Are you looking for a way to find meaning in life? Not the meaning of life, but making some sense out of what you do? I am going to try to share my life philosophy with you. If you have read my blog for a while you might be familiar with the illustration I am using today. I made it first for another blog post a while back which you can read here – Since then I have had this graphic as my desktop background, learning to appreciate it every single day as a reminder and map of my life and it makes sense.
The GIKA SPICT – I am really not sure about the name, feel free to suggest a better name for this 
I just made it up from the input and output of this circle – Goals, Inspiration, Knowledge and Abilities on one side and Share, Produce, Inspire, Care and Teach on the other side, not very creative, but it helps me remember when I try to teach this to others.
I have come to believe that humans thrive when they feel some progress in any field. People quit their dead end jobs when they imagine that this is all they can get. I work at a call center and deal with the “after one year I know all there is to it”-syndrome all the time. They get bored and start looking for new jobs and production is dropping. Unless we get the GIKA SPICT-philosophy flowing.
You can use this in any setting to create growth and meaning, at work, at home, in sports you name it. This is probably why people teach with low or no pay at all, it creates a greater purpose in life, and you do something greater than yourself.
Challenge yourself to get new abilities, acquire some new skills or knowledge, find inspiration in others and set yourself goals. This is what I am looking for; this is why I am currently trying to obtain a stronger mid-game in chess. This is why I read books about coaching and leadership. This is why I have started a political career. This is why I have found a good cause to support at Arc Kenya.
But that is not enough. One way of making sure you are untouchable at work is to acquire a critical skill that no one else possesses. You won’t get fired, but it will not make you evolve unless you are unselfish and share and teach. This is why you should fire people that won’t share as they prey on knowledge your company would benefit by, if it was taught to the masses. Transferring knowledge is a strong unselfish act that will give you a greater meaning in life. Do not underestimate the power of sharing and teaching. I am trying to teach my kids to play chess; it is a rewarding gift of fun and joy. Teaching my kids to play chess is just a small part of it, but it shows that this philosophy is scalable to the little things as well.
Are you having a productive day today? How does it make you feel? We like to feel productive; if I do not clean the kitchen for a day my wife feels unproductive and shares the wisdom of delegating work with (to) me. But seriously a productive day provide more self esteem, your time is not wasted. What productive really is, depends on the individual, but you can recognize it by a feeling of wasting time.
Care about others, care about your co-workers, show your family that you care. Appreciate important people in your life. This creates a good feeling in both you and the ones being appreciated. Care for a cause if you can, it all helps you to feel useful. If you care about the people around you, and teach them to care about the people around them you will end up with people caring about you. This is Karma baby! – But it works!
By following this philosophy you will inspire other people as you go along. And this is where the circle is completed and you start evolving. As you help other people to evolve and as you motivate people to complete achievements this will in return be very fulfilling to you. If you as a co-worker, manager, family individual or in any other setting strive to help other people evolve and grow, you will experience a greater meaning in life. It might still not be the meaning of life, but for me it is as close as it gets.
Positive thinking is also a strong element in my strangely named GIKA SPICT philosophy. I will follow up with a blog post about positive thinking in GIKA SPICT shortly.
