In the last few videos, we’ve been dismantling a familiar story: that if you want more satisfaction, more impact, or more clarity, the answer is to do more. This video introduces the foundation for a different approach.
For a long time, I thought I had found the answer.
I was clear on my life’s purpose early — clearer than most twelve-year-olds get to be — and I built my life around it with discipline, devotion, and what I genuinely believed was integrity. I went where impact lived. I did the hard work. I aligned my career with purpose.
And it worked! It looked like success.
Until it didn’t.
Leading in 3D is the recognition that no version of success holds if it only works in one dimension. It’s the foundation that makes subtraction possible.
Why This Matters
Most of us are still operating with a linear success story, even if we know better intellectually.
First, take care of yourself.
Then, build the team, the company, the family.
Later, once you’ve “made it,” give back.
If that story ever worked, it certainly doesn’t these days.
Life doesn’t move in clean phases. Energy doesn’t wait its turn. And meaning doesn’t politely arrive after everything else is handled. A one-dimensional pursuit of success — even a noble one — inevitably erodes the other areas of our lives.
That erosion doesn’t always show up as failure. It may show up as burnout. Or numbness. Or a nagging sense that the life you worked so hard to build no longer fits the person you’ve become.
It often still looks like success. It just doesn’t feel the way we thought it would.
Learning Objectives
In this video, you’ll learn:
Why one-dimensional success inevitably collapses, no matter how virtuous or aligned the goal
What it actually means to Lead in 3D — pursuing outcomes that truly matter in the ME, WE, and WORLD dimensions, simultaneously
How multidimensional leadership creates energy that renews itself, not just more output
The Core Idea: ME · WE · WORLD
Leading in 3D means investing effort in three dimensions at the same time:
ME — your holistic wellbeing: physical, mental, emotional, intellectual
WE — the teams, families, and organizations you are responsible for
WORLD — not the whole wide world, but your one-eight-billionth: the communities, causes, and systems you care about helping to heal
This isn’t about balance in a tidy, static, KPI-driving sense. It’s about interdependence: understanding how energy invested in one dimension amplifies (or drains) the others.
When ME is depleted, WE suffers.
When WE is dysfunctional, our WORLD impact weakens.
When WORLD purpose is absent, ME and WE eventually hollow out.
The system always tells the truth.
Why This Works When Things Are Hard
There’s a reason this framework holds up under pressure.
Decades of research on intrinsic motivation show that sustainable drive comes from three sources: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. ME, WE, and WORLD map directly onto those forces.
When you lead in all three dimensions, you’re not relying on willpower. You’re building a self-renewing source of energy, the kind that allows you to do hard things without breaking.
This is the foundation that makes subtraction possible. Without it, letting go just feels like dropping balls, shirking responsibility, or betrayal.
A Tiny Experiment
Take two minutes and ask yourself this — honestly, without fixing anything yet:
Which dimension have you overemphasized lately: ME, WE, or WORLD?
Notice where you’re over-investing — and where you’ve been quietly borrowing energy you don’t actually have.
