Part 1 of 3 (Introduction) | Summary Overview – Collaboration with Claude AI
In my blog post, I explore tips and insights to enhance one’s possibility of long-term fulfillment, success, and happiness. I emphasize that using money and material possessions as a scorecard will not bring inner peace and contentment. Instead, I suggest reframing perspectives on freedom, addressing what “enough” means in life, and understanding the time trade-offs we make. I also highlight the importance of personal development, sharing one’s gifts with the world, and adopting an abundance mindset while being kind and generous.
I acknowledge that following these tips does not guarantee reaching one’s goals but can improve the odds of success. I emphasize focusing on what one can control, such as preparation, effort, and presence, while understanding that external events are beyond our control. I share a personal experience of financial concern during a family health crisis, which changed my lens of gratitude and appreciation.
In part 2 of my blog post, I plan to cover the following highlights:
- Reframing the perspective on what “freedom” means, as explained by Morgan Housel in his book The Psychology of Money.
- Addressing what “enough” means in life, as described by April Rinne in her book Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change.
- Understanding time trade-offs that may not increase the quality of life, as discussed in James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter.
- Being relentless in personal development and investing in oneself.
- Bringing one’s gifts to the world and helping others develop and grow.
- Adopting an abundance mindset, sharing kindness, and being generous with talents and resources, as explored in Adam Grant’s book Give and Take.
Part 1 of 3 (Introduction) | Full Original Writing
How might we enhance our possibility of long-term fulfillment, success, and happiness? Thanks to some of my favorite authors, here are some tips to contemplate and answer for your life. My personal experience is adopting a few of these into your daily life will change you and bring fulfillment quicker than you imagine!
Let’s get started! Using money and material possessions as your scorecard will not bring you the inner peace that leads to contentment and fulfillment. This is not to suggest that money is not important. We all have bills to pay, but being judicious with money and living beneath our means is often a choice and commitment that will compound to tremendous leverage in the future.
Tips expanded upon below include:
- Reframe your perspective on what “freedom” means to you. Morgan Housel explains his definition of freedom in his book The Psychology of Money.
- Relentlessly address what “enough” means in your life. In her book Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change, April Rinne describes one of the eight superpowers for embracing change as “know your enough” (not “you are enough” – but that statement is 100% true!).
- James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter for April 11, 2024, reminds us to understand the time trade-offs we often may make that do not increase the quality of our lives.
On a shorter timeframe, understand that our choices and behavior in the everyday moments, compound over the long-term. With that in mind:
- Be relentless in the area of personal development. Your own development is a gift you give to yourself. There are no shortcuts. Drip, drip, drip, invest in yourself.
- Bring your gifts to the world. Help others develop and grow.
- Carry a mindset of abundance, share kindness, and be generous with your talents and resources. Along these lines, Adam Grant’s Give and Take book is a must-read.
Please note my introduction asking, “How might we enhance our possibility of long-term fulfillment, success, and happiness?” I am not naive enough to suggest that the hard work of saving money, personal development, kindness, and generosity towards helping others is a guaranteed path to reaching our goals. As a friend in writing, Karena de Souza, suggests, we should strive to “tilt the future” to improve our odds of success. Adopting the tips in this post will improve the odds in your favor! Always understand we control our preparation, effort, and presence brought to the world. We can influence but do not control events external to our reasoned mind. A January 31, 2024, blog post by Tanmay Vora titled “Focus on Your Circle of Control.” beautifully illustrates this Stoicism concept.
Personally, I am a financial saver at heart. Perpetually working to provide a buffer for unexpected occurrences. We should always strive to anticipate and prepare, yet realize life may (or will eventually) have other plans. In Terri Tomoff’s memoir The Focused Fight, chapter 32, I reflect upon my concern about bankruptcy (2004) as our son Ryan was going to Duke University Medical Center for a bone marrow transplant to save his life as he fought acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) for the third time in his young life. Thankfully, we survived financially intact, yet I will never forget the intense concern of those times. Moments like these are stark reminders of how little we control, and this changed my lens of gratitude and appreciation forever.
I wrote a blog post on December 29, 2023, titled The Art of the Epitaph: Conveying a Lifetime in Ten Words or Less, where I summarized my life’s effort into six words: “I Did My Best. I Cared.” In the end, each of us doing our best is all anyone can ask. My effort, caring, presence, and best are all I or anyone can ask for.
With this clarification, in part 2, I will dive deeper into the above-mentioned tips. Please check it out and enjoy the inspiration from Morgan Housel, April Rinne, James Clear, and Adam Grant!