Adam Carroll - The Build a Bigger Life Manifesto

THE BUILD A
BIGGER LIFE

MANIFESTO

A GUIDE TO BECOMING THE ARCHITECT OF YOUR OWN LIFE

ADAM CARROLL

Copyright 2020 by Adam Carroll. All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Requests to the publisher for permission or information should be submitted via email at .

Any requests or questions for the author should be submitted to him directly at

Readers should be aware that Internet sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Published in Des Moines, Iowa, by:

BookPress Publishing

P.O. Box 71532, Des Moines, IA 50325

www.BookpressPublishing.com

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Carroll, Adam Paul, author.

Title: The Build a Bigger Life Manifesto : The guide to becoming the architect of your own life / Adam Carroll.

Description: Includes bibliographical records. | Des Moines, IA:

BookPress Publishing, 2020.

Identifiers: LCCN: 2020901112 | ISBN: 978-1-947305-13-7

Subjects: LCSH Success. | Self-Actualization (Psychology) | Conduct of life. | Leadership. | BISAC SELF-HELP / Personal Growth / Success

Classification: LCC BF637.S8 C3756 2020 | DDC 158.1--dc23

First Edition

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated to those who yearn for
a life bigger than what they are currently living,
but aren't sure how to go after it. May you always
see yourself as the architect of your own life!

CONTENTS

Thanks to the life architects who have joined me on the Build a Bigger Life podcast through the years. You are shining examples of what it takes to hold bigger visions and ask bigger questions.

Tenet (Noun)

A principle or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy.

Several years ago, someone inspired me to begin writing a manifesto to my children, a guidebook of sorts to living a life that filled them up rather than one that depleted them.

I began curating tidbits of advice, articles, and books that would help my children. The information I started capturing was equal parts what to do and what not to do, and, eventually, the advice started to take shape into concrete ideas and actionable items. I spent two years interviewing successful, passionate people both in person and on my podcast, then took their life experiences and advice and began summarizing all of their wisdom together with mine.

The results are the nine core tenets of the The Build a Bigger Life Manifesto.

This book has been written on airplanes, in coffee shops, in the wee hours of the morning before my family was awake, and was finished in the town of Sorrento, Italy, where we spent 14 glorious days in the summer of 2019 in the midst of a 25-day European adventure.

What you now hold in your hand is this guidebook in printed form. Its as much a call to my children as it is to the hundreds of thousands of people Ive presented to over the years. My intense hope is that you take one, two, three, or all of the ideas in the book and apply them to your own life. And, remember as you do that you are the architect of your life experience. There is no earthly being more in control of your experiences than you. Once you accept the onus of designing and living according to that design, life gets a whole lot bigger.

Thanks for being on this path with me and all of your fellow life architects.

Heres to building a bigger life!

Your parents undoubtedly raised you with a certain set of values, ways of living and of treating other people that they hoped youd adhere to for the rest of your life. Yet something happens throughout our teens and twentieswe spend less and less time with our parents and more time with friends, co-workers, spouses, and kids. Whether you realize it or not, all of those interactions will subtly shift your personal values unless you are extremely conscious of your own core values and live them accordingly.

Its fairly obvious to state that a person living according to their highest values is someone on the right track to building a bigger life. However, just one or two compromised values can cause your life to seem very small.

I recently had the opportunity to work on a project for a company that is doing big, creative things in the financial space. On the surface, everything looked right with the opportunity. They are a fun, fast-moving group of people who love to challenge the status quo. In fact, I was so honored to be asked to participate, I turned a deaf ear to the feedback of friends and mentors. Many of them asked if I knew what I was getting myself into, and still I plowed ahead.

About a month into the project, I noticed that on the days I worked in their offices, my neck and shoulders hurt by the end of the day. My energy level was nearly zapped by the end of the week, which was not at all normal for me otherwise. Furthermore, I found myself not wanting to get up and go to work on Mondays, which is the absolute opposite of how I normally feel at the start of a week.

Throughout the contract, I kept asking my inner knower (), Where is the misalignment with my values?

Two words kept coming up: Freedom and Impact.

Freedom and flexibility are hallmark values of late Gen Xers and most Millennials. Those two core values have defined my work life since 2004, and living according to them has helped me build a bigger life for me and my family in the process.

What I underestimated until this contract came about was my need for the freedom to work when and how I want and the incredible value I place on having an impact on others. While I interacted with a number of people every day, the impact that helped validate the work wasnt readily visible.

Today, I know that if Im bidding on a project, the impact has to be considered right off the bat as does the ability to work on my terms in a way that supports my biggest life. If you are someone who isnt feeling fully fulfilled in your work life, its time to dive deep into your highest values and see whats missing. Quite often, just one minor tweak in how you work, what projects youre on, or what youre focused on will make a massive difference in how you feel at the end of the day.

Perhaps creativity is one of your highest values and youre not working on anything that allows that value to shine through. Maybe your work life doesnt require a lot of creativity but working on projects at home could really add meaning to your day. The problem may be that even those creative tasks get pushed to the back-burner for the sake of your spouse, your kids, housework, and chores.

I challenge you to find something that helps express one or more of your highest values and make that part of your daily or weekly routine. Perhaps its being more creative, learning to play an instrument or speak a new language, putting your unique skills to a good cause, or having a conversation at work about doing more of what you love to do (and are great at).