The Prescription for a Quality Life - Freedom in Action

Before I even opened the message, I already had a suspicion.

"I have a bad idea, it's gonna hurt, but there's this trail ..."

"In," I replied in an effort to cut him off, despite the panic of not knowing any of the details. The truth is, he would just keep talking till I said yes, anyway. It's kind of the relationship we have — bad ideas, exercised.

This blog, however, is not about endurance efforts or bad ideas. It's about life realized.

Beyond Sick Care to Health Span

In the health space, we are in what is referred to as health 3.0. Without going into too much detail, it's essentially shifting the focus from “sick care” to “well care” and onto health span.

Your life span is the length of your life. Your health span is the length of your life spent without disease. Because, somewhat obviously, a long life riddled with disease isn't exactly a birthday wish. Conversely, neither is a healthy but short life.

Which brings us to a separate equation or pursuit:

Vitality. This is the work of Paradigm — and yet, there's not an MD in sight here.

The Components of a Life Well-Lived

Vitality no doubt includes length of life and lack of disease, but it's also a measure of how accessible your life is.

For example, a long but sick life is not ideal, in the same way a long, sickness-free, but busy life is not either. Most of us are so busy working we forget about living.

So what we’re after is a long life, free of disease, with freedom. That's Vitality. That's meaningful work.

When Brian calls, I almost always know it's a harebrained idea, but I also know it's one I would regret missing out on. The same is true for him when I call.

This is not to imply quality of life is about doing crazy things. It’s about having the agency to say yes to what you want instead of being beholden by responsibility to say no.

The Forgotten Art of Living

When most people land on my calendar, they have checked the boxes. They have built the career, scaled the business, bought the house(s) — the list goes on — but most are after more meaning, in wildly disparate yet similar ways. What most arrive saying without saying is "I got so busy making a living, I forgot about living." And like most in this situation, they start buying things to prove they are still alive: cars, houses, boats, etc. They start trying to do more to prove they have time, and subsequently end up losing time. They start making life complicated when all it really ever was was simple.

All things in support of Vitality. Everything else eliminated or delegated.

This requires one important first step, and this is the work of Paradigm: Defining Vitality. Because until we define Vitality (it looks different to everyone), we cannot evaluate and quantify the degree to which you are pursuing it and achieving it.

The Vitality Formula

Two variables of the vitality formula are life and health span. These are non-negotiables and easy to quantify: do only what improves or lengthens them (despite Brian's idea) and avoid or limit that which doesn't.

The third variable, however, is more nuanced. Because here is where it gets individual.

Vitality = Health Span + Life Span × Freedom

Freedom is an obtuse yet common word. It means a lot of things to a lot of people. To us at Paradigm, it means five things: Time, Money, Purpose, Relationship, and Fitness (four of which are borrowed from Dan Sullivan).

The degree to which you are free in each of these categories is not only quantifiable but also mutually agreeable in that they are a direct measure of your ability to respond.

The Limitations of Obligation

For most, lack of freedom in these five areas leads to more obligations than freedom would allow. Without money, we are limited. Without time, we are limited. Without purpose, limited. Without relationship, limited. Without fitness, limited.

Our lack of freedom in any of those areas will force and compel us to decline opportunities we otherwise would have jumped at.

This is the opposite of quality of life.

I could (and will) write a blog on each of the five freedoms. But for now, the point is the equation.

The Prescription for a Quality Life

I'm no doctor, yet few of my clients have ailing health issues. Because I think we have stumbled onto the magic prescription: Freedom and its development dramatically improve health. Happy people live longer; this is not new information. Happy people report high levels of agency. Few things empower agency more than choice, and choice is prevalent in freedom.

I don't care whether you say yes when a friend calls with a dumb idea. I care that you can say yes to whatever calls.

To do this, you have to be fit, healthy, and free — and that makes you Response-able.

Calculate Your Vitality Score

Are you measuring your life by bank-account balance and square footage, or by your capacity to say "yes" to what truly matters? At Paradigm Collective, we've developed a comprehensive approach to quantifying and enhancing your Vitality Equation.

Our signature "Vitality Assessment" examines all components of the formula: your current health metrics, longevity factors, and freedom scores across all five domains. We then develop a personalized blueprint to optimize each variable, creating a life of not just existence, but vibrant living.

Ready to measure and maximize your Vitality? Schedule your comprehensive Vitality Assessment, where we'll evaluate your current equation and create an actionable plan to enhance your health span, life span, and freedom metrics simultaneously.

Calculate Your Vitality Score →