What We Want
Hierarchy
The Hierarchy You’re Already Living
We are all familiar with hierarchy when it comes to needs. Psychologist Abraham Maslow outlined the foundational drivers common to all humans.
But beyond needs, there is something more personal shaping our lives:
A value hierarchy.
Not what we claim.
Not what sounds admirable.
But what our lives are actually structured around.
You are already living in a hierarchy.
The only question is whether you designed it or drifted into it.
Achiever vs Maverick
The Achiever asks:
“How do I get to the top?”
The Maverick asks:
“What does the top require, and is it aligned with my values?”
Ambition is not wrong.
Excellence is not wrong.
But unconscious ambition is dangerous.
Every meaningful pursuit carries structural consequences.
And structure determines legacy.
The Parenting Conflict
For me, family is a core value. At this stage of my life, parenting ranks very high. That means my daily routine is structured around it.
If my highest value were being at the absolute top of my industry, my life would need to look very different.
Because the two cannot both occupy the first position without collision.
Elite performance in many industries often demands:
-
Extended hours
-
Travel
-
Deep mental bandwidth
-
Emotional energy absorbed by work
That’s not immoral.
It’s structural.
If you choose to raise children, they require priority not just emotionally, but practically. Time. Presence. Patience. Stability.
If your calendar contradicts that, tension will surface somewhere.
And unresolved tension leaves marks.
Hard Work vs Intelligent Effort
There is another assumption we rarely challenge:
Hard work.
We glorify it.
But perhaps we need to refine it.
You can work extremely hard, pour in effort, sacrifice sleep, grind endlessly, and still not produce the outcome you set out to achieve.
Effort alone is not alignment.
Sometimes what moves us closer to our goal is not more effort but better thinking.
Carefully considering:
-
How we use our time
-
Whether our skillset needs improvement
-
How we leverage our resources
-
Which relationships we cultivate
Improving or strategically leveraging those three: time, skill, and relationships, can move us closer to our goals faster than raw exertion ever could.
Efficiency protects what matters.
Unexamined hard work can quietly consume it.
If family is your highest value, but your strategy is constant exhaustion, even noble ambition can become collateral damage.
The Calendar Test
Psychologists call the tension between belief and behaviour cognitive dissonance, a concept developed by Leon Festinger.
You don’t need theory to feel it.
If you say:
“Family is everything.”
But your schedule says:
“Work is everything.”
Friction is inevitable.
The Maverick does not ignore this friction.
He examines it.
He redesigns it.
He counts the cost.
The Legacy Question
We often say we are doing this for the people we love.
But legacy is not built on intention.
It is built on a structure.
You are free to chase greatness.
Just make sure you understand what greatness will demand from you and from those closest to you.
Because in the end, you will not be remembered for what you said you valued.
You will be remembered for what your life consistently prioritised.
The Maverick does not drift into legacy.
He designs it.
No comments:
Post a Comment