The Complete Formula For A Fulfilled Life

Creating a truly fulfilled and content life for yourself feels like a daunting task. If you only have one wild and precious life to live, how can you ensure you are doing everything possible to make it the best it can possibly be? If the idea of trying to figure out exactly what you need to do to achieve this high standard of living sounds frightening, do not panic – it is quite possible to figure out your unique pathway to a fulfilling and happy life.

Whether you feel like your life has some decent structure to it already or if it feels out of control, there is a formula you can follow to ensure you are living your most satisfying and fulfilled life. 

What It Means To Have Passion

When a person experiences passion, they are feeling a deep, meaningful interest in something. People can experience passion for a variety of activities, causes, and interests. 

For example, someone who loves to play sports may be described as passionate – perhaps a large portion of their free time is spent involved in sports activities. A passionate reader may try to squeeze in as much time with their nose in a book as possible. 

Passionate people are likely to spend as much time as possible involved in the causes and activities they care about most. Anytime they are able to engage in their passions, they will take advantage of it. 

Passionate people are also likely to share their passions with others. They enjoy teaching others about their passions, ever eager to have more people join in on their enjoyment. They love to share their happiness and excitement over their passions; it is not unusual to find yourself drawn into a new hobby or activity because a passionate person invited you to try it. 

What It Means To Have Vision

Having a vision is a lot like looking into a crystal ball and seeing the future. When you develop a vision, you are imagining what you want your future situation to look like. 

You may imagine yourself at some point in the future – whether it is a few weeks from now or years from now – and think about exactly where you hope to be at that point in time. As you picture what that will look like, you are developing a more complete image of what your true vision for yourself is. 

Think of your vision for yourself as a painting. As you add new details, shapes, and colors to your painting, the overall image becomes more intricate and clear. By the time you create the whole finished product, your painting looks almost like a photograph – you can see every last detail perfectly, making it easy to understand exactly what is happening in your painting. 

Your vision is the ultimate destination you create for yourself. You can refer to your vision anytime you need some guidance – understanding what that vision looks like can give you all the information you need to build the right “road map” to get you there. 

Creating a fulfilled life.
6 Reasons You Need To Have Vision In Your Life

What It Means To Have Purpose

Finding your main purpose in life is akin to discovering your “ultimate why” – your purpose is what drives you to act and motivates you to work hard every day. You continue to show up, put in hard work, and make an effort because you feel motivated and driven by your unique purpose in life. It is quite literally your entire reason for being.

When people do activities and work related to their life’s purpose, it feels meaningful to them. Engaging in their life’s purpose makes them feel like everything in their world makes sense. 

They understand what they need to be doing in life and, when they are living out that purpose, they feel like they are exactly where they need to be in the world. 

Passion + Vision + Purpose: The Ultimate Life Fulfillment Ingredients 

Creating a fulfilled life.

Feeling fulfilled in life can be a massive challenge. Many people live lives that are not fulfilling or satisfying at all – perhaps they feel like they are stuck in a dead end job or trapped in a routine that does not serve them positively. Regardless of how unfulfilled you feel, you can use this basic life formula to achieve more fulfillment in life:

Passion + Purpose + Vision = Life Fulfillment 

Creating a fulfilled life.

This basic formula is an excellent framework to use when you are just getting started finding fulfillment in life. A formula is a great tool to have when you are embarking on your path to fulfillment – you can use it as a guidebook to keep yourself focused on what is important. 

The first part of the formula is passion. When you are feeling absolutely lost about what you need in life to feel more fulfilled, consider your biggest passions. What do you love to do in your free time?

If you were given a whole day to do anything you wanted, what would you be doing? When do you feel your happiest – and what are you doing when you feel that way? Ask yourself these questions and you will have a clearer idea of what your true passions are. 

Once you determine your passions, you can use those to begin understanding your purpose. Your purpose – or your ultimate “why” in life – is what motivates you most in life. Many people find success in determining their purpose when they find a way to build it from their passions. What are some ways you can incorporate more of your passions into your everyday life? 

Is there a way your passions can be used to make the world a better place? Can you use your passions in a professional capacity? Asking yourself these questions will accomplish two major things: firstly, you will have a good grasp on your true passions, and secondly, you can see how you can use those passions to build a fantastic life’s purpose. 

Once you have your passions and purpose secured, you can begin to construct your life’s vision. 

Your life’s vision is your ultimate view of what you want your future to look like. Spend some time visualizing an image of where you want to see yourself in the future – it can be a few weeks ahead, a few months, or a few years. 

Once you see yourself in the future, take note of all the details present in your image. What do you look like in the future? How are you feeling in the future? What do you have in the future? 

Asking yourself these questions can help you build a detailed picture of what you want from your future life. Having that detailed picture gives you a strong idea of how to “work backward” so you can build a life that will eventually get you there.

FREE DOWNLOAD – Planning Your Passion, Vision and Purpose For Life Workbook

Creating a fulfilled life.
Clear Vision of Your Life

The Dangers Of Leading An Unfulfilled Life

People who do not live a fulfilling life experience some negative outcomes. 

1| They feel like they missed out on some good opportunities. 

Sometimes opportunities to try new things or explore new places in life are fleeting – if you do not take advantage of them when they are available to you, then you may never get the chance to do them again. A person living an unfulfilled life may realize that they have missed a lot of these good opportunities because they did not fully understand what they wanted out of life. 

2| They feel like they do not quite fit in or belong anywhere.

Living an unfulfilled life can feel a lot like you never belong. Fulfillment can be compared to snapping puzzle pieces together; when you feel fulfilled, you feel like you have found your exact right place in the world, as if you are a puzzle piece that makes up the “bigger picture” in the world. However, if you never find any life fulfillment, you may feel like you never really fit in or belong with anyone or anything else. 

3| They feel like their lives are directionless. 

Living an unfulfilled life can feel a lot like wandering through an unfamiliar forest with no map or compass. It is confusing and chaotic – since there is nothing anchoring you and helping you determine the best pathway, you may feel like you cannot gain a proper sense of direction. Living an unfulfilled life can feel a lot like you are bouncing from one part of life to the next with no meaning to it or predictability for what might come next.

4| They are left wanting more with no idea about how to get it. 

People living unfulfilling lives can feel themselves craving more. Their current state of being is not satisfying – think of it like being offered a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when what you are really craving is a full steak and potatoes dinner. They may be “getting by” with the life they have, but the way they are living is not giving them full satisfaction or happiness. 

5| They do not feel a sense of community with others. 

Living an unfulfilling life can also be a very isolating experience. Fulfilled people are often immersed in their passions – because of this, they are often surrounded by other people who also feel passionate about the same things and can relate to them because of those shared passions. 

Without fulfillment, you may feel quite isolated from everyone else. As you notice other people living satisfying and fulfilled lives, you may not be able to relate, so you remain on the fringes of experiencing that type of community with other people.

Case Study: Understanding What The Fulfilled Life Formula Looks Like 

To gain a better understanding of what the fulfilled life formula looks like, consider Gabe. 

Gabe is a 35-year-old man working in the tech industry. When he graduated college over a decade ago, he was set on finding a job in his chosen career field that would make him plenty of money so he could live comfortably. With his grades and certifications, he was able to find a decently-paying job at a software company. While he did meet his ultimate goal, he found himself feeling dissatisfied. 

While their pay is great, Gabe does not feel like the work he does is very meaningful. He feels like he is a cog in a machine – he does his work, keeps the wheels turning in his department, and then leaves at the end of the day feeling too tired to do anything else. He often feels listless, as if he is wasting his precious time on something that does not feel very important to him. 

After a particularly long and tiring day, Gabe decided to reconsider how he was handling his professional life. He did not feel much interest in technology work anymore. While he still needed to make money and take care of his financial obligations, he decided to cut back on the amount of time he was spending in the office in favor of dedicating more time to some of his other interests. 

One of Gabe’s biggest passions is spending time outdoors. He used to engage in outdoor activities regularly, such as camping, hiking, and exploring new places. He loved spending evenings outdoors and weekends seeking new trails to visit. 

On longer vacations, he would plan big trips to gorgeous wildlife reserves and national parks. However, over the last few years, Gabe allowed his professional life to cut into the time he would have normally invested in feeding this passion. 

Gabe realizes how much he really loves the great outdoors. It is one of his major passions, and he longs for a way to spend even more time exploring and adventuring outdoors. Curious, he looks at some opportunities listed on his town’s local parks and recreation page and sees an outdoor adventures club for youth. 

The club is currently seeking new adult leaders to take groups of kids on hikes, fishing trips, and other outings to learn more about nature and basic survival skills. Though Gabe is unsure if this is something he can do – he does not usually work with kids – the idea intrigues him, so he submits an application to the program. 

Next week, Gabe is invited to interview. After learning more about the program and talking more to some of the park rangers, he believes this would be a great way for him to further explore his passions while also giving back to the community. The program seeks adult role models who love the outdoors to share that love with youth, and Gabe believes his love and passion for the outdoors will translate well into the role. 

The weekend after the interview, Gabe goes on his first outing with a group of kids and a more experienced leader to learn the basics of how the program works. To Gabe’s surprise, he has an absolute blast. He spends the entire Saturday immersed in the park’s beauty, hiking and fishing with the others. 

He enjoys that the kids on the day trip are so curious and interested in what is happening around them – Gabe gets to share a ton of tips, tricks, and information about the great outdoors with them. 

Once the day ends, Gabe realizes the good feeling he is experiencing is something he has not felt in a long, long time – satisfaction. He feels like he has a real purpose when he is out in the woods with kids, helping them learn more about the natural world and appreciate the outdoors.

While Gabe continues to work at his tech company job, he also continues to be a weekend volunteer with the outdoor adventures club. During this time, he allows his passions to help him build a great sense of purpose in life. He transforms his passion for the great outdoors into a motivational purpose – getting others interested in being outdoors and appreciating nature, too. 

As Gabe continues to work with more kids and gets to know the employees at the parks and recreation office, he realizes he could see himself doing this type of work professionally. At this point, Gabe begins to let his passion and purpose direct his life’s vision. 

While his old vision for himself used to be all about making money, his new vision is shaped specifically by his passions and purpose. 

At this point, Gabe builds a new life vision for himself that is informed specifically by his passions and purpose: he wants to become a park ranger. 

14 Strategies For Living A More Fulfilled Life

As you explore more about your personal passions, vision, and purpose in life, there are some strategies you can use to make defining your own fulfilled life a little easier. To get started, consider the following strategies:

1| Listen to your body’s signals and needs.

It is always easier to do anything in life when you are feeling your best. As you work through the formula for living a more fulfilled life by focusing on your passions, vision, and purpose, make sure you are also prioritizing taking good care of your physical and mental health. 

When you are not properly feeding and hydrating yourself, getting plenty of exercise and fresh air, taking time to rest, or taking time to process your emotions, it is challenging to focus on anything you want to do. Make feeling good one of your main priorities to feel even more fulfilled. 

2| Do not let the fear of being bad at something stop you from becoming good at it. 

Trying something for the first time is almost always going to be difficult. Unfortunately, people are rarely perfect at new activities or skills the first time they try them. When you eventually experience these types of upsets, resist the urge to let it make you feel discouraged. 

Instead, embrace the idea that being bad at something is a major step in becoming good at it. Lots of attempts teaches you a lot about what you are trying to do. While it stinks to struggle at first, it is an important part of the learning process. Even though you may be bad at this new activity now, your hard work and willingness to keep trying will ensure you will see improvement. 

3| Embrace the idea of molding your life’s purpose like a block of clay. 

There is a common misconception that a person’s life’s purpose is supposed to be obvious and unchanging. Sometimes discovering a purpose is treated like a major epiphany moment in books and television – when a main character finally realizes what their life’s purpose truly is, it sets them off on a trajectory where they specifically follow that realization throughout their entire story. 

In reality, it is not unusual for your life’s purpose to change, grow, and shift over time. As you grow and develop as a human being, you may notice some changes happening in your life’s purpose, and that is totally normal! Think of your life’s purpose like a big block of clay: to eventually turn that clay into a fabulous statue, you will need to constantly work on it, mold it, and change its structure to capture your ultimate vision. Do not be afraid to make those changes – it will move you a little closer toward your big goals. 

4| Make peace with who you are. 

Accepting yourself is a major step in achieving inner peace. When you feel at peace with yourself, it is much easier to follow your passions, develop your life’s purpose, and live life according to your ultimate vision for yourself. All of these parts of the fulfilled life formula are going to be unique to you and accepting yourself makes it much easier to embrace your uniqueness. 

Accepting yourself for who you are requires you to accept your whole self – strengths, weaknesses, flaws, and all. By accepting everything about yourself, you can learn to make peace with the parts of yourself you cannot change, identify the areas you can improve, and use your unique sets of talents and skills to move yourself closer to a truly fulfilling life. 

5| Accept that the pathway to fulfillment is not linear. 

Many people want their journeys to a bigger, better, and more fulfilling life to be a straight and easy linear path. However, this type of simplicity when trying to accomplish something as major as life fulfillment is rarely the case. 

Prepare yourself to experience setbacks and challenges when you are seeking life fulfillment. As you move through the passion + purpose + vision formula, you may find yourself hanging around on certain steps longer than others. You may realize that parts of your purpose need to change to better suit your needs and circumstances. You may make a mistake and experience some sort of setback in the process of seeking fulfillment. When these setbacks and challenges happen, remember that it is a normal part of the process – the most important thing to do is keep going. 

6| The pathway to fulfillment can be traveled in baby steps. 

Building your ultimate fulfilling life is not going to be a “weekend project.” Building something as important as a fulfilling life for yourself takes time. It can be paved with new experiences, anxiety about the future, and uncertainty. Because of this, it is important to remember that taking baby steps toward ultimate life fulfillment is okay. 

You can begin your path to life fulfillment by making small strides and changes. There is no need to make major, overhauling changes right away if you are not comfortable doing so. Making smaller changes and taking baby steps in the process is usually more sustainable for people – this means you will be making changes that you are more likely to stick with in the long term. 

7| Start prioritizing your own enjoyment and happiness. 

Unfortunately, many people put their own happiness and enjoyment on the back burner because they have other obligations and responsibilities in life they believe must always come first. They see passions as something to do when absolutely everything else has been finished. This leads to very little time to actually engage in what makes them feel honestly and truly happy. 

Escape this trap by prioritizing your own enjoyment and happiness. Schedule some time each day to engage in your passions and treat that time like a major appointment. Extend the same courtesy to the appointments you make with yourself as you do the appointments you make for others – honor them and do not let anything else encroach upon that time. 

Not only will this give you time to explore your passions and build more purpose, but you will also get to enjoy some quality self-care time. 

8| Get in the habit of making fun plans. 

Making plans is another good way to feel more fulfilled. This gives you something you can look forward to, even when you are still working through the more routine or mundane parts of your everyday life. 

Making plans also ensures that you are staying active and participating in activities you love with other people. All too often, people find themselves trapped in a cycle of going to work, running errands, and feeling tired. Adding in some fun and exciting plans into your schedule is a great way to combat falling into that predictability cycle. 

9| Be of force of kindness in others’ lives as well as your own. 

In a world where you can be anything you want, be a kind person. It costs nothing to treat other people with kindness and grace and doing so will ensure that you are spreading positivity into your own life as well as your environment. 

Choosing kindness is always a smart choice to make yourself feel more fulfilled. You will never regret being kind to someone else and doing so will make the other person’s day a little better and brighter. Similarly, being kind will boost your own mood as well. 

It is also easy to be too harsh and critical of yourself. Rather than beating yourself up when you make a mistake or are feeling down, practice talking to yourself the same way you would speak to your best friend – be gentle and kind to guide yourself around whatever setback you are experiencing. 

10| Embrace forgiveness of yourself and others. 

Living a fulfilling life is difficult when you allow past negative experiences to weigh you down. Rather than carrying heavy grudges or anger against yourself or others with you into the future, practice embracing forgiveness instead. 

When you choose to forgive yourself or someone else for past wrongdoings or mistakes, you are not providing that other person with relief – it is a way to provide that relief to yourself. Expressing forgiveness will certainly help you begin to heal a hurt relationship, but it also removes the burden of being angry or upset from your own shoulders. 

11| Share your passions with other people. 

A great way to add more fulfillment into your life is to find ways to share your big passions with others. Getting other people involved in your passions – whether it is a hobby, cause, or activity – is a great way to feel more fulfilled. 

When you are engaging in your passions on your own, you can certainly feel quite fulfilled and satisfied with yourself. However, sharing those passions with others adds a whole new layer of satisfaction to your experiences. 

someone new to your passion learn to engage with it and enjoy it (and knowing that you are responsible for introducing that new source of enjoyment in their lives) is a whole new level of fulfillment. 

12| Develop a growth mindset attitude. 

Challenge yourself to grow a little bit each day. Every day, you are presented with opportunities to be a little better than you were the previous day – even if they are small opportunities, take them and let yourself be better than you were before. 

While small changes and choices like these may seem insignificant, they add up to great growth and success. Striving to improve yourself just a tiny bit each day helps you build a solid foundation for larger changes to come.

13| Start viewing your personal time as a precious resource. 

Just like a sailor stranded on a deserted island would not waste any of his remaining drinking water, you should not waste any of your personal time.

Think of your personal time as an ultimate life source – this is time for you to rest, relax, recharge, and engage in all the passion activities you have. During this time, you can do whatever you want without worrying about someone else needing something from you. 

This is why it is imperative to treat your personal time like a highly precious resource. With your one wild and precious life, your time on Earth is limited. When you find yourself with some extra time, use it to engage in activities that make you feel happier and more fulfilled. Do not feel tempted to let other people steal your precious personal time away from you.

14| Express your gratitude each day. 

A great way to keep your fulfillment tanks full is to practice gratitude each and every day. Tell the people you love how you really feel about them when you have the chance to do it. Reflect on everything you have in life and really take a moment to appreciate it all. Take a second to reflect on your own skills, talents, and traits that make you unique. 

Whenever you take time to express gratitude, you are reinforcing a sense of appreciation and satisfaction for yourself and the life you lead. This is an exceptionally powerful feeling. Spending some time each day feeling grateful for everything you have in life creates a strong foundation for feeling more fulfilled and satisfied with life.

What Happens When You Feel Like You Need To Make Changes To Your Vision Or Purpose?

People change and grow over their lifetimes. It is totally normal and natural to notice changes in your interests, tastes, and preferences. As you mature, your needs change as well. All of these changes within yourself are almost certainly going to affect your passions and, by default, your sense of purpose in life. 

When you experience this feeling that you need to make changes to your vision or purpose, there are some strategies you can use to make that process feel a little easier. 

1| Be kind to yourself. 

Realizing that you are no longer as passionate about something you once loved deeply can be an emotionally challenging experience. Be kind and gentle with yourself during this time and give yourself some grace as you navigate your new feelings. 

2| Sit down and really comb through your passions to determine what has changed. 

Sometimes emotions are difficult to understand completely. Sit down and really reflect on your recent feelings about your passions. See if you can identify specifically where your recent disinterest or need for changes is originating – you may determine that you need to make some minor tweaks to your existing passions or blaze a new trail altogether. 

3| Talk to other people who are passionate about the same things as you for advice. 

Reach out to your passion-centric community of other people who are also interested in the same things as you. Talk to them about how you are feeling. They may be able to offer you an outsider’s perspective on what you are feeling and experiencing, making it easier to navigate difficult feelings and situations surrounding your sudden change in interests. 

4| Let yourself feel sadness or grief over the loss of your former passions, purpose, or vision. 

Whether you end up needing to make only minor changes or find yourself preparing to make big ones, give yourself time to experience sadness or grief over the loss of your former passions, purpose, or vision. 

While moving on to something new and exciting is great, it’s also fine to feel sadness for what you used to really enjoy and what used to feel right to you. Feeling that sadness and grief over your former passions, purpose, and vision is a part of the healing process, and experiencing that will let you move on quicker. 

5| Just as your first experience with trying to determine your passions, purpose, and vision, take baby steps. 

As you begin to reexamine your passions, purpose, and vision, take things slow. It is fine to take small, baby steps as you explore new and potentially unfamiliar areas. Your old passions, purpose, and vision may have felt extremely comfortable and familiar to you – trying to change them can feel like your whole world is collapsing around you. 

Make the experience less intimidating by taking things slow. Begin with minor changes and move to the next step of the process when you are ready to do so.

The Bottom Line

Understanding how passions, vision, and purpose all operate in your life is the key formula for building your most fulfilling life possible. 

Whether you feel like you need to make some small changes or major changes in your life, following the passion + vision + purpose = fulfillment formula is a guaranteed way to get you on the right track to a more satisfying and happy existence. 

It is important to remember that fulfillment does not look the same for everyone. Rather than trying to imitate someone else’s feelings of satisfaction or happiness, do not be afraid to step away from the group to find your own unique sense of life fulfillment. 

And lastly, on your journey to explore the formula for a fulfilled life, remember that it is okay to make mistakes, experience setbacks, and take baby steps toward that more satisfying life. Changing your life and making improvements is usually a slow, step-by-step process. 

You will learn a lot about yourself along the way, and your journey may be delayed or paused from time to time. However, the most important aspect to remember is that you must keep working with your passions, purpose, and vision to reach that ultimate sense of fulfillment.