5 Cs for a good life plus a scorecard

I was walking on Broadway on Tuesday evening in New York city from 39th street to 64th street for a dinner engagement and walked back.  During my walk, I came up with these '5 Cs for a good life.'  I did pause to take a picture of the naked singing cowboy and the advertisement for the biggest cruise ship I have ever seen (felt like two full hotels combined and made to float!)

I wonder if you would agree with these 5 Cs?

Hope you enjoy this rumination and attendant scorecard.

5 Cs for a good life

Competence 

To survive and thrive in this world - we each need to be good at something, a skill, a talent that adds value.

Coin 

We all need a 'coin of the realm'.  It might be power, money and / or prestige.

Compassion

By caring for others, we make the world a better place, be it family, friends or strangers.  Surprisingly, research shows, that caring for others, improves our own mental and physical well being.

Calisthenics 

I am very glad about this sweeping new wave where we are beginning to focus on staying fit (have you bought the Jawbone or Fitbit yet?!  Or the Pacer App on your phone?

Conscience 

We have to do one's own right thing, what our conscience tells us, regardless of external pressure.  The voice inside is paramount.  (However, if it is 'voices' inside, then we better see a doctor!!)

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Some observations the selection of the 5 Cs.  They include:

2 head items - Competence and Coin
2 heart items - Compassion and Conscience
1 body item - Calisthenics (but it could also be head, since exercise reduces mental and physical stress)

I did not include other Cs like children, courage, care, community, charisma, comedy (for sense of humor) .... but perhaps you might be tempted to.  I felt that these important attributes could fit under one of the 5 above.
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Scorecard

For fun, I thought it would be good to scale the 5 Cs to see how we might score against these attributes.  This is a bit tongue in cheek, so hopefully you take it with a grain of salt.


Competence

A.  You have spent 10,000 hours or more in your career doing what you are good at (needs to be a tight count.  If you are a golfer, then the actual hours on the course, not days played):  3 points

B.  You have spent between 5,000 and 10,000 hours doing what you are good at:  1 point

C.  Less than 5,000 hours:  0 points


Coin

A.  You are in the top decile in your field (by your own estimation - degree, citation awards etc):  3 points

B. You are above average in your field:  1 point

C.  What is a field?  0 points

Compassion

A.  You have volunteered more than 60 hours each year (i.e 5 hours a month or 1 hour a week):  3 points

B.  You have volunteered some hours each year for the past several years:  1 point

C.  You have written contributions, but have not volunteered your time:  0 points

Calisthenics

A.  You walk more than 10,000 steps a day or exercise 30+ minutes a day:  3 points

B.  You walk or exercise a couple of times a week:  1 point

C.  Your finger does the talking on the TV remote:  0 points

Conscience

A.  You have publicly objected to what your group or company is doing and have paid a price for this objection, such as quitting your job or being fired:  3 points

B.  You have made your moral stand publicly known by participating in a march or a protest or signing a petition:  1 point

C.  You may have felt qualms, but you have not acted on the qualm:  0 points

D.  You have acted against your qualm:  -1 point

E.  You have acted against your qualm and it hurt someone:  -3 points

Totals:

12 or more:  We Celebrate you.  You are probably a sthitah prajna or a self-actualized individual

9 or more:  You are firing on all Cylinders!

6 or more:  Nothing like taking time at a retreat to turbo Charge you

Less than 3:  Life is a Cycle; let us catch it on the upswing now...!

Summary thought

Astronaut Reid Wiseman is wildly popular because he was tweeting pictures from the International Space Station as he was orbiting the earth.  In an interview he said, the life of an astronaut is governed every 5 minutes.  There is actually a chart, and a red line going thought it, that tells him what to do every 5 minutes.

His reflection was that an astronauts time in space is invaluable for humanity and that millions of people on earth.  Scientists, engineers, space executives, political leaders and the general population on the ground are counting on the astronaut to learn important things.  The astronaut's time is so precious that his or her time is divided into 5 minute intervals.

Reid Wiseman in a recent interview said, that his life was never filled with more purpose than when he was in the space station doing things that millions were counting on him to accomplish.

I ruminate that perhaps these 5 Cs I have thought about, or other attributes that you might value, might also fill us with a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives.