Will You Live the Good Life in 2020?

To accomplish Aristotle’s end of living a “good life,” you must first define what living a good life means to you. That begins by making the distinction between Projects (shorter term goals that have an end point) and Way of Life Goals (the way you want to live every single day). A deeper comprehension of these differences is truly important to your happiness. It is a key determinate in whether you will spend your life just completing lots of projects or also experiencing your bigger goal, to live a good life.

Understanding the distinction between Way of Life Goals and Project Goals brings clarity to what a “good,” fulfilling life means to you and how to attain it.

Most goal-setting experts will tell you, “To achieve a goal, you need to be specific about what it is, when you want it, and how you are going to obtain it.” Some examples of such specific goals might be:

• Be promoted to head of my area by October 1^st by exceeding all my current project objectives and learning and exhibiting management and leadership skills.

• Have the down payment saved for a home design, similar to the picture on my refrigerator, by December 1 of next year by adding 20% of my gross paycheck to savings each month.

This specific, defined method is very valuable and important. However, if this is the only approach you use to goal setting, you will probably miss your most meaningful goals of all. That is because such specific goals don’t define what a “good life” is for you over your lifetime.

They are far too narrow and short-term to be called Way of Life Goals.

The Crucial Difference Between Projects Goals and Way of Life Goals

So, what exactly is a project? And how do projects relate to Way of Life Goals?

Project/Project Goal – A chosen point or points on your journey, arrived at by completing a series of related activities.

Each project is one destination on your journey of life; it is not its overall purpose or goal. You should resolutely pursue the right projects in life. However, completing projects, by themselves, will not produce a happy and fulfilling life. To lead a good life you must focus on how you are experiencing that day, not just what projects you are progressing on.

Way of Life Goal – A way of living and set of long-term values that you experience every day.

A Way of Life Goal is not a point on your journey; it is a way of living. You should decide and expect to live your chosen Way of Life Goals, your good life goals, every single day.

Way of Life Goals give meaning to every day and therefore meaning to your whole life. By contrast, a Project is not something you try to live every day. Instead it is a specific destination point you should choose because you expect it to add to your way of life.

“Increase my net worth over the next two years by 50%” would be a project.”

“Become and stay financially independent doing work I enjoy and can be proud of” would be a way of living goal.

Remember that a project is just a point or a series of related points even though they may take some time to complete. Once it is completed, it is over. It is not a way of life you are trying to live every day. By contrast, the second example is a Way of Life Goal because you direct your efforts towards it almost daily over a lifetime.

Way of Life Goals and Work-Life Balance

There is a direct relationship between way of life goals and living a positive work-life balance. In previous articles we have defined work-life balance around the two most powerful drivers of “good” in the world, Achievement and Enjoyment. The reality of life, and certainly the good life, is we must achieve in order to live, and we must enjoy to make the living and achieving worthwhile.

Unlike a project or short-term goal, Achievement is not a point or points on your journey that you reach and pass through; it is a way of life. No matter how successful you are, you will want and need to keep achieving in some form, for the remainder of your life.

Likewise, Enjoyment is also not a point on your journey. At least, I hope it isn’t. You don’t want to experience a really enjoyable day and say, “Wow, I’m really glad that’s over with.” Nor do you want to live your life waiting for enjoyment to come only on the weekends or on vacation or when you retire. Enjoyment should be a way-of-life goal that you live every single day. 

Are you intentionally experiencing A & E daily? Are you congratulating yourself and others when you progress on a project? Are you celebrating your wins? Are you looking for things, and happenings and people to smile about and to love about your day, and about life?

What projects and relationships we individually pursue to Achieve and Enjoy will vary. But they should be chosen with the purpose of adding to those two good life essentials. Go into each day with the goal to achieve something today and consciously enjoy something today. If you do that today you will have a pretty good day, and if you do that every day for the rest of your life, you will have lived the good life.

To meaningful achievements and wonderful enjoyments in your New Year!

Smiles,

Jim Bird
Publisher