Life is a very complicated thing, and at any given time we can all find ourselves being completely caught up in various obligations, commitments, and distractions.
On some level, probably everyone recognises that it is important to live life in the most meaningful way possible – but all too often, it’s only when we are faced with sobering experiences, like reflecting on keepsake urns, that we realize the importance of actually living life as deeply as possible instead of allowing ourselves to be chronically distracted.
Here are several tips from a guest writer that might help you to focus more on what’s most meaningful in your life, and to avoid falling out of touch with your authentic self.
Tips To Get You Focusing on What’s Most Meaningful in Your Life
Go for regular walks in nature
Regularly taking walks in natural settings is one of the best things you can do in order to refresh your spirit, and get yourself back in touch with your sense of what is most meaningful and significant in life.
In fact, researchers have found that when spending time in natural settings – and especially when being physically active in natural settings – individuals’ well-being skyrockets, in addition to their sense of being connected to something greater.
What’s more, regular time spent in nature also seems to significantly boost physical health, and to still those anxious and preoccupied parts of our mind that we are so often caught up in.
Even just spending 20 minutes strolling around a green local park can work wonders, but the longer the outings, and the more natural the settings, the more striking effects are likely to be.
Find opportunities for a bit of silence each day
The famous Norwegian explorer, Erling Kagge, has achieved all sorts of remarkable feats of endurance and exploration – with just one of his many accolades being that he was the first man to walk solo to the South Pole.
Interestingly, Kagge describes the silence of his solo Antarctic journey as being especially powerful – not just in terms of the literal silence of the area, but also in terms of how he achieved a state of mental stillness when trekking through the frozen landscape for weeks without human contact.
In his book, “Silence in the Age of Noise,” he states his belief that these regular periods of silence are essential for perspective, balance, and well-being. Importantly, he argues that it’s possible to experience this kind of silence by being present and undistracted at regular intervals during our everyday lives, even if we can still hear things like traffic or the sounds of birds singing.
Finding opportunities for this kind of silence each day can really help to give us a break from the chronic anxiety and preoccupations that so many of us feel. It can, in other words, allow us to hone our sense of perspective and connection to the things we actually find most meaningful in life.
Ask yourself, regularly, whether you are present in your life, or are living entirely for the future
“Rise and grind,” “when the sun is up, start running,” “time is money.”
You’ve probably heard these expressions – and many more like them – used to promote the idea of maximizing productivity at all times, and being as driven as possible in the pursuit of your goals.
It’s important to realize and keep in mind, though, that although it’s good to have some sense of the direction you want to head in, and to have the discipline and drive to work consistently to achieve your goals, life is always lived out in the present moment and not in the future – and if you are constantly separating yourself from the joy and blessings of the present moment in order to pursue future goals, there’s a risk you’ll miss out on the whole thing.
In order to live your life in the most meaningful way, you should check in with yourself regularly and ask yourself whether you are actually present in your life, or whether you are living entirely for the future, the promises it seems to hold, and the goals that you are working to achieve.
Inevitably, what’s most meaningful in people’s lives isn’t, actually, making a certain amount of money, or achieving a certain career milestone, but the connections shared with family and friends, and the deep appreciation and joy that can be found in everyday moments, if we just approach them with the right mindset.
It’s essential to strike the right balance between being future-focused and being present-focused. We all need to work to achieve certain goals and to support ourselves in various ways, but we also need to be present enough to actually connect with life in the most meaningful and direct way.
Think through your core goals and values – and ask whether you are living in line with those, or not
When you take the time to think about your most valued goals – and why you actually value them – you will likely get at certain core elements that are deeply meaningful to you in a number of different ways.
For example, you might have a goal of starting and running a successful business, because you want autonomy and financial security, so that you can spend more time doing the things you love, and sharing priceless moments with the people you love.
All too often, however, we can end up completely losing our sense of connection with our core goals and values, simply because we get so distracted and caught up in our habitual daily patterns and concerns.
Think of it like this: maybe you’ve got a job currently that you don’t really enjoy, but that you don’t really hate. It doesn’t help you to thrive or spend more time with the people closest to you, but it allows you to pay the bills, and you’re used to it. You know that if you turn up every day, things will play out pretty predictably.
In a case like this, all you need to do is to become complacent and stay in your comfort zone, and your entire life can flash by, without you ever really pursuing those more meaningful values and goals that you had in mind.
Regularly pause to check whether you are living properly in alignment with your most important values, or not.
Get away from your screens and devices, and be physically active on a regular basis
If there’s one thing that, in today’s world, has the power to really disconnect us from a balanced life where we pursue what we find most meaningful, it’s the perpetual distraction offered by our modern screens and digital devices of various kinds.
While these devices are remarkable in all sorts of different ways, and can really help us to thrive when used properly, they also allow us to completely separate our awareness from our everyday lives, to the point where we are barely noticing what’s going on around us.
Getting away from your screens and devices on a regular basis, and being physically active in particular, is a great way of interrupting this vicious cycle, bringing yourself back to the present moment, enhancing your sense of well-being, and allowing you to better notice whether you are living your life in a truly meaningful way, or not.
Not only are there real benefits to spending less time staring at a screen, and getting regular physical exercise, but even just enjoying your normal digital media while being physically active, can help you to experience the best of that form of entertainment, while simultaneously putting you in a more positive and insightful state of mind.
Listening to music or going for a long stroll or hike in the woods, or listening to a podcast, or watching a film, while cycling an exercise bike, is a whole different experience.