The Building Blocks of a Good Life

Life is made up of a series of moments. No matter their contents, they add up to an overall life experience.

Within that, there lies a profound truth:

The quality of a life is determined by the quality of the moments therein.

That statement provides a key and actionable leverage point. It can be utilized so a person can live a better life simply by being intentional in creating more of these quality moments.

It’s tempting to read “quality moments” and think about extravagant things: fancy trips to a faraway land, dinners at Michelin-star restaurants, and falling in love. These are lovely moments, but they’re relatively few and far between.

A life well-lived isn’t about extravagance. The leverage point I mentioned lies in the ordinary, everyday moments. If the moments that make up 90, 95, maybe even 99 percent of life are handled with intention, then the positive effects of that are literally life-altering.

What does it mean to enhance the little moments? Some ideas:

• Adding some presence and really noticing the details of an experience. Mundane things can be turned interesting quickly with a bit of curiosity.

• Being a tad more genuine in connections. To be true to oneself is to remove the facade that blocks the soul.

• Investing in a routine that grounds. Practices like this can create rhythm and organization, inside and out.

• Doing good work. Being able to take pride in what’s been done eases the mind and brings satisfaction, however small.

• Making time for interests. Getting the mind going invigorates the spirit.

These points of enhancement, and many others, are all quite reachable. A day with some combination of thoughtful presence, deep connection, personal satisfaction, and mental stimulation is a pretty damn good day.

And a life full of pretty damn good days is a life that we all want to live.