Do you remember what makes life worth living?

Posted by Helene D.
April 16, 2009

Now, ask this question to a group of people and you’ll get tons of acceptable, predictable answers.

Yet when I’ve observed people’s lives (my own included of course), I see that they often contradict in action what they stated in words.

The typical example is someone who says that he (or she) lives for his family yet spends so much time working or networking that there is none left for hanging out at home.

A glaring disconnect between values and actions is bad enough, but it’s actually easier to change than the more insidious life wasters:

  1. Not knowing what we’re really like. I was in highly analytical jobs for years before realizing that I was really a highly creative person. (And by the way, I had many of the usual career counseling assessments). Now you many not be as clueless as I was, but from what I’ve seen, just about everyone needs help uncovering their true selves.


  2. Not knowing what we like. That’s a refinement of the previous point. In my observation, the main problem here is that we keep “forgetting” what we like in our decision-making. I may love animals and want to volunteer in some capacity to help them, but if I don’t like meetings, then I’m better off being a pet sitter at a shelter than one of its board members.


  3. Being on auto-pilot and not knowing where our days/weeks/months/years go. How many times have you heard or said this: I know I’m working long hours and don’t have a life outside of work but when I’ve met my revenue targets I’ll be able to take more time and reconnect with friends and family. The only problem is, the target keeps moving and before we know it, children grow up, friends drift away, and energy levels sink down.


  4. Living in the past or future . This business was fun back when…When I retire, I’ll….

Living with awareness requires a certain form of discipline, but a life lived without awareness is a life drifted away.

Happiness, Know yourself, entrepreneurs, , , ,

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