Spoiler alert: My primary theory of happiness is that it grows in proportion to how you use your precious time to have enough money, meaning, and friends and to express your fullest potential.

What do I mean by this statement?

• Precious time —understanding that no one knows how much time he or she has left in life, but it will never be more than 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or 12 months a year. Being mindful of our limited time steers us toward meaningful activity.
• Enough money —having a steady and reliable income that covers basic needs, provides savings for emergencies and large purchases as needed, and gives you enough extra to express yourself and to help others.
• Enough meaning —having a strong sense of your personal mission and following it. The root of the word vocation is vocare , which means “to call.” When we follow our calling in life, we have boundless energy, and we feel a consistent enthusiasm to keep going.
• Enough friends —having enough family and friends who put energy into your bucket more often than they take energy out of it. Having a strong connection to your family, community, and humanity that consistently shifts your attention from yourself to others. A sense of security that comes from having a community comprised of strong and healthy relationships.
• Express your fullest potential —listening to your heart’s desire and giving your all to achieving your unique vision. Understand your strengths, core values, and how best to manage weaknesses. Surround yourself with positive people who will cheer you on as you pursue your gifts, talents, and passions.

From the book: Enough Money, Meaning & Friends ~ By Scott C. Miller

To learn more about Scott Miller, please see his website here.

We are most effective when doing work that is both meaningful and makes us happy. For example, we are, as Walt Whitman would say, “large, [we] contain multitudes.” I am a kid from the ‘burbs, a national nonprofit leader, a long-time married guy, baby boomer, artist, musician, author, explorer, world traveler, seeker of higher consciousness, and recovering non-golfer. But my most essential identity is someone who wants to fulfill a life purpose while here on this spectacular planet. My nature, like yours, is hard-wired to pursue happiness, joy, beauty, abundance, love, and harmony. So, how do I intentionally follow my heart’s desire—my calling to adventure—and live a life full of loving relationships and meaning? What kind of life and work would make me happy next?

My Happiness Philosophy

• Bottom line: Everyone wants to be happy.
• We can achieve happiness by applying daily skills that we can learn.
• People are happiest when they are part of a community of others who care for one another.
• Happy people are naturally generous and focus a lot of their attention toward caring for others and appreciating nature.
• Happy people will take a firm stand on what they believe is important in life.
• Happy people don’t need as much stuff or activity to be happy. Therefore, they are easier on the planet and tend to live respectfully within the boundaries of natural limits.
• Happiness is part of our emotional guidance system that lets us know we are pursuing what is most important to us, based on our values and our own unique internal “drummer.”
• When we focus on what we want to do , rather than what we should do, the feeling of happiness will guide us in being a more productive citizen and a better steward of the planet.

From the book: Enough Money, Meaning & Friends ~ By Scott C. Miller

To learn more about Scott Miller, please see his website here.