarkably, even those who were going to make a presentation about the Good Samaritan parable didn’t show any increased helping behaviour.

Our effectiveness when rushed?

There can be a big difference between efficiency and effectiveness. Maximising the number of meetings in your day or your interstate trip may feel efficient – but you may not be as effective. With a full diary you can miss out in many ways. Poor use of your time and energy may drain you. Poor preparation may mean your many meetings have poorer outcomes and less learning. With less time for gathering your thoughts after conversations or meetings, you may overlook good opportunities, miss soft signals of key issues or forget follow-up commitments. If others are not impressed with your contribution they may be less keen to meet or work with you again.

In the event of something really negative occurring when you’re rushed (and that’s when it’s more likely), you don’t have time to process what’s happened and to clear your head before the next event.

As architect Mies van der Rohe famously said: “Less is more.” There is a strong case for selectively cutting back on the number of commitments in your diary. 

Ask yourself:

• Do I associate a busy life with success and manage my diary accordingly? Can I manage it more effectively?

• If I’m racing through life with a full diary, what’s this doing for my health and well-being indicators and my energy levels and effectiveness?

• Is busy really the way I was designed to live?

• When I’m in a rush, do my mindsets and behaviours change? How? Does that affect my effectiveness or my relationships? Does it affect my creative potential and my learning?

• Should I just slow down, reflect and only speed up very selectively?

Covid-19 Addendum

Some of you, probably a minority, may be busier at work than ever – those with big responsibilities in government, charitable organisations and businesses and especially those on the medical front lines. And your working environments will be operating under lots of new protocols which complicate things and slow progress.

Some of you may be busier than ever, not because of increased work load but because existing and very effective routines in your family life have  been removed - like school or day care being put on hold.

For those juggling more than ever, anything you and your team or family can do to work smarter, enhance effectiveness, focus on the priorities and avoid unnecessary perfectionism or expectations, might take away some of the rush and pressures and release some time for reflection and rejuvenation.

Trading off life’s riches

“Man …..sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” Dalai Lama 

What do people trade to make more money than they need?

The above Dalai Lama quote is strikingly insightful when you consider the large number of important things you see people compromise to make more money than they need (or ever could need) and how such compromises push them into unsustainable and draining life patterns, collectively and colloquially known as ‘the rat race’. This race can, at its worst:

• diminish your daily quality of life as your values, passions, hobbies, independence of thought and integrity are put to the back of your mind due to other pressures;

• regularly erode your free time and hence your capacity to nourish your relationships with friends, family, community and the natural environment or to explore new things;

• cause you to neglect your sleep and physical activity, thereby increasing your stress and diminishing your energy.

• bombard your thoughts and attention through invasive relationships with technology and work commitments.

• diminish your opportunities for reflection, for getting in touch with your internal voice and for feeling ownership over your life, and/or

• diminish your ability to make healthy choices and changes can leave you with an overbearing feeling of being dominated by external influences (employer, schools, organisations, society, family, etc) and less capable of making healthy choices or changes.

Money is really important...

Money is an essential foundation for surviving, thriving and contributing in the modern world. It is not asking too much to want to afford food to eat and a roof above your head and to be able to invest financially in your aspirations and in supporting those you love. At this level money is a very positive contributor to your well-being and your relationships.

It is also easy to rationalise that being deeply in debt or having no money has serious and immediate consequences. Without money in the modern world your life is likely to be severely limited. So understandably, as Adam Smith said:

“No complaint…is more common than that of a scarcity of money.”

…..and it’s so tangible, measurable and comparable

With relative ease you can value your assets and keep track of their growth. Consequently it’s easy to compare your financial success with those around you (siblings, neighbours, colleagues, others in the ‘Rich 200’ list, partners, etc), to compare you wealth with 12 months ago or to track a financial goal you have set to reach over time. Money can easily become your personal measuring stick or, in the extreme, core to your self-worth. This begs the question:

But how much is enough money?

This question is too rarely asked. It’s easy to assume that if you continue to earn more money your happiness and satisfaction will increase at a similar rate to your money.

Research shows that this is not the case. The relationship between your Financial Capital and your happiness is hazy at best, with increases moving in parallel up to the point where life’s necessities can be met (food, shelter, education, etc). Thereafter there is little definitive correlation between happiness and income.

The tangibility of financial assets and their perceived association with success and happiness can create an unwarranted willingness to compromise on other priorities – whether by active choice or on autopilot. 

And what riches might you find yourself compromising?

 Trading off other riches for money is an obvious and common example but there are lots of major trade-offs we make without money being involved.

Some of your other riches you might be trading off (and not necessarily for money) include:

• time with those you love and those who inspire you

• time for yourself, your passions and your hobbies

• your sleep or your physical or mental health

• your values and independence

• your feeling of ownership of your own life

• an intellectually, emotionally or professionally rewarding opportunity

• your preferred place to live

• your community engagement

Ask yourself:

• Do I think deeply before making major trade-offs of my riches in life?

• Which things mean most to me among those I am currently compromising? Did I make those compromises consciously or on autopilot?

• Are some of these compromises costing me much more than I expected? Can I reverse some of them? Should I?

Covid-19 Addendum

The rat race has suddenly temporarily disappeared for most of us.

We are more than ever seeing the importance of having a financial buffer and regular income. We are in a time where there may be a much greater correlation than in recent years between happiness and income. For the foreseeable future we are in a new world and we are all out of our comfort zones.

Does the current situation give you an opportunity to reflect on things you have previously traded off? Does it even prompt you to reverse some of those trade-offs?

What is a rich life?

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” J.R.R Tolkien

Google ‘rich life images’ and what do you find? 

The concept of a ’rich life’ has become synonymous with fast cars, private planes and big houses. It seems that popular culture considers ‘richness’ in your life to be determined by your financial wealth and what it can buy.

Are these images of toys and having the capital to buy them really the secret to a rich life? A couple of rhetorical questions suggest not:

• Without your health and happiness to enjoy the above toys, would it still be a ‘rich life’?

• Without meaningful relationships to share your experiences, would it still be a ‘rich life’?

So what makes for a “life well-lived” or a “good life”?

Humans have long contemplated the question of what merits a “life well-lived” or a “good life”, two terms we see as analogous to the ‘rich life’. What are some of the themes that have continued to appear in these discussions across different times and cultures?

A rich life is ….

...making the most of your experiences and challenging yourself

“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces towards change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” Helen Keller

...being in the moment, cultivating simple pleasures and loving relationships

“In the end these things matter most: how well did you love, how fully did you live? How deeply did you let go”. Buddha

“Family, friends, community - these are the sources of the greatest love and joy we experience as humans..” David Suzuki

...facilitated by a healthy mind and body

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” Mahatma Gandhi

“Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it.” Seneca the Younger

...founded in how you think

“Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” Emily Dickinson

…seeking to understand yourself and the world around you

“The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” Bertrand Russell

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates

…living ethically, authentically and giving back to those around you

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?” Martin Luther King

“What is the meaning of life? To serve others and do good.” Aristotle

….overcoming obstacles and having the freedom to be yourself and to think independently

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.” Nelson Mandela

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Martin Luther

So the foundations of a rich life have many potential dimensions, are highly individual and could vary widely over one person’s lifetime.

From “Rich in the moment” to “Rich over time”

Whichever of the many concepts of a rich life resonate best with you, there’s another vital distinction you face – the immediacy of the moment versus thinking, planning and focusing on the future.

Your life choices as an investor of your time, energy and attention break down into two related concepts:

• What you have available to invest in each moment

• What these moment-by-moment investments are building over time.

A great foundation for a ‘rich’ life is to be Rich in the moment.  Utopia would be:

• Rich in TIME that is productive, energising, self-regulated and not rushed

• Rich in ENERGY to have the strength and vitality to power through the day

• Rich in ATTENTION that is focused in the moment

• Rich in THOUGHTS to help you question, learn and think creatively about yourself and your world

• Rich in INTERACTIONS with your partners, communities and the natural world.

These elements of wealth in the moment (time, energy, attention, thoughts and interactions) we collectively call your Life Currencies because, much like cash in your bank account, you can make deposits or withdrawals at any time but can easily drain the account.  

...and also, through the direction of your Life Currencies in the moment, to create Richness over time - where utopia would be:

• HUMAN CAPITAL - Richness in who and what you are, giving you the capacity to create a healthy, productive and sustainable relationship with yourself that grows over time

• SOCIAL CAPITAL - Richness in who and what you are surrounded by, with the depth and breadth of your relationships and the strength of your communities steadily increasing over time

• FINANCIAL CAPITAL - Richness in what you own and control, allowing you to support yourself and those you love

These we call your Tripod of Foundations (or your Life Capital).

Ask yourself:

• What themes resonate with me as foundations for a rich life?

• How might these themes influence where I would like to focus my time, energy and attention in the long term? in the next year or two? Tomorrow?

• Does my current life context leave me rich enough in the moment or am I overly distracted by things I can’t influence or too focused on the future rather than the present?

Covid-19 Addendum

The current circumstances have major implications for your Richness in the Moment. You may now have an abundance of time compared with your normal more rushed life but: 

• your energy may be diminished by limitations on your normal exercise regime (eg gym or beach closed)

• your attention and thoughts may be distracted by inevitable (and possibly excessive) focus on the latest health and economic/financial developments

• your interactions with others will be both diminished and more distant.

And when it comes to your Richness Over Time, lots may be deferred or materially changed

• your studies or your special project

• your international travels or your international sport

• your opportunities to build relationships

• your income or the building of your financial wealth.

But your life experiences may be enhanced through this period of adversity, as might your relationships through mutual struggle and support, collaboration or fighting a common enemy. And the communities in which you live and work may be enhanced through developing a deeper spirit of co-operation, friendlier welcomes in the street and genuine looking out for each other. And at the political level it is particularly refreshing to see a much more bipartisan approach to the  problems that need to be addressed.

So what does this mean for you? How do you maintain your Richness in the Moment during such a challenging and distracting time? How do you best use this period of adversity to build your Richness Over Time?

PS.

For a different perspective about life in earlier troubled times, it’s hard to beat “A Fortunate Life” - that classic autobiography of A.B. (Bert) Facey. Truly inspirational. Not surprising that it’s sold over one million copies.