How To Live The Good Life: 10 Golden Rules
What is “the good life”? This is one of the oldest philosophical questions. Living the good life means different things to different people. There is, however, a slightly ambiguous, mutual understanding. “The good life” is the life that you would like to live broken down to its most basic form. It deals with the simple pleasures that make you happy, the compassionate deeds you perform, the personal goals you strive to achieve, the relationships you nurture and the legacy you leave behind. Sincere personal fulfillment is generally the collective end result.
The good life consists of wanting to get out of bed every morning, excited to take on whatever each day has in store for you. It has nothing to do with the material possessions or artificially induced sensations.
Living a good life depends on what matters to you. Take the time to define your values, priorities, and goals for life. Work to fulfill the desires you want to achieve. Build your relationships and be a good family member and friend. Serve your community and mankind and stay true to yourself. Here’s how these 10 rules have the power to transform your life
1. Lighten up and have some fun
Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing. Humor and laughter are amazing tools. They can turn any serious situation into something to laugh about. They can lighten the mood just about anywhere. And a lighter mood is often a better space to work in because now your body and mind isn’t filled to the brim with negative emotions. When you are more light-hearted and relaxed then the solution to a situation is often easier to come up with and implement.
2. Slow down
Urgency and haste instantly diminish accuracy, awareness and happiness. There is a big difference between getting things done and getting things done effectively.
3. Concentrate on your passions
Your passion is what you love to do every day because it gives you a sense of worth and fulfillment. This can be concentrated into your true life purpose, which is the key to real wealth on this earth. Use your passion in the most productive and universal way possible and you will discover the reasons behind your most important endeavors and goals.
4. Make a list of what people or things matter to you
When looking for a life plan, it makes sense to prioritize some areas of your life. List all the things that you value in your life. You might list your family, friends, a certain hobby, nature, or career. Take the time to think deeply about the things without which you could not imagine living. For example, while you might like playing basketball, is this one of the most important things in your life? Perhaps it is. If not, it is likely a hobby.
5. Let go of anger
Anger is most of the time pretty pointless. It can cause situations to get out of hand. And from a selfish perspective it often more hurtful for the one being angry then the person s/he’s angry at. So even if you feel angry at someone for days recognize that you are mostly just hurting yourself. The other person may not even be aware that you are angry at him or her. So either talking to the person and resolving the conflict or letting go of anger as quickly as possible are pretty good tips to make your life more pleasurable.
6. Treasure friendship
Take the time to build solid relationships with the people about whom you care. Listen to their problems. Help them when necessary. When you offend them, apologize and strive to do better. Practice kind gestures like giving people rides or birthday cards.
7. Travel
See what there is to see in the world around you. Explore new areas in your neighborhood or town or if your budget allows, travel farther. There is no way we can visit every place in our lifetime. There are places in this world that will open your mind to realities you’ve never imagined in your wildest dreams. These realities will inject your conscience with healthy, new perspectives.
8. Be a responsible human being
Approach yourself with honesty and thoroughness; maintain a kind of spiritual hygiene; stop the blame-shifting for your errors and shortcomings. Be honest with yourself and be prepared to assume responsibility and accept consequences. Very few individuals are willing to hold themselves accountable for the errors and mishaps that inevitably occur in life. Instead, they tend to foist these situations off on others complaining of circumstances “beyond their control.”
9. Values are better than goals
If you don’t know where you stand on work and friends family when an opportunity to succeed at something comes along, you’ll screw it up. The best way to get your life in order? Screw the goals and skip the plans. Jump straight to values, your non-negotiables for how you do business, treat your loved ones, and do life. Everything else falls under this. Sure, plans are good and goals are fine. But even Hitler had goals. The Nazis had a very well-designed plan. That’s not enough to live a good life. You have to have values, good ones, in order for your life to make a positive dent in this universe.
10. Do what you want to do.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.