The Personal Compass

Productivity requires clear direction. Set your Personal Compass by considering your six compass points of Career, Health, Money, Relationships, Fun, and Contribution. It’s a simple system which I put together many years ago; your six directions are unique to you and only you can decide them.

I have reviewed my Personal Compass monthly for a couple of decades.

Too many productivity systems focus relentlessly on work: get more done; hit your targets; optimise your output. But humans are not machines, and work is not life. Your Personal Compass ensures you’re moving in the right direction across the areas that matter to you, bearing in mind that those areas will undoubtedly shift during your life.

Every month-the end of the calendar month is a logical point-spend thirty minutes reviewing the six points. Normally a couple of minutes on each will suffice:

Career: am I learning? Growing? Moving toward something meaningful? Health: am I treating my body with the respect it deserves? Money: am I earning enough, spending wisely, saving appropriately? Relationships: am I present with the people who matter? Fun: am I experiencing joy, not just achievement? Contribution: am I making a difference beyond myself?

Rate each direction on a scale of 1 to 10 where ten is perfect and 1 is miserable; if your rating is not ten, decide the action you will take this month to close the gap and note that on your Master List.

Perfect balance is not the goal. But regular adjustment through regular attention, is. Neglect any compass point too long, and you will drift off course without realising it.

The Personal Compass does not tell you where to go. It simply reminds you to navigate consciously.

Action: do a Personal Compass review in the next 48h and then repeat at the end of each-and every-month.