Claire’s Life Map
A worked example
Claire does not want less success. She wants her life back.
This fictional but representative example shows how a vague, familiar frustration can become a clearer problem, a testable assumption and a credible next move.
Claire's starting story“I make good money, but I have no life. I either keep the job and accept it, or earn less and regain my time.”
STEP 01
Replace the complaint with observable dimensions
Claire reviews eight weeks of calendars, messages and weekends. Instead of rating whether she “has a life,” she identifies what her choices are actually producing.
STEP 02
Separate outcomes that are not true opposites
Claire had placed income and free time at opposite ends of one mental axis. The Life Map treats them as separate dimensions that might improve together.
The map changes the problem
Income is already aligned at 8. The largest gap is calendar control, followed by discretionary time, recovery and family presence. Work intensity needs to move down—not disappear.
What in Claire’s current way of working makes income depend on permanent availability?
STEP 03
Follow the assumptions beneath the schedule
Claire’s commercial responsibility is real. But some of the system around it is being maintained by beliefs and habits she has not tested.
“Clients expect immediate replies.”
Assumption: delayed replies will damage revenue and trust.
Evidence: no response-time promise exists, and most messages are not urgent.
“My team is not ready.”
Assumption: delegation will lower quality and expose Claire as less valuable.
Evidence: she still approves decisions the team has handled correctly before.
“This is what a senior role requires.”
Assumption: leadership means being continuously reachable.
Evidence: other senior roles use deputies and defined decision windows.
Beneath the operational assumptions sits an identity assumption: “If I am not indispensable, I am less valuable.”
STEP 04
Design a reversible experiment
A useful experiment tests the operating model—not Claire’s endurance. She does not resign, request a pay cut or gamble her financial security.
- Protect Tuesday and Thursday after 6:30 p.m. and all of Saturday.
- Replace constant monitoring with response windows at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
- Give her deputy decision rights for five recurring client situations and define one urgent escalation channel.
- Replace six status meetings and three recurring reports with one shared dashboard.
- Track revenue, complaints, escalations, team decisions, working hours, sleep and protected family time.
STEP 05
Compare the shared dimensions
Claire assumes her husband, Daniel, wants her to protect every euro of income. They complete the relevant dimensions separately before discussing them.
Household financial security
Protected family evenings
SIX WEEKS LATER
The choice is no longer binary
In this illustrative scenario, one failed handover exposes an unclear rule—not an incapable team. No client leaves, delivery stays on track and revenue does not change.
What Claire can now decide
The experiment does not magically deliver her Wanted map. It provides evidence for a 90-day role redesign: formal deputy authority, fewer approval points and performance measured by portfolio results rather than responsiveness. If her employer refuses, she can search for high-autonomy commercial roles instead of assuming her only alternative is a lower-paid life.
What the framework achieved
It restored agency without pretending that change is effortless
Claire is not content because every gap has disappeared. She is closer to contentment because she knows which positions matter, which costs she accepts and which limits no longer deserve to be treated as facts.