Fulfillment is an intangible thing which no one can define completely. And yet, you know when you are fulfilled because you get, very literally, a feeling of being “fully filled.” Often, people who haven’t achieved what they want to achieve have a hollow type of feeling, as though something is missing. The feeling of fulfillment is the opposite of that, and although it may not last a long time, it’s still a feeling that you remember.
Which Types of Achievements Lead into Fulfillment?
If you look back on your life, you may realize that certain achievements gave you a feeling of being fulfilled. You didn’t feel as if anything was missing from your life once you achieved those things. But there are also certain other achievements that people might praise you for but that don’t give you that feeling of fulfillment. The difference is that you feel fulfilled when the thing that you have achieved coincides with your own values, but you don’t feel the same way when the thing that you have achieved only coincides with society’s values.
Do Your Desires Coincide with Society’s Dictates?
Sometimes, fortunately, what you want and what society approves of might turn out to be the same thing. For example, you might, in fact, want a high-level corporate job and a spouse and family. You might want a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence and a nice car. In that case, you’re probably one of the lucky ones because most of us find that all our desires don’t coincide with what society tells us to have or to achieve. And sometimes, even the people with the high-powered jobs and the suburban houses might have certain niggling desires that they haven’t been able to fulfill.
Evaluating Your Degree of Fulfillment
The first step is to evaluate your level of fulfillment with the various areas of your life. You might find that you are more fulfilled in your job and less fulfilled in your personal life or vice versa. It’s really necessary to be completely honest with yourself about these things because it’s easy to convince yourself that you are happy and fulfilled when you are not. If you are having a niggling feeling at the back of your mind when you go to sleep, then you are not completely fulfilled.
Small Steps Towards Fulfillment Have Big Results
Once you’ve figured out what exactly is making you unfulfilled, try taking some baby steps towards it. Maybe you’d like to be an artist, so why not set up a studio in your garage? Or maybe you’d like to start your own business, in which case you could start looking at your assets to figure out how much capital you have or can raise. The truth is that once you start looking for fulfillment in your life, it automatically starts coming to you. This is not magic; it’s just your unconscious mind reminding you about what you want every time it senses an opportunity. So if you move in the direction of fulfillment even just a little bit, you’ll find that the results are manifold.
