There are many ways to live life. Some people may choose to follow the positive life, the purposeful life or the passing on knowledge life approaches. Some may combine elements of each approach.
There are many models that describe people’s approaches to life. Writing in Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman described three kinds of lives that people may lead. Here is a brief overview.
The Pleasant Life
This is the life of enjoyment. It is one where people get positive feelings from pursuing their interests and other pleasurable experiences.
The Good Life
This is the life of engagement or absorption. It is one where people immerse themselves in certain activities and experience a state of flow. This happens when there is a positive match between a person’s strength and the task they are doing.
The Meaningful Life
This is the life of affiliation. It is one where people experience a sense of purpose by using their higher strengths to serve or be part of something greater than themselves.
Looking at it empirically, says Marty, the fulfilling life appears to be: The Meaningful Life + The Good Life + some aspects of The Pleasant Life.
As mentioned earlier, there are many views about the paths that people may follow in their lives. These include the following approaches.
The Purposeful Life
People who take this approach focus on a pursuing a purpose. They get energy by doing what they believe in and working towards achieving a specific goal.
Such people find that having a purpose provides them with meaning and structure in their lives. They look forward each day to doing something that contributes to their purpose. But there is one key point to bear in mind.
The kind of purpose that a person pursues can have positive or negative consequences for themselves or other people.
There are many ways to live life. Some people may choose to follow the positive life, the purposeful life or the passing on knowledge life approaches. Some may combine elements of each approach.
Let’s return to your own life. Imagine that you may want to one or more of these approaches. How could you translate your chosen way into action? What may happen as a result of taking these steps?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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