5 ways to Create a Life of Achievement and Meaning
Are you achieving your goals but still not finding fulfillment in life?
That’s what brought Derek Hough to Date with Destiny. A successful performer with four Primetime Emmy Award wins for Outstanding Choreography, Derek achieved so many of his goals before he was 30. Despite this, he didn’t feel personally fulfilled, so he decided he needed help.
At age 15, Derek attended UPW and remembered how unstoppable he felt after that event. He realized that, many years later, the core concepts Tony taught still guided every area of his life. He wanted to discover that same drive and sense of accomplishment he felt years ago and learn how to live a fulfilling life.
What is a fulfilling life?
Society teaches us that if we act a certain way and achieve certain goals, we’ll automatically live a fulfilling life. While achieving career, relationships and family life goals certainly plays a role in fulfillment, it’s not the whole story.
The truth is, feeling fulfilled in life looks different for everyone. That’s because fulfillment is an art. It’s different for everyone, just like how a painting can be perceived as boring for one person yet beautiful to another. What you find fulfilling differs from others because it’s based on our values, our beliefs, and our deepest human needs.
And one of the most common elements of fulfillment is to focus on serving something greater than yourself. Feeling fulfilled isn’t about what you get; it’s about what you give.
On the other hand, there’s a science of achievement. There are very clear and specific rules to get results and achieve your vision. When the rules are followed, they yield tangible results. But if you violate those rules, you’ll never get the result you’re after.
Aligning your blueprint for happiness: balancing external and internal goals
So, what’s the secret to a happier, more fulfilling life? It’s about aligning your achievements with your beliefs – or “blueprint” – about the world. Beliefs about relationships. Beliefs about your career. Beliefs about what needs to happen for you to be happy.
When you change those beliefs, you’ll feel more fulfilled – provided they align with your life conditions. Alternatively, you might change your life conditions by applying the science of achievement to change your life conditions. No matter your approach, happiness and fulfillment emerge when the reality of your life conditions match your beliefs of how you expect the world to be.
Discovering fulfillment in life: Uncover your deepest dreams and passions
Derek Hough mastered achievement, but he didn’t feel personally fulfilled. He was looking for what makes him feel fulfilled, and it wasn’t necessarily rows of trophies and awards – it was something more significant. Ultimately, Derek learned that life is about who you are, not what you have. He also realized he had to find his purpose.
Finding your purpose
Learning how to have a fulfilling life requires finding your purpose. That means finding what lights you up inside and looking inward. When you dig deep and discover your core values, you’ll uncover your deepest dreams and passions. You’ll discover what matters most to you and what brings fulfillment to your life.
Enhancing fulfillment: the importance of growth, contribution, and purpose
A huge part of finding fulfillment is looking at your contribution to the world around you. What does your contribution look like? Are you close to achieving the legacy you want to leave? Are you leaving the world a better place than you found it?
If not, perhaps it’s time to examine your growth. Are you taking steps toward growth in ways that align with your true purpose? The more you grow, the more you have to contribute to the people around you.
Contribution is one of our most basic human needs. We need to feel as if we’re serving something greater – a community, an important cause, our families, or even the world. Growing and contributing go hand in hand, especially when aligned with our purpose.
Forgiveness: keys to a truly fulfilling life
Another big part of finding fulfillment is forgiving those who have wronged you and facing the truth of where you are now. You have an unlimited power to care and love that significantly affects the quality of your life. When you hold onto resentment and anger, you’re only hurting yourself.
Rather than getting stuck in anger, view it as an opportunity to strengthen your love, your care, your compassion and your forgiveness. What has the experience taught you that you can be grateful for? When you trade anger for gratitude, it’s easier to forgive both yourself and those who have hurt you.
Of course, forgiving without feeling anger is sometimes easier said than done. You might know you’re hurting yourself when you feel angry but anger is still a natural human emotion. Instead of letting emotions take over, learn how to give yourself the gift of forgiveness so you can release your anger and resentment.
Ultimately, fulfillment also comes when you forgive because it adjusts your beliefs about the situation. Forgiveness will allow you to release the anger and hurt, moving you closer to feeling happier and peaceful.
How to Find Fulfillment: 5 Practical Steps to Create the Life You Want
Learning how to be fulfilled won’t come without obstacles. You will have to do some work to keep yourself on track.
Here are five actionable steps you can take on your journey toward finding out how to have a fulfilling life.
1. Let go of perfection
Derek was a perfectionist, but he learned that a desire to be perfect prevented him from being his true self. On the outside, it looked as if Derek had achieved so much but his limiting beliefs were still telling him that he could be better. He could reach for more. He focused too much on outside influences. His perfectionism was a limiting belief. He learned that, in order to find fulfillment, he needed to live for himself – not for others. He had to let go of expectations, silence his limiting beliefs and live life for himself.
“Create a vision and never let the environment, other people’s beliefs, or the limits of what has been done in the past shape your decisions.” “It’s your unlimited power to care and to love that can make the biggest difference in the quality of your life.” – Tony Robbins
2. Look inward
Derek sought fulfillment in all the wrong places. Instead of looking for fulfillment in himself, he looked to external situations in his career and relationships. Tony helped him understand that everything he needed was within him – that feeling fulfilled in his career and relationships would only come after he found fulfillment within himself.
3. Adjust your worldview
After working with Tony, Derek learned that finding fulfillment in life involved connecting with himself – his most profound dreams, his purpose, and his passions. His achievements served their purpose, but for Derek it was about discovering what he really wanted out of life.
It’s easy to get distracted by the science of achievement. In Derek’s case he thought he needed more material things when he really needed to find meaning. Instead of doing what others or society expected of him, he needed to create new beliefs and his own blueprint for happiness.
He needed to adjust his worldview and uncover which beliefs made sense for him and which ones no longer served him. He needed to write his own plan for success and fulfillment. If you want to find happiness like Derek, you have to do the same.
4. Trade your expectations for appreciation
When figuring out how to adjust your worldview, fulfillment gets easier when you learn to trade expectations for appreciation. We get frustrated or disappointed when we expect things to turn out one way but they turn out differently. Rather than looking at life with an expectation for success or fulfillment, take a moment to appreciate the gift life is offering you. Stop looking at your challenges as a negative event. Focus on how they helped you become your strongest, most beautiful self.
When Derek traded expectations for appreciation, he realized he didn’t need to achieve something to feel worthy or significant. He could feel appreciation for simply being alive. Once he realized that he already had everything he needed, he felt free from expectations and felt gratitude for everything he had. Simply put, you don’t need to have a reason to feel good – you’re alive. You can feel good for no reason at all.
5. Embrace growth
Tony often says, “If you’re not growing, you’re dying.” You can have everything in the world but still not have a fulfilling life – especially if you stop growing. Fulfillment comes when we contribute something of value to the world, and the purpose of growth is so we have more to give. So, the more you give and contribute to the world around you, the more fulfillment you’ll feel.
The Fastest Way to Unleash Your Destiny
The fastest way to rewire your beliefs for more fulfillment is when you immerse yourself in the right environment. That’s exactly what you’ll find at Date With Destiny, where you won’t just discover who you are but also decide and create your own life-changing experience. You’ll gain the tools and mindset to see how problems can become gifts and discover how life is happening for you – not to you.
At Date with Destiny, you’ll uncover what’s most important to you and spark the confidence to follow your dreams and design the life you’ve always wanted. Through the power of immersion, Date with Destiny is the fastest way to rewire your beliefs and transform your life to one of happiness and fulfillment.
Remember, learning how to have a fulfilling life isn’t just about achieving goals. It’s about who you become and living in line with your beliefs, values and purpose. It’s about setting yourself up to win the game of life and designing a life that’s truly extraordinary.