Life As a Layer Cake (a Book Review of PAiLS)
I’m getting all of this material from a book by Chris Brady – PAiLS. It’s an absolutely phenomenal book, and I recommend it to EVERYONE – especially those who are just starting out in life.
The main idea of this book is to answer the question, “what do you want to do with your life?”
Brady does an incredible job of taking a rather complex question and breaking it down into a simple answer.
I am going to steal this image right out of his book, so hopefully, he won’t mind 😉
As you can see, life can be pictured like a layer cake. I have used this book a lot to figure out how to structure my life, and this post really isn’t going to do the book justice, so you should really read it 🙂
The layers work best when you build from bottom to top, but if for some reason that isn’t possible for you, it is possible to acquire all the layers out of order as well.
Layer #1 – Preparatory Experience
This would include high school and college, any extracurricular activities you do during that phase of your life, and all of your life experiences that shape your thinking.
Layer #2 – Pragmatic Occupation
A job. Something that feeds you and pays the bills. I’m not saying that this phase is all drudgery and no fun, however. I’m just saying that oftentimes people are not living their passion in their career. However, this phase is absolutely necessary because it eventually should fund your passion.
Layer #3 – Passionate Pursuit
It is entirely possible that this layer could be starting to form while you are still in layer 2. Others might call this layer “retirement.” This is where you have enough funds to start pursuing what God has called you to do on the side until you have enough money to commit to this layer full time.
Layer #4 – Purposeful Calling
Finally, after you chase your passion, or while you are in the midst of it, you will create layer 4. Purposeful calling is giving back to others and paying it forward – being part of something bigger than yourself. You will never feel complete without this layer.
Actually, you might be in more than one layer at the same times at certain points in your life!
When you miss one or more of these layers, Brady says your life will feel incomplete.
Brady also talks about Benjamin Franklin, and how he lived his life in layers as well. First, he was an apprentice at a print shop (preparatory experiences). Second, he owned his own chain of print shops and became an entrepreneur (pragmatic occupation). Third, he retired from his entrepreneurial ventures and became a philosopher and pursued science (passionate pursuit). And finally, he joined in the fight for America’s freedom and served his country as an ambassador (purposeful calling).
So, knowing this, how can we use this information to our advantage? Stephen Covey says to “begin with the end in mind.” Allow me to take an example from Brady’s book.
Let’s say there’s a girl who wants to be a dancer. First, she would think about whether or not God has placed a purposeful calling on her heart yet. If she can’t think of one, that’s okay – just move on to the passionate pursuit and she’ll figure out the purposeful calling later. But let’s just say she wants to teach dance lessons and own her own studio someday to inspire other young girls to become professional dancers. Awesome! Now, is there a passion that she has that supports that purposeful calling? Yes, she likes dancing and her dream is to be in the Olympics. Great. So, what types of pragmatic occupations might support that passion? Perhaps teaching dance at a school or dancing in shows? Or maybe she could find a job that she enjoys that has something to do with the entertainment industry. Finally, what types of preparatory experiences should she find that support her layer cake? What classes or schools should she attend? Well, she should probably take dance lessons and practice every day, and maybe attend a college that heavily promotes the arts.
See how that works?
It can work backward as well – just fill in the layers.
The two main questions are, where do you want to be in the future? And are you doing the necessary actions to get there?
For more information on this concept (and to hear it from the guy who invented it :D), read the book. It’s REALLY GOOD.
Until next time,
Hope Frances
