Most high performers have the business side mapped. Revenue, systems, growth targets, all of it tracked with real rigor. The 9 Skills are the same rigor, aimed at the rest of your life.
Each one is scored honestly, one to ten. Whichever one scores lowest is where your life is leaking fulfillment, and it's the highest-leverage place to start. This isn't a diagnosis. It's a starting point.
Whether you know what you're oriented toward, not just what you're achieving. Grounded in Carol Ryff's research on psychological well-being (1989), which found a clear sense of direction predicts long-term wellbeing better than a good mood does.
Whether you're living a life you authored or one you inherited. Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan) found that acting from genuine choice predicts better wellbeing than acting from obligation, even when the behavior looks identical from the outside.
Acting in line with your values under pressure. Included as a core domain in Harvard's Human Flourishing Program, research (Weziak-Bialowolska et al., 2022) that treats traits like honesty and self-control as measurable predictors of a flourishing life.
The Harvard Study of Adult Development, running over 80 years, found relationship quality was the single strongest predictor of long-term health and happiness, ahead of wealth, fame, or career success.
Erikson's research on adult development identified generativity, contributing to something beyond yourself, as central to a mature life. Separate research (Moll et al., 2006) found giving activates the same reward circuits in the brain as receiving.
Whether you're actually experiencing your life as it happens. A widely cited Harvard study (Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010) found people are less happy when their mind wanders, even to pleasant things, than when they're fully engaged in whatever they're doing.
Real engagement with difficulty, in service of getting better. Csikszentmihalyi's flow research found people do their best, most satisfying work at the edge of their skill against real challenge, not in comfort.
The body as the foundation for everything else. Exercise research links physical activity to measurable improvements in mood and a lower risk of depression, not as a separate wellness category but as the base layer for emotional regulation and clear thinking.
Not a number. The relationship between money, freedom, and background stress. Research published in Science (Mani et al., 2013) found financial scarcity itself consumes real cognitive bandwidth, a measurable effect similar to a drop in available IQ under stress.
No. It's a self-assessment starting point for reflection, grounded in real published research, not a diagnostic tool.
You'll see your lowest-scoring skill and some reflection questions to sit with. From there, some people keep exploring on their own, some book a Clarity Call with Laura.
No single skill is meant to hit ten. The point is knowing which one is lowest, not scoring perfectly across the board.
Every skill traces back to real, citable research. Nothing here is vibes-based.
Yes, this is a self-assessment for your own reflection, not something shared or published.