5 pillars of a good life

(4 minute read) // (7 minute exploration)

Hiii friend,

It’s always so lovely to see you on our SELFHOOD Sundays.

Why don’t you grab yourself a beverage and pull up a chair.

I hope you’re ready for some self-discovery!

Today we’re exploring the 5 pillars of a good life. 

We’ll be starting with Jung’s, then moving on to yours…

As always, I have a lesson, 2 questions and a dare for you.

[A LESSON]

Friends, meet Carl (some of you may already know him).

He’s kinda a big deal in the psychology space.

If you’ve heard of any of the following:

• The collective unconscious 

• Archetypes 

• Personas

• Complexes

• Extroversion v Introversion (you’ve probably heard of this one right?)

You can thank him for that!

Now, whether you agree with his theories or not, it’s hard to dismiss the impact his work has had on many of the ideas we still use today.

What I didn’t know, (up untill this week), was that he also had some pretty strong opinions on happiness too.

Ya know, that warm, fuzzy feeling…

And unlike the concepts listed above, many of which are deeply interesting, but a little on the dense and complicated side. His views on happiness are practical and clear. In fact, they’ve been summed up into 5 pillars.

Who doesn’t love a pillar?

For Jung, everlasting happiness was never the goal.

He didn’t believe it [happiness] was a state one could maintain (or prove). He instead believed that a good life was about making progress toward happiness.

So, the goal wasn't to “be happy” it was the pursuit of “getting happier”.

On his 85th birthday, which ended up being the last he celebrated, he shared the 5 key pillars that he believed made a good life, and 60 years later, the ideas still stand.

You ready?

Pillar 1: Good physical and mental health

At the risk of telling you something you already know (but sometimes it’s nice to be reminded), Jung believed that getting happier required a healthy mind and body.

But specifically, let’s focus on his progress point.

Y’know those fleeting moments, when you realize you’re doing “better” today, than you were yesterday. HOW good do they feel?! It might be that you finally ran 5k in less than 30 minutes, you’re less distracted during your meditation, you make the healthy choice at dinner (without even thinking about it) etc. Whatever that moment is, isn’t really the point. How good it makes you feel, is.

Pillar 2: Good personal and intimate relationships

Again nothing massively new here. I’d co-sign this, as would The Harvard Study of Adult Development. Their research findings tell you everything you need to know - “Happiness is love. Full stop”.

Pillar 3: Seeing beauty in art and nature 

What was the last thing you saw that stopped you in your tracks and left you with that deep sense of awe?

Was it a sunset? The ocean? A live concert? A piece of art? Lying in the grass out in the sun?

How did you feel in that moment?

Pillar 4: A reasonable standard of living and satisfactory work

This is an interesting one. Especially in today’s economy.

Let me be unequivocally clear - one thing we won’t be doing is adding any more stress/pressure/shame to the difficulties of maintaining a “reasonable standard of living*” these days. *Whatever that means.

But that “satisfactory work” piece does deserve a pause.

‘Satisfactory’, is a bit like ‘success’ in that we all probably have a slightly different definition. But if we talk about ‘meaningful work’ instead, yes the definitions may still differ, but research studies can provide us with a bit more clarity.

Whether you’re working your dream job, or slugging your way through a temporary position, it’s been found that the two key elements that make work “meaningful” for most people are:

1. Earned success (accomplishing something valuable)

2. Being of service to others 

So whether it’s nailing a cool project, or going out your way to make a customer smile - I like that these are two things most of us can do in any position.

*Shameless plug: Integrating identity in the workplace is a big focus of ours, so if you’re working at an organization that would be interested in exploring this more, reach out! We’d love to come to work with you*.

Pillar 5: A philosophical or religious outlook that fosters resilience

Jung believed that a good life required a way of making sense of the world.

Now more than ever, I get it.

For him, he found this in his Christianity, but he acknowledged this connection to transcendence could come from more than just traditional religion. It could be an openness to fate, spirituality, the universe, magic, spirits, the land etc. Anything that allows you to connect with something bigger than yourself - a way of thinking that has been strongly correlated with better mental health.

So that was Jung’s perspective on happiness.

What’s yours?

[2 QUESTIONS]

1. When you look at your life today. How many of Jung’s pillars are present?

2. Based on your life so far, what would your 5 pillars of happiness be?

   Feel free to borrow from Jung if any apply, but get more specific.

   Are there places or people that are a must for you? How do you define art - music, theatre, writing, all the above? What about expression or creativity? What about solitude or stillness?

[A DARE]

I dare you…

to think about your week ahead, and plan accordingly.

Open up that calendar of yours and figure out how you can ensure you hit all 5 (of your) pillars at some point over these next 7 days.

And if for some reason that’s impossible - get creative.

As always, if you have thoughts, insights, feedback or questions.

Just hit reply.

I always love hearing from you 🙂 

See you on a Sunday.

L

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