We credit Socrates with floating the first viable definition of “the good life.” In ancient times, it was enough to have food on the table, a roof over your head, a close family, and a social group. In modern times, a good life means different things for different people. Still, in essence, the idea is the same: choose a life that makes you happy rather than let random events dictate your fate.
Some simple ways to live the good life in the modern world might be to make a bucket list, optimize health and well-being, and find joy in learning.
Make a Bucket List
A bucket list is a list of things that you would like to have done before you “kick the bucket,” a figurative way to describe death. The purpose of creating such a list is to give your life a sense of purpose, focus, and direction because you are making fulfilling goals.
Here are five examples:
- Change your diet and lifestyle: Eat an entirely plant-based diet, cook all your own meals, and meditate for 30 minutes every morning for a month.
- Upgrade your career: Become a world-class expert in your profession, speak at industry conferences, and lead a major project from idea to successful implementation.
- Go on a dream vacation: Hire a reputable charter plane service that maintains the highest standards when it comes to private jet safety to fly you for a vacation in Banyuwangi in Indonesia, where you can explore its beaches, forests, and mountains.
- Visit famous places: Go to the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh, India, and Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico, and swim in Exuma, Bahamas with wild pigs.
- Contribute generously: mentor someone, register as an organ donor, anonymously pay a stranger’s grocery bill, and fund a baby elephant in an African animal orphanage.
Optimize Your Health and Well-Being
What would it feel like to wake up fresh every morning, no grogginess, no aches or pains, no anxiety about the day ahead? Instead, you would feel alive because you have consistently done all the right things to optimize your health by eating right, exercising properly, and getting enough rest. What’s more, you have optimized the rest of the day, too, by finding a job you love, developing a wonderful family life, and contributing to your community.
This scenario is entirely possible once you learn how to improve your physical and emotional health and once you make better decisions in your career and family life. There is a steep learning curve, of course, as there are a lot of things you need to learn and good habits you need to adopt, but it is entirely possible to achieve a happy life.
Find Joy in Learning
As a child, you learned eagerly. Everything was wonderful and mysterious. Unfortunately, the joy of learning slowly faded away when formal education forced you to study boring things and punished you for breaking rules. Later in life, you may have had to pass some high-pressure examinations to get into college or to earn a graduate degree or to advance in your career. Over time, the idea of learning as a fun activity completely faded away.
However, some people have learned how to keep the spark of the joy of learning alive. Buckminster Fuller had a prescient vision about modern life and decided on an unusual project to vivify his love of learning. He asked himself what he could do well that would benefit all humanity. Following this train of thought, he wrote over 30 books and invented numerous things, such as the geodesic dome and the Dymaxion car.
No doubt, you can think of many more ways to build a fabulous life, but creating a bucket list, optimizing your health and well-being, and learning to fall in love with learning is a good start.
