With Every Breath

One of the challenges I have sometimes is choosing the title for the interviews I publish.

The nature of the six core questions I ask leaders, plus the additional questions I ask that often focus on a book they’ve published, seem to elicit a number and variety of powerful ideas.

More often than not, I find that one of the most essential and intriguing ideas (for me) comes at the very end.

That was certainly my experience with my recent conversation with Peter Demarest, president at Axiogenics, LLC and lead co-author of Answering the Central Question.

When I asked Peter to share what was the top takeaway he’d like readers to get from reading his book, Answering The Central Question, he said:

“Number one by far is that life – not just life, but success in life; quality of life – fundamentally is a function of the value we create, not only the value we get.”

He then went on to share a very personal and touching story from his own life. In 2004, his wife Margaret passed away from breast cancer. During her final days and hours, she met with many visitors and seemed to be hanging on.

While the visitors all came with sadness and tears in their eyes, Peter observed that they all would leave with joy in their eyes.

What Peter ultimately came to realize was that “she knew with every breath, there was an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life – with every breath.”

In a world experiencing many difficulties breathing in recent months, this is a beautiful and timely message to receive.

Success in Life Is a Function of the Value We Create

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to interview Peter Demarest. In this interview, we cover the six core questions from the Exploring Forward Thinking Workplaces interview series and questions about his book, Answering the Central Question.

Below are a few of my key takeaways from the conversation:

• The way to create a forward thinking workplace is by creating a culture that has intrinsically fostered the “heart-set” that every person really does matter.
• Recognize that the individual team member has infinite intrinsic value as a human being and needs to be treated as such.
• People want to go to work and know that they matter to their co-workers — not just their product but their person as well.
• The most crucial part of the work is how we go from where we are to where we could be in a positive sense.
• The fastest way to increase both personal and organizational success is to make a habit of asking ourselves, The Central Question of Life, Love, and Leadership: “What choice can I make and action can I take, in this moment, to create the greatest net value?”
• With every breath, we have the opportunity to make a difference that matters – to create value in some way. No matter how small. It may seem inconsequential, but it’s never inconsequential. It always matters.

I now invite you to read or listen to my interview with Peter. I think you will find the interview profound and life-changing.

I always look forward to hearing what you find most intriguing? Please email me at bill@billfox.co or use the reply button below.

To your great work life & success!

To your forward thinking life & success!

⏤ Bill

Bill Fox, Founder at Forward Thinking Pro

P. S. I want to invite you to join Peter Demarest and myself at a free webinar in the new year. Together, we’ll explore the old/new leadership norms, workplace transformation, self-leadership, and more. Join the waitlist to get notified!