Reevaluating ROI
I had a great talk with a client last week about an important and deceptively complex theme, ROI. It’s an abbreviation for “Return on Investment” and refers to the way that we evaluate the result of a sacrifice. Naturally we want the value to exceed the sacrifice because it’s not sustainable otherwise.
If you’ve been in business for any length of time I speculate that you are familiar with this kind of calculation and run it with unapologetic and explicit directness on numerous levels. I could give examples of this, but I assume your career is full of them already.
The fact is, however, that we are CONSTANTLY running subconscious ROI projections in EVERY area of our life. If you are really honest you will start to see them. It’s taboo to talk about some of them with too much detachment, but they’re everywhere.
At the beginning of our relationship we talked about matters directly related to the culture and cash flow of his company, and so ROI was simple. Eventually we started discussing the human condition from every conceivable angle and he noticed this fed something in his soul and spirit. I believe this also emboldened him to expand his life, improve his relationships, and follow his passions on numerous levels. But the ROI calculation became less clear.
He said something interesting though, which has stuck with me. “At a certain point money is no longer your limiting factor, and that’s when the really hard questions begin.”
His money situation is basically secure for the life that he leads. People who find that equilibrium often come to a crisis of personal meaning - there is actually great subconscious fulfillment in the chase and even frustrations involved in making the money work that we often don't realize. When you catch it, that fulfillment leaves and then you REALLY need to figure out your life. At that point it’s a question of existence and a deep grappling with the human condition, an unexpected challenge for those who face it head on.
And it’s where the REAL ROI is found. Ultimately we simply can’t quantify the ROI of what truly matters. A major criticism I have of the entrepreneurial culture in which we live is that it implicitly denies this crucial truth, and as a result our lives often feel anxious and colorless.
This is why I draw great inspiration from classical music and the society that incubated it, in spite of its tribalistic, patriarchal and highly stratified class system which violates so many of our progressive post-Enlightenment values. The aristocrats and clerics therein knew that meaning is the ultimate ROI, and so through their patronage subsidized and nurtured the greatest treasury of art and literature in the history of humankind. It continues to nourish us - it’s a return that truly ripples through time, space, and the human race.
Can you make a similar leap? The world looks different once you do. You will find beauty, depth, and fulfillment as you have not before. Yes, the money must work sustainably, but don’t forget why you are building in the first place.
Want to determine your own ROI calculation? Book a Purpose Discovery Call: https://calendly.com/aaronjmarx/30min