Our souls crave meaning, and these ideas will help you find out what is fulfilling and meaningful to you because each person’s definition of a meaningful life may be different.
At least we all know that having meaning in your life will make us healthier, happier, it will fill us with energy and vitality, and our life satisfaction will increase.
The solution for living that kind of life remains ever the same. Know what you want. And let your actions reflect that desire.
1. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.
In order to make your living meaningful, you have to make life simpler. We all have a lot of clutter in our lives – not just physical, but mental as well! These days, it’s almost a badge of honor to find ways to balance the chaos of our lives, and balance implies a scale which never stays in balance for very long.
Therefore, it is necessary to focus on doing things that fulfill you. Make sure that your life is architected around your priorities, and try to get rid of all those things that cause stress and frustration. If you do not need it or it does not serve a positive purpose, stop doing that.
2. Be honest with yourself
Ask yourself these questions: What makes me really happy? What do I really need to be happy? What am I good at? Am I doing what matters most to me? Does my work give me life meaning? What would I stand for? What principles do I hold highest? Is my life’s purpose to help others? Is it to inspire others?
This is about clarity, and your answers to these questions will get you from point A to point B in the quickest way.
3. Find your life’s purpose
“Finding your purpose” is more than just a cliché. Isn’t something that can be done in a few days, weeks or months, but the one who seeks, finds.
Take your journal and write down different things you’d like to do. Write all of these things down, and dare to dream, to believe that everything’s possible.
Maybe you’ll say ‘I’m not qualified to do what I would love to do’. It doesn’t matter what you’re qualified to do!!!
Just go ahead, explore your interests, skills, and values, choose a path that allows you to use your skills, be creative, and you’ll find that thing you like to do, you want to do, and you want to do it forever.
4. Take action
Are you taking action? What are you doing to bring you closer to your goals or attract into your life people and activities that will support you?
Each time you work on something you love creates joy inside you like nothing else. Remain mindful of what you do at all times, and replace all those activities that are neither useful nor really enjoyable with something you are really passionate about.
Know what you want, and achieve what you want.
5. Stay committed to your goals
Everything new is exciting, but when it’s not new anymore it’s not going to be so exciting.
Get over the need to be looking for something all the time that excites you, and just get committed to doing what you know you’re supposed to do, whether you feel like it or you don’t feel like it.
Many times we hear this “Do what you love”. It actually means to have a passion, a life purpose and requires a lot of work to achieve your goals. But it doesn’t mean you will always do what you love. It takes consistent self-discipline to master the art of setting goals. On your journey, you will also find a routine, obstacles, frustration and discouragement, and this is something ordinary.
If you want to be extraordinary, you have to be disciplined and determined to keep evolving and succeed, no matter how slow or how fast you go.
6. Express yourself
How does one live a meaningful life? This is the question that author Emily Esfahani Smith has captivated over five years, and this is also a theme in her book, The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters.
“This is about your own life story. How you understand yourself. Storytelling is the act of taking your experiences and weaving them into a narrative that explains who you are and where you came from and some stories are healthier than others.
Psychologists find that people who lead meaningful lives tend to tell redemptive stories about their lives so stories that move from some kind of adversity to good. This bad thing happened to me but then I ended up growing or becoming more compassionate or finding a sense of purpose.
It turns out that the stories that you tell about your life can actually lead you to lead more meaningful lives. The story actually changes how you behave.
Our lives aren’t just lists of events; we can edit, reinterpret and change the way we tell our story. People leading meaningful lives tend to tell stories based on redemption, growth, and love”, said Emily Esfahani Smith, author of ‘The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters’, for Forbes.com.
Design a life you are inspired to live
7. Don’t rush yourself
So many people are unhappy today because they give a certain order of how things are going to happen in their lives, basing their experience on how they’ve seen things happen in other people’s lives. We all have a different experience in life, although some of us have similar experiences, but with different timing. No two relationships, lives, or journey are the same and what works for some will not work for others.
Constantly planning for the future. Rushing, racing, and competing against ourselves and others. This is overwhelming. You must abandon your fear of missing out, losing and being left behind, and put your trust in the journey. Slow down a little, and start living your best life right now.
The best way to be productive and grow your business or career is to find your own rhythm.
Remember that you’re valuable, your time is valuable, your life is valuable, and the choices you make determine the kinds of legacies you leave, and there are no small choices.
You are capable of achieving truly great things if you choose so. Push yourself to pursue a life worth living and simply enjoy it.
