How to live a fulfilled life?
Prescription from US surgeon general
Dr. Vivek Murthy, the outgoing surgeon general of the US, wrote a “prescription for people everywhere to lead healthier, more fulfilled lives”.1 There are long and short versions of it. Below are my takeaways2.
Community is the key to fulfillment
Community is a powerful source of life satisfaction and life expectancy. It’s where we know each other, help each other, and find purpose in contributing to each other’s lives. These core pillars of community—relationships, service, and purpose—are powerful drivers of fulfillment.
He(Murthy’s father) observed that you could eat well, exercise, sleep eight hours a night, and have all the right vital signs, lab tests, and imaging studies. But without community, it was hard to feel whole.
To build community requires love. Love not as sentimentality, but as a commanding force with the power to build, strengthen, and heal. Love as generosity and kindness. Love as hope and grace. Love as courage.
Relationships
Relationships are the connections we build with friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and others we encounter.
Prescription for better Relationships
We can start by reaching out to people we care about each day and prioritizing time for regular connection even if it is brief.
We can create technology-free zones in our lives to focus our attention when we are with others, enhancing the quality of our interactions.
We can design workplace cultures and practices that foster social connection.
We can build a practice of taking one action each day to help someone.
We can join or start a service program in our community or be a part of a faith community.
We can commit to gathering with friends and neighbors on a regular basis over food, music, walks, books, sports, faith, and other shared interests; and we can be proactive about using these opportunities to learn about each other’s stories.
Service
Service constitutes the actions we take that benefit others.
Prescription to get better at Service
We can commit to one act of kindness each day such as dropping off food to a friend who is overwhelmed, checking on a work colleague who is having a difficult day, or welcoming a new neighbor to the community, to name a few.
We can create opportunities in our schools and workplaces to make service something we do together and part of our learning and work cultures.
Purpose
Purpose is the feeling of having an overarching life aim that guides and prioritizes our decisions and actions.It’s not “what” we do. It’s “why” we do it.
Prescription to get better at Purpose
Celebrate stories of purpose in our culture through music, movies, books, sermons, media—it helps people see purpose that’s rooted in contributing to others as inspiring, fulfilling, and the norm.
We can be more intentional about having conversations with peers and our children about how we cultivate purpose that is rooted in contributing to the lives of others.
Watch out for Modern triad of success and Technology!
Modern triad of success → fame, wealth, and power
The triad of success is focused on the individual. The triad of fulfillment connects us with something bigger than the individual. The triad of success may earn us praise and possessions. The triad of fulfillment gives us meaning and belonging.
Technology is not helping.
Technology, despite all its benefits, has trapped many of us in digital silos with less face-to-face contact.
Social media has turbocharged a culture of constant comparison that too often undermines our self-worth and makes us feel dissatisfied with our lives.
Happiness and fulfillment? Count me in
Most of these are direct quotes