A wise man once told me the key to living a significant life is to have as many significant moments as possible. This made me realize that significance is not some far off esoteric ideal that requires lofty personal accomplishment. Instead, we can live a significant life by looking for significance and finding it in everything we do. Significance is a moment to moment occurrence, and we have the choice to make moments significant or not. It is up to us to find value, positivity, and meaning in our day to day life. Significance is unique and different to all of us; however there are some general ways we can begin to find greater significance. Here is how you can begin to live a more significant life.
Realize that significance doesn’t mean enjoyment
Living a significant life isn’t necessarily easy. It’s not always about how much fun we have or how much we enjoy what we’re doing, but is instead about how we have expanded and progressed, and what we have gained or learned. I’m all for enjoying life, though true satisfaction and fulfillment is much deeper than just having enjoyable and pleasant experiences. It is about finding meaning and purpose and using our potential to its fullest. We don’t have to enjoy every moment of our life, and it doesn’t mean we aren’t making an impact and can’t come away with some true value.
Significance comes from relationships not possessions
Think of the most memorable and valuable experiences of your life. What was taking place in these moments? Who were you with? Were you with some important and meaningful people? The most profound and influential experiences of our life often involve others we care about or are close to. This is where we can start building moments of significance, when we are looking beyond ourselves and making life about others. When you get to the end of your life, it will not be the things you own that matter to you, but it will be the relationships you built along the way and the people you touched emotionally that gives you a sense of significance.
Learn to enrich your life
When you experience something positive for the very first time think about how exciting and thrilling it is. We tell everyone we know about how much fun we had and how we can’t wait to do it again. Whether this has to do with relationships, your career, or a specific experience, over time even the most exciting experience can get old, and the most precious person can get under our skin. We slowly forget what it was that made the experience or person so cherished in the first place. We start simply going through the motions and loose the passion that once led to great joy. Life can start to seem dull and monotonous if we lose sight of the value and importance we used to notice. Learning to enrich life is about reigniting passions and starting to remember what made us so curious, interested, and fascinated from the beginning. How are you thinking about what you do? How can you bring enrichment to those moments that have lost their luster?
Live from an inspiring vision
Having a vision that drives us and gives us a sense of meaning is paramount for feeling a sense of significance. Without a vision all the ordinary aspects of life become just that. We lose that inner-drive that is sparked from a powerful vision in the forefront of our mind. Think how much more motivating and passionate life becomes when there is a vision blanketing the mundane tasks of life. As well, without a vision it becomes nearly impossible to reach our goals and know where we’re going. When we live and make decisions based on a clear vision we are likely to have many more moments of significance.
At the end of the day….
It’s all about what you were able to learn and how you grew as a person. If you have a passionate vision, pursue this vision with true tenacity, and always look for significant moments, what once was boring and meaningless starts to be full of life and exuberance. Every day there are experiences that can change us for the better, and help us improve as a person. Where can you find significance today? Photo credit: notsogoodphotography
