If you want to fulfill your purpose in life, you must choose to be happy.
It is simple to be happy, but it is not easy.
Happiness involves letting go. It involves loosening your grip on the world. In order to let go, you must first understand that it is possible. You must understand that it is not the outcomes that determine your feelings. It is your perception of good and bad outcomes as well as your anticipation of good and bad outcomes that prevents you from living with peace in the moment.
Happiness is the sense that nothing is missing in your life.
Things will come, things will go. Success will come and so will failure. So long as you have something to eat, something to drink, air to breathe and somewhere to rest, you will live. The extent to which you will suffer after your bare needs are met is determined by what more you desire. For the majority of people in this world, the basic needs are insufficient. They want more, and even when they gain more, it is still not enough, and therefore they suffer.
Not wanting something is as good as having it – Naval
Do not be controlled by your ambitions.
It is okay to have goals. It is okay to have dreams. In truth, these things are neither good or bad. What is important is that you put love into your work. Work done out of fear or resentment will only serve to waste your time and poison your contributions. Don’t waste your time doing things that you dislike. If you are not enjoying this moment, you are wasting it. If you do not love what you do, you are wasting your time. If you are not here for this moment, you are not really living. Time is slipping away from you while you worry about your future. In truth, there is no future, and there is no past. There will only ever be now. The past is a just a thought, and the future is just a dream, both of which are arising in the now.
Everyone in this world has a specific talent. Something that they are naturally exceptional at. Exceptional abilities arise from positive feedback loops. The easiest way to become exceptional is to find something that you love to do that you will improve at automatically without the need for discipline. The need for discipline is a sign to change what you are doing, or to change how you are doing it. If you are not enjoying the present moment, you are wasting it. If you find yourself doing work mindlessly, just to pass the time, you must remember that your goal in life is not to just pass the time. It is to enjoy each and every moment. If you cannot enjoy your work, you must either find a way to enjoy it, or move on to something that will better fulfill your purpose.
Doing what you love will not just make you happier. It will make you more successful. If you are working on what you love for many hours every day, putting in high effort, without ever getting tired of it, you will eventually outcompete everyone else doing it just to pass the time.
Find something that feels like play to you but looks like work to others. – Naval
Love your work so that you may love your life.
Love yourself so that you may love everyone else.
Grow a wealthy soul so that you may bring more wealth into the world.
Do these things not for others, but for yourself.