With less than 20 percent of people reporting feeling fulfilled at work and home, and over 50 percent who say they aren’t engaged at their job, it begs the question regarding human happiness: Where does it come from; what might contribute to or improve it; and how can we aspire to more of it? There is growing evidence that certain factors contribute to a fulfilling and satisfying life. And the good news is, we have a great deal of control over those factors. Research has shown that we can control 40 to 60 percent of our happiness, while only a small percentage of happiness is explained by differences in life circumstances.
Fulfilled! Critical Choices – Work, Home, Life by William A. Schiemann, Ph.D., holds the key for every reader to figure out what they want most from life, both personally and professionally – and then stays focused in a consistent way to achieve their goals. The lessons in this book are based on Dr. Schiemann’s interviews with over 100 life-fulfilled people and additional research on generational differences, leading to conclusions about what will work best for Millennials and Baby Boomers alike.
This practical and clarifying guide teaches individuals to think about life fulfillment in a holistic fashion, using principles and tools that have been proven to work in business, organizational psychology, and for those who are most fulfilled in life today:
- ACE: This acronym helps individuals think about their Alignment with life goals, the Capabilities needed to get there and how to make choices that bring continuous Engagement across work, family, hobbies and other vital parts of their lives.
- Balanced Scorecard: How can people better balance the demands of many different stakeholders in their lives? How do they plan for balance across career, family, social, spiritual, educational, and even political needs and desires?
- Life Mapping: incorporates the unique life goals, key success drivers, and ties those to actions individuals needs to take now in their lives. This type of thinking enables them to see both the short and long term, and to think about how to respond to contingencies as circumstances change.
- Measurement: you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Readers are taught how to devise appropriate measures for their individual scorecard, and how to track success over time.
- “Street Smarts:” Savvy, life-fulfilled people also have street smarts. They have learned the ‘art’ of becoming fulfilled—how to adjust to bumps in the road, how to overcome common setbacks, and the ten lessons that most often lead to fulfillment.
- And much more!
Fortune 500 companies pay millions of dollars for this kind of analysis, yet many individuals have never heard of it before, and have certainly lacked access to this domain of knowledge. Until now.
“Would you say you are totally fulfilled today – feeling not only daily happiness or job satisfaction, but a deeper sense of your mission in life and where you hope to end up eventually,” asks Dr. Schiemann. “A majority of people I studied said no. And yet, nearly everyone whom I meet or interview tells me they would like to be more fulfilled. Some suggest that perhaps this is a fleeting fancy passed along to us by our parents or early childhood books. Perhaps in a quixotic way, this is an impossible dream. But I think not. In fact, we have evidence to the contrary.”
Fulfilled! has a strong foundation in field research and professional practice. Yet it’s the research and practice not of an academic psychologist or a practicing therapist, but of an organizational psychologist, Dr. Schiemann, who worked in HR at global companies like AT&T and the last twenty-five years as a research and management consultant in organizations of all walks of life – startups, not-for-profits, Fortune 500, government and even church groups.
As the founder and principal of Metrus Group, Inc., Dr. Schiemann has studied hundreds of companies and interviewed and surveyed tens of thousands of people, ranging from C-suite executives to customer service reps, union shop floor employees, and service delivery personnel. He has extensively studied installers, sales reps, clerks, scientists and engineers, HR managers, accountants, systems designers, production employees, retail staff, lawyers and mill workers.
“This book is about the journey to developing a profound sense of fulfillment in your life,” adds Dr. Schiemann. “It’s not an easy road, and it will be harder for some, but it’s a road that can lead you to incredible richness in your life – a feeling that you’re not only happy but that your life has made a difference to you, your family and to those you touch.”
About Dr. Schiemann:
William A. Schiemann, Ph.D. is Principal of Metrus Group. He is a thought leader in human resources, employee engagement, and fulfillment, having authored scores of articles and multiple books on talent management, including The Rise of HR, co-edited with Dave Ulrich and Libby Sartain and sponsored by HRCI in 2015; Hidden Drivers of Success: Leveraging Employee Insights for Strategic Advantage, published by SHRM in 2013; The ACE Advantage: How Smart Companies Unleash Talent for Optimal Performance, published by SHRM in 2012; Reinventing Talent Management: How to Maximize Performance in the New Marketplace, published by Wiley and SHRM in 2009; and Bullseye! Hitting Your Strategic Targets Through High-Impact Measurement, published by The Free Press in 1999. His newest book, Fulfilled! Critical Choices – Work, Home, Life, published by Secant Publishing, is scheduled to be released October 1, 2016.
Dr. Schiemann is a frequent global keynote speaker and workshop facilitator for many public and private forums around the globe. He is a Fellow and Scholar of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), and received a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Illinois.
For more information follow Dr. Schiemann on Twitter, @wschiemann and connect with him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/wmschiemann.
Fulfilled! will be released on October 1, 2016 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon and all major booksellers.
