At my 20th reunion at Harvard Business School, I was shocked by how many classmates approached me and, within minutes of reconnecting, revealed deeply personal struggles.
Career issues were often the backdrop, but their pain always resided elsewhere: a marriage under strain or a child struggling, a body breaking down, or an inner life riddled with sadness and anxiety.
Let me be clear: people were overall doing well, but success at work couldn’t compensate for holes in other parts of life.
Life isn’t an investment portfolio.
A private equity fund is additive. One investment can go to zero, and the winners can still carry the fund.
Life doesn’t work that way. If one foundational area collapses, success elsewhere doesn’t compensate. Zero multiplied by anything is still zero.
While we understand this intellectually, practically, we tend to celebrate areas where we’re winning…and ignore areas we’d rather not examine.
Try this – rate each of these areas from 0 to 10:
-
Career & Finances
-
Family & Friends
-
Health & Fitness
-
Mindset & Emotions
Most people on my list are very strong in Career & Finances.
But how about the other three?
As we enter Q4, perhaps it’s time to reassess all 4 areas and reallocate time and energy to the parts that need help most. Finish 2026 strong!
Warmly,
Navin
P.S. Pic from our 20th Harvard Business School reunion (2023) teaching this very simple but powerful framework. Extra credit for identifying any business celebs.
