The ThriveLife

Reading time: about 5 minutes

Hey Brothers,

Welcome back!

In this edition of the LenDentonThrive Letter, I want to take a bit of a departure from the usual topics, and lay some groundwork around the topic of thriving. More specifically, what it is, how to create conditions for more of it, and why it matters in the first place. 

So, this is a bit of a risky experiment for a couple of reasons:

First, I think some of my takes on thriving will be controversial. So, we are going to find out just how controversial they actually are!

Second, I'm actively looking for some feedback on these concepts from you, the reader. I want to create a back and forth that can help shape this conversation now, and into the future. To do this effectively, it might be necessary to move this conversation to another platform. If that proves to be true, so be it. For now, we'll start here in the LDT Letter. 

My Definition of Thriving

The dictionary defines thriving as - prosperous and growing; flourishing.

I define thriving as being the best one can be, or more specifically, operating at one's maximum potential.  (More on maximum potential in a moment.)

Thriving is a complicated idea when applied to the human life, so let's try to simplify it somewhat by taking a more practical approach. Practical implies that we will concern ourselves more with the actual doing or use of something rather than with the ideas and theories of that thing. 

I think and write about thriving from a Christian perspective. As I noted in a recent edition of this Letter, to simplify the overall complexity, I think about human thriving in four specific spheres or domains:

1- Body: this domain is concerned with our physical bodies and things like health, fitness and longevity. 

2 - Soul (Mind): the soul is the seat of our mind. This domain will focus on important topics like mindset, relationships, marriage, family, and mental health.

3 - Spirit:  in this domain, we will be concerned with spiritual aspects of our lives such as spiritual identity, our relationship with God and His call on our lives as men.

 4 - Treasure (Financial): it's hard to think of thriving without addressing our financial well-being. In this domain, we'll focus on the issues of career, financial prosperity, creating our own financial kingdoms and legacy. 

So, to quickly summarize, I've organized my thinking on thriving into four broad domains: Body, Soul (Mind), Spirit, and Treasure. Next, let's look at Maximum Potential and its practical implications for thriving. This allows us to divide and conquer the complexity of human thriving into smaller bite-sized chunks.

After all, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Thriving and Maximum Potential

Now, let's look at a way to practically describe thriving using a concept I call maximum potential. 

It's one thing to say that you want to be the best you can be. But, from a practical perspective, I think that can be a hard way to conceptualize, implement and improve on a personal level.  

Maximum Potential is my way of simplifying the idea of thriving; as well as the steps needed to enhance thriving across any of the four domains noted above. 

I describe maximum potential in this equation:

   Max Potential = Capabilities x Opportunities x Execution

(or Max Potential = C x O x E)

where:

Capabilities = your innate and acquired skills, talents and abilities. Basically, this is your personal toolbox. It includes training, education, certifications, general knowledge, etc.

Opportunities = the number of times you have the chance to utilize your capabilities. Think: shots on goal or times at bat. One way to increase your max potential is to take more shots. Or, the harder you work, the luckier you get. It’s all about more opportunities. 

Execution = how well you perform your capability when the opportunity arises. Example: Think about a baseball player's batting average. Better execution means a higher batting average, more times on base and a higher overall Maximum Potential. 

Now, let's consider these three criteria in the case of this baseball player example. To thrive means to maximize his batting average. That means he must be a highly skilled player (Capabilities) to make it to the Major Leagues in the first place. He must make the starting team to be able to bat frequently (Opportunities). And he must perform well at the plate when he gets the chance to hit (Execution). 

To make all of this a reality in his personal life circumstances, the young player must:

1. Possess natural talent and ability as a baseball player (Capability)

2. Practice to hone and improve his skills (Capability)

3. Play on notable teams (varsity, travel clubs, etc.) to be noticed and get new, better chances to play at higher, more accomplished levels (Opportunity)

4. Perform well when he gets at bats. (Execution)

All of this is the natural process of growing into a successful hitter in the Major Leagues. It works the same way in every aspect of our lives. The higher your maximum potential, the more you are thriving. 

Thrive Codes

If thriving is the what, and max potential is the how-well, then Thrive Codes are the how-to-do-it components of thriving.

Thrive Codes are implementable principles and practices related to a specific area of life that men can employ to help them enhance their thriving. Some thrive codes may be simple and quick to implement, like daily health rituals. Others, like personal financial systems, may be more complex to implement. 

One example of a thrive code is the Thrive Code for Fitness (TC-Fitness). The TC-Fitness lays out a detailed process to help guys lose weight, get fit and stay fit for life:

1. Eat Smarter 

2. Keep Moving

3. Daily Weigh-in Ritual

4. Daily Meal Planning

5. Get Better Sleep

In the ThriveLife framework, Thrive Codes function as the topic-specific field manuals that help men achieve greater levels of thriving in sepcific areas based on their individual needs. 

The ThriveLife Framework

I envision the ThriveLife as a practical, achievable framework of personal thriving. The four domains will contain domain-specific Thrive Codes to assist men to raise their maximum potential with tried and true principles and practices. That's illustrated in the figure below.

We’ll dive deeper into this framework over time, including adding a number of new Thrive Codes. 

The goal is more thriving. 

Because God loves us. He wants us to thrive.

So, let's go!

Thanks for reading this week. If you have comments or ideas you’d like to share, please send me a comment by replying to this newsletter via email.