Life Skills · 5 lessons

Meaning & purpose

Explore what makes your life feel worthwhile, in your own words and from within your own beliefs. 5 short lessons with worked examples.

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Explore what makes your life feel worthwhile, in your own words and from within your own beliefs.

The lessons

• What makes a life feel meaningful — Across cultures and beliefs, people often find meaning in connection, contribution, growth and something larger than themselves.
• Your own definition of success — Success means different things to different people. Defining it for yourself protects you from chasing someone else's version.
• What is enough — Without a sense of "enough", more money, success or possessions can keep receding. Knowing what is enough can bring peace and freedom.
• What you give — Many people find their deepest sense of purpose not in what they get, but in what they give: care, work, skills, time and example.
• Living with the fact that life ends — Every tradition has something to say about mortality. Remembering that time is limited can clarify what truly matters now.

Practise

Write your own definition of a life well lived in three or four sentences. Then list three moments from the past month that felt meaningful, and what you gave in each.

• A considered answer tends to include: uses your own words and beliefs, not borrowed ones
• A considered answer tends to include: connects meaning to real, recent moments
• A considered answer tends to include: notices what you gave, not only what you received

Try it this week

This week, do one thing you have been postponing that matters to you: a call, a visit, an act of service, or telling someone what they mean to you.

Reflect

What would you want the people who know you best to say your life was about?