Purposeful living is living with purpose. Because life is a project made up of individual actions, purposeful living is the same as intentional acting. Intentional acting means that one thinks about the purpose of his actions then sets a clear goal before he acts. One sets a purpose before acting (Purpose is articulated before an action or a project is performed) to avoid the nagging feeling that one is doing something that feels wrong (build a life management system that helps you be decisive). When we are acting, we don’t want this nagging feeling. The best way to act is to act mindfully.
But arriving to one’s purpose or even the minor intentions requires Self-knowledge, which takes time to build. One needs to know oneself before any sort of purpose (convergence tool) arrives. When one knows what one wants, then the next step is to identify the means to get there and then do it.
Purposeful living or acting requires reasoning and analysis. It has two modes:
- Managing
- Doing
Managing is always the servant of Doing. Although both modes reinforce each other, the goal is always to cultivate the “Doing”.
Managing can be made efficient by using a life management system. When a system is constructed for purposeful living, the core process of intentional living is performed more efficiently. It makes it easier to set goals, perform actions, and review them. Unintentional living lacks this managerial mode. Everyone has a life but not everyone lives it intentionally.
To do
- Review goaless existence which you first encountered via Leo Babauta. And consider if that is in fact a viable alternative to intentional living.