Lesson 7: Contribution

Discover why happiness isn’t so much about figuring out the purpose of life, but rather expressing your purpose in life.

Exercise:

Each morning when you wake up, ask these questions:

  • What is one action I can take today that brings value to others?
  • How do I get to express my Happiness Strategy of Contribution today?
  • What can I do to make one other person feel valuable and needed today?

Everyone has a purpose in life to fulfill, and finding your purpose in life derives from the Happiness Strategy of Contribution. Contribution doesn’t always have to be measured by how much money it brings to you, rather by how much meaning it brings to you. While a flight attendant, construction worker, an elementary school teacher, hotel maid, and emergency room doctor have various levels of income, each of them provides a valuable service to the world.

In this sense, everyone actualizes the Happiness Strategy of Contribution in his or her own unique way. Your Happiness Strategy of Contribution is in knowing that your presence in the world matters and others would feel your absence. The Happiness Strategy of Contribution fulfills the Psychological Expression of Happiness by knowing your tribe needs you and that you are essential to your tribe.

Video: Dalai Lama: Behind our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Uneeded

Exercise:

  • Better express your purpose in life; make someone feel needed