The Meaning of Life Series
June 14th, 2005 by Steve Pavlina
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On Sunday, June 19, I’ll kick off a new multi-part series that tackles what is perhaps the biggest issue in personal development — your overall philosophy of life and what you believe is the meaning of life itself. Here’s the basic outline:
Sunday: Intro. Why this question even matters. My quest for meaning/truth. How my spiritual/religious beliefs evolved over the past 17 years and how they affect my results today.
Monday: What’s the overall goal of life? Aristotle’s answer (and still one of the most popular): happiness. My answer and why I disagree with Aristotle.
Tuesday: How to discover your purpose. Two different approaches: emotional and logical. Blending your emotional and intellectual intelligences to achieve congruency: internal happiness AND external results.
Wednesday: How to manifest your purpose by turning it into goals, projects, and actions. Moving from thinking to doing.
Thursday: Transitioning (going from where you are now to where you want to end up). The role of clarity.
Friday: Wrap-up, clarifications based on comments, questions.
June 14th, 2005 at 9:43 pm
I cannot wait! Of course, I might not agree with yu (I tend to agree with Aristotle, but I will see what you have to say.)
Keep up the good work!
June 14th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
There is a “Meaning of Life” movie by Monty Python. I suggest you to watch it carefully before writing anything about this topic.
June 14th, 2005 at 11:10 pm
Can’t wait
June 14th, 2005 at 11:47 pm
Hmmm …
- I’ll move to a new apartment on Sunday.
- I’ll turn 30 on Sunday.
- This is my no. 1 topic at the moment.
VERY interesting coincidence …
June 15th, 2005 at 4:05 am
Mr. Steve Pavlina :
I am terrifically glad and happy to find you and your website dedicated to personal development that is significant and meaningful for each man.
At first,please allow me to simply introduce myselft to you,I am an ordinary 3-grade CS graduate from Zhejiang Province,China.
Because Chinese is my mother language, I am proficient at it . I have learned and studied English for thirteen years,and in order to master genuine English as possible as I can,for a month,I have readed and will be reading every thought-provoking post you write personally .
I really appreciate and proud of existing with you in the same world !
Thank you for inspiring me to act out my lifelong dream:Anytime ,anywhere,Be a good enough man for those who love me and whom I love sincerely!and the content of my dream in Chinese is 何时何地,对得起我该对得住他/她们的所有人.
finally ,I would correct a little error in your post.I think the word ‘turing’ should be ‘turning’,isn’t it?
Best wishes for you forever!
张再明 enque
2005 06 15
June 15th, 2005 at 11:42 am
I’m curious. How far in advance are you writing those?
I imagine you started with a high-level overview. Then broke it down into parts small enough to “fit” into a single day. And I bet you’ve already got a basic outline of each day’s post.
But have you written any of them yet? Do you plan to write out and polish each day’s post sequentially, or write rough drafts for each day, then polish each one before posting it?
Do you normally work pretty far ahead, or do you do a lot of “day before” writing?
June 15th, 2005 at 11:45 am
Since I am sure you will give Aristotle’s happiness a nuanced treatment (i.e. eudaimonia, “flourishing,” as opposed to mere pleasure or contentment), I am looking forward to seeing why you disagree with him!
June 15th, 2005 at 5:14 pm
The two main facets of “the meaning of life”
1) The pursuit of truth and beauty
2) Serving others in an effort to enhance their pursuit
June 15th, 2005 at 5:18 pm
I’m looking forward to reading the series too.
If there aren’t going to be any new blog posts till Sunday, how about starting another 30-day challenge? I’d like to do another one, and I’m sure there are others who missed out on the first one who would like to give it a try.
Personally, I think doing these 30-day challenges as a group makes them a little more “official” and more likely to finish them.
June 15th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
@Sukotto: I’ll probably write all the posts in advance and set one to post each day around 3AM. That’s what I did with the series on self-discipline.
June 16th, 2005 at 2:32 am
oh,I am sorry for there being some errors in my post.
The breakdown is as the following:
1)”I have readed “should be “I have read”;
2)”I think the word ‘turing’ should be ‘turning’,isn’t it?”should be “I think the word ‘turing’ should be ‘turning’,shouldn’t it”
Thank all of you!
June 16th, 2005 at 8:33 am
Hm. Years ago a fellow student of mine taught me that the meaning of life is to live.
What more can there be?
June 16th, 2005 at 9:15 am
Ought to be a great series, and I am anxiously awaiting it.
June 16th, 2005 at 12:29 pm
Hello Steve,
I hopped from Rosa Say’s blog and got here, as a pleasant surprise - but also distraction - from where I wanted to read. My personal, actual approach to a meaning of life would be that if we’re making a difference now and then to those that we’re connected with, then life was not meaningless. But from time to time, more philosophical questions arise, too. These are often hard for me to verbalize, so I like reading how others put things, to challenge my own imagination.
Now, i’d better go back and read Rosa’s ramblings
June 20th, 2005 at 6:55 am
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