Values that bring so many people so much meaning in life
How you spend your time is how you spend your life.
How your time can easily give away the things you value most in life. William Penn was right when he said, “Time is what we want most, but what we spend worst.”
Time is today’s most important currency. Build a better relationship with time and you can become successful in almost all areas of life.
Time used wisely can help you make money, build better relationships, and enjoy meaningful and memorable life experiences. How you manage your time will decide what you achieve in life.
Unlike money, time cannot be multiplied, borrowed, or recovered after you lose it. With that in mind, billions of people choose to spend their time on things that mean everything to them. Or on activities and experiences that allow them to enjoy life to the fullest.
Happiness is an inside job. You alone can define what makes you happy. The good news is, when you are happy, you can make others happy.
It’s only when you are happy from within that you can completely enjoy the experiences and events you share with your loved ones and the people close to you. Billions of people around the world prioritize these three things to fully enjoy life.
And what we do for work is one of the principal environment for fulfilling that need. Think about it. We spend a lot of time working. Almost eight hours a day, for at least 40 weeks every year, for 40 years or so. That’s a lot of time in your lifetime — quite a large proportion of our lives.
Work that uses your talents and skills to your maximum potential can allow you to fully express yourself and offer the rare opportunity to make a purposeful contribution while connecting with others.
“New research on the meaning of work shows that more than 9 out of 10 employees are willing to trade a percentage of their lifetime earnings for greater meaning at work,” according to HBR.
Meaningful work can be any kind of work; if it’s fulfilling your potential, and makes you lose yourself, you’ve found exactly what you need to live the life you want.
Ryan Robinson of Buffer says, “If your work is something you love, it will give clarity, drive, and happiness to all aspects of your life. If your work is meaningful, you’ll be more likely to stick with it in the long run, which means you’re more likely to be successful as a result.”
Finding meaning in one’s work increases motivation, engagement, empowerment, career development, job satisfaction, individual performance and personal fulfillment, according to research.
It can be anything from creating something new, improving an existing product or service, building something awesome, helping others, inspiring others, teaching others, setting in motion something that will make the world a better place, making something beautiful, creating something useful, moving the hearts of others.
Humans are ultra-social species. It’s our nature, and we can’t live our lives without interactions. Ultimately, other people play a crucial role in our happiness.
Everyone is always trying to feel better and happy, regardless of what mood they are in. “When we feel bad, the goal is just to feel good again. But when we feel happy, we’re more likely to sacrifice some of the comforts of old, worn-in relationships in order to achieve longer-term goals, like networking or making new friends,” writes Olga Khazan, a staff writer at The Atlantic.
Relationships can encourage good behaviors that are good for us, which improves our mood, and overall well being. So it makes sense that studies show having fewer social ties is associated with health problems.
The people you choose to surround yourself with have a bigger impact on your happiness and total well-being than you think.
Freedom can lead to enhanced expressions of creativity and original thought increased productivity and overall high quality of life.
The freedom to be who you truly change everything. Freedom to think for yourself. Freedom over your time and what you can do with it. And the freedom to express yourself or invest in something meaningful to you.
Napoleon Hill once said, “Remember that your real wealth can be measured not by what you have, but by what you are.”
Real wealth is the abundance of time and freedom to be who you are or want to be — it gives you the freedom to be yourself, to make an impact in someone’s life and the opportunity to make a change that matters to you.
Real wealth is, “not having to go to meetings, not having to spend time with jerks, not being locked into status games, not feeling like you have to say “yes”, not worrying about others claiming your time and energy,” argues James Clear.
To find out values that can make life meaningful and fulfilling for you, dig deep into your past experiences
Some of the most powerful insights about what we want or what makes us come alive come from inside ourselves.
Don’t underestimate the power of looking back for answers that can help you live your best life today and tomorrow.
People succeed, thrive and enjoy life by getting curious about who they really are and doing what they value most in life. Reflect on your past experiences with questions like: What are my top 3 peak experiences in life? How, if at all, are they linked? What do they have in common?
What types of environments inspire my best work or feelings of satisfaction? What, if I had my choice, would I never do again if I didn’t have to? What kind of professional and personal breakthroughs do I want to experience? If money weren’t a problem, what would I spend my time doing?
The patterns that emerge can help you build a list of things you value in life. Your core values can help you align your actions for the rest of your life with what makes you come alive and create a life based on what makes you happy. You can change your life immeasurably once you realize that time is your most valued resource.
For a happy life, choose to value meaningful work, deeper relationships and the freedom to fully express yourself and be who you truly are. And as Paulo Coelho put it so eloquently…
