Defining Your Life: How to Know (and Get) What You Want…When You Want It

It’s not selfish to subscribe to the theory that life should be personally prioritized in a certain way. In fact, that could well be considered the key to living an ideal life. While perfection itself is an idealistic viewpoint that is essentially impossible to attain, it’s not difficult to pinpoint the factors that make you happiest. Working to achieve those things, then, is your responsibility, and one that establishes the purpose for the rest of your life. How will you live out your days? What are the passions that drive your decisions and thoughts? Who are the people who play starring roles in the feature that is your life?

The Career Game

A casual sit-down conversation with a friend, a relaxed discussion of what life brings and what you may want from it may actually be rather eye-opening—especially when you consider that what you thought you needed was not actually the reality of what you actually wanted. Consider the man who feverishly works to become a head honcho at a top-level company. He earns millions, he has everything he could possibly want, and he’s the envy of his friends. Yet his life lacks something—and it may just be that the “something” is what he
truly needed to achieve that end goal of happiness. Balance is the key to establishing a work-life relationship. The occasional thought about how you may feel at the end of your life is not without merit—how would you feel if you were known only for your contributions at the office?

So In Love

So what
do you want? Is it really love? If you’re certain that your place in this world centers around relationships and you can’t ignore the fact that everything you do centers around your love for…well, love…then you must press forward down that path. It. The key is not to ignore your heart. There’s an element of truth to the old adage about the heart wanting what it wants. So what if your vision of the idyllic life plays out like some sort of storybook fantasy or a frothy movie? It’s your vision. It’s your life. It’s your responsibility to make sure that it becomes a reality in order to be happy.

The Healthy Life

It may take a health scare or the loss of a loved one to fully appreciate the depth and importance of life. At the core of this, believe it or not, is not just a healthy diet or a hardcore exercise regimen (although those things don’t hurt). The key is to simply stay positive. In the face of it all, a positive attitude will always help you come out the winner—even when it seems that the situation is so bleak you’ll never be anywhere but at the bottom.

You must trust your instincts and realize that as a
successful, educated human being, you are equipped with everything you need to survive even the most taxing and tolling of problems. The divorce, the firing, the argument, the financial meltdown, the heavy traffic: it all comes in waves, and it happens to everybody. That mindset—a constant reminder that things will improve—goes a long way in contributing to a long and healthy life that is boosted by a consistent, underlying happiness.