My free subscription to Pink Magazine arrived last month, and while I was browsing I came upon this great new term “ROL”. Cynthia Good, Editor & CEO mentioned it in her editorial comment introducing this month’s feature on women business gurus that she says help us achieve not only an ROI but also a ROL.
We all know what ROI is, right? At least, those of us who have spent time in the corporate world have heard it often enough. ROI = Return on Investment.
Over the years I was taught as a manager never to make a decision without first considering the ROI. If our organization was going to make a capital improvement or take a marketing initiative, we always had to analyze the return on that investment. If I put in “x”, how much would I get out? And of course, it couldn’t just be equal to that which I put in. Depending on the investment, we might be looking for 3 times “x” or 4, 5, or 10 times “x” as the required return to make that investment worthwhile. Simple, right? I invest $100 and expect to get back $1000.
So what about ROL? What is this, anyway?
ROL = Return on Life. What does that mean?
I decided to do a little research…
I sent out a “tweet”, and I started a discussion on my facebook page, and I did a little “googling” and here’s what I learned:
Becky Hooman writes a blog http://returnonlife.blogspot.com/
Virtuoso Travel Agents describe spending time on what matters to you and reconnecting through unique and wonderful experiences on their travel website http://www.virtuoso.com/returnonlife/
Regions Bank has a great report full of wonderful definitions and a really forward-thinking corporate culture: http://www.regions.com/virtualDocuments/social_responsibility_report.pdf and the website http://www.regions.com/socialresponsibility
Dowd Ritter, Chairman, President and CEO, Regions Bank, shares this:
“In business, we seek a financial return on our investments. But there’s more to life than financial returns. What about the investments we make in ourselves and in others? Ultimately, we all hope that in the way we live we will have a meaningful impact. We may even dare to hope that we can leave the world better than we found it. Each day of life is an investment, and it’s an investment where the returns are not measured in dollars. Investing in business can be complicated. But in life, it’s really simple. Invest in things that make life better. Earn a higher return on life.”
“ROL is what we get back from investing ourselves. ROL results when we put our passion and effort into causes whose benefits extend beyond ourselves. Find yourself a purpose larger than you and invest yourself in it. You’ll be gratified at the return on life that it yields.” — Nido Qubein, President of High Point University
In these uncertain times, what will you do to improve your “return on life”? What passions will you tap into to put forth an effort that returns something larger than you? What family member, friend or cause needs your support? And how will you contribute in a way that benefits the greater good far beyond today?
Or maybe, this is such a strange, foreign concept that you’ll disregard it as confusing and outrageous and you’ll just go about your life in the same ordinary way, seeing the same ordinary returns. And your “ROL” is status quo.
What is your “ROL”?
I choose to believe that the numbers of us embracing the power of “ROL” are increasing exponentially. And we’re ready to invest ourselves in saving our world.
Will you join me?