The Good Life
I’ve been asking people inside and outside Microsoft what their definition is of … the good life. I think it’s important, so you know what it is when you’ve got it, or you know what is is that you’re chasing, so you can make smarter choices.
At dinner the other night, a friend of mine put the good life in very simple terms:
- Freedom to spend more time in your values.
- Freedom to spend more time in your priorities.
- You know what you want.
It’s surprisingly simple and surprisingly true, especially the more you move up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It also resonates perfectly with one of my mentor’s cutting question to guide my career, “What do you want to spend more time doing?”
Photo by brianna.Lehman.
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Hey JD,
I know the good life is a concept often used in positive psychology, one of my favorite disciplines. But to find the good life, we must move beyond doing what we simply like, what gives us pleasure, and do things which like you say, align with our values and make life meaningful. This sense of meaning is the ultimate thing to aim for.
Hey Eduard
I agree — making meaning and getting on path are keys to the good life.
It reminds me of my favorite Covey quote on discipline, ““Only the disciplined are truly free. The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites, and passions.”