Over the years, I’ve given countless talks to business owners, and one concept always seems to resonate more than the rest: Return on Life Experience™ (ROLE).
Business owners naturally think in terms of Return on Investment (ROI) — it’s how we measure success in our companies, investments, and opportunities. But ROI only tells part of the story. What often gets overlooked is something far more personal: the return you’re getting on your actual life.
ROLE asks a simple but powerful question: Are you getting the life you want from the wealth you’ve worked so hard to build?
Why ROLE Matters
The money you make is only as valuable as the life it enables. Your choices around how you spend your time, who you spend it with, and the experiences you prioritize all add up to the quality of your life.
Return on Life Experience™ is about measuring, and ultimately improving, those choices. It’s about shifting the focus from “more wealth” to “more life.”
Start with Time
The most straightforward way to measure ROLE is by looking at your time.
Ask yourself: How many hours per week and how many weeks per year do I want to dedicate to pursuing my business vision?
Then compare that to your reality.
For example, my personal target is 25 hours a week, 35 weeks a year working toward my business vision. The rest of my time, I want to spend on family, travel, adventure, community, and health.
I’m not there yet, but I have a clear target.
Now it’s your turn: Fill in the blank: ____ hours/week, ____ weeks/year.
Give Yourself a Score
Next, rank where you are now compared to where you’d like to be on a scale of 1–5.
Example: If your target is 25/35 like mine, but you’re currently working 50 hours a week for 50 weeks a year, you’re probably a 1 out of 5.
Take a moment and give yourself a score.
Here’s what I’ve seen after asking this same question to over 1,000 highly successful business owners:
- 1 – 25%
- 2 – 30%
- 3 – 30%
- 4 – 10%
- 5 – 5%
Shocking, isn’t it? The group with the highest wealth often reports the lowest scores when it comes to Return on Life Experience™.
That’s something I’m committed to changing.
Take the First Step Toward Your Ideal ROLE
Improving your ROLE doesn’t always require radical change. Often, one meaningful action can create an outsized impact.
- Hire an Executive Assistant.
- Say no to activities that don’t move the needle.
- Bring in a COO to free up your time.
- Finally book that vacation you’ve been putting off.
Each of these steps moves you closer to aligning your wealth with the life you truly want.
So, don’t just think about ROI this week. Take a step toward improving your Return on Life Experience™.
