what do you want from life? (check out 71 things that others want)

by mary jaksch

What do you want from life? Many people struggle with this question. Maybe you do too? Life can get so busy that we don’t have time to really think about what we want out of life. And when we do find what we want, it can seem impossible to achieve it.

I’m planning new eBook. So I’m keen to address what you want to know and what would make a difference to your life. I recently emailed participants of Virtual Zen Retreats and asked, ‘What is the one thing you want from life?’ I got some fascinating answers and want to share them with you. Below you can find some of the responses.

Here’s what other people want from life. Which responses do you resonate with?

spirituality

1. to have some clarity of mind;
2. to feel each day more nearer to my inner self, be centered;
3. to know myself;
4. to have a greater level of spiritual joy that raises me above our human burdens;
5. to live with intention and purpose;
6. to be in the ocean of love and wisdom;
7. to get a meaningful glimpse of the spiritual good side of everyone I come in contact with;
8. to learn how to meditate when you do not have a lot of time to do so;
9. to know how to abandon the shallower world around us to reach greater levels of peace;
10. to really feel alive. I know that feeling. It doesn’t matter if you feel sad or happy there is a richness to it that is sometimes missing and I feel a dullness;
11. to feel connected and not separated and lost would change my life;
12. to stop searching answers to unanswerable questions and just live;

meaningful life

13. at the end, to be able to say I made a positive change that had a major effect on a large community (leaving the world better off somehow)
14. the one thing I want out of life is purpose. To find my calling and live it;

15. to know that I am on the path to finding and following my calling;
16. to help people heal old wounds;
17. to live with intention and purpose;
18. to live my life as I do and want, to grow my soul through the lessons;
19. to be creative;
20. to learn how to stop myself from being short with my loved ones when they try to be kind;
21. to understand life’s purpose;
22. it would drastically change my life having a clear objective and a clear way of pursuing it;
    

    happiness

23. to be who I am, total connection with my spirit;
24. to end disconnection from others (which leads to loneliness);

25. to be in touch with life;
26. to be intimate and less afraid;
    

    peace of mind

27. to have peace of mind;
28. to be free from worry and fear

29. to honor our bodies, our minds, our spirits – and each other;
30. to feel serenity in making life decisions that are aligned with all those values;
31. to be peaceful so I may be free of these knee jerk responses so that I may act from compassion and wisdom;
32. to have peace of mind and clarity;
33. to stop my perfectionism and actually do better at work and in everything else;
34. to have silence in my head;
35. to turn off that inner voice always talking;
36. to get rid of unwanted negative thoughts;
37. to stop judging my thoughts;
38. to ride peacefully with whatever is presented on my journey;
39. to learn how to maintain internal emotional peace (especially from fear), so that I can gain self-confidence.
40. to learn step by step processes on how let go, detach, not judge, feel inner peace;
41. how to control anguish, frustration, and not to let others harm you;
42. not to compare my needs with others and be attached to outcomes to look good;
43. how to feel free. I know it is all in my head, but I often feel hindered by other people and their demands. Why can I not be who I am and not feel guilty about it?
    

    productivity

44. to master time-management;
45. to develop self discipline;
46. to create good habits;
47. to experience a paradigm shift that helps me view challenges differently, especially relating to self discipline and motivation;

48. to learn how to be in the zone;
49. to be more productive and focused;
    

    self-acceptance and confidence

50. to build enough self-confidence to spread my message to wider audiences;
51. to quiet the negative self-talk;
52. to move away from negative self-limiting thoughts;
53. to quell my self doubts and just get on with it so that my life doesn’t feel like it’s one step forward and two steps back;

54. to recognize all the good in my life, and being content with it.
55. to worry less about my performance at work (which is very high, but due to family conditioning, I always feel ‘on trial’);
56. to feel more courage, and less embarrassment;
57. to be confident about consistently making good decisions;
    

    meaningful work

58. to fInd a way to earn a living doing something that contributes to others, yet doesn’t rob my soul;
59. to find a passion and stick with it;
60. to find a way to pursue my calling while also supporting my family financially.
61. to be able to find fulfillment in my career.

62. to find how to reconcile productivity and relaxation. Oftentimes I get so engaged in my work that I end up burning out or running into hours for relaxation.
63. to truly zero in on the essence of what my talent or gift is;
64. to realize that what I have to offer is exactly what the world needs at this point in time;
65. to achieve my fullest potential in terms of skills that I have;
66. to translate my potential into a comfortable lifestyle for me and my family;
67. to feel like I’m not just ‘going through the motions’ at work and remove the feeling that my ‘real’ life is lived outside of work
68. to know what I want and have the resolve not to re-evaluate it too soon;
    

    happiness

69. to feel more free, and that my many, many obligations would not be an obstacle to feel free.
    to know that what I’m doing is worthwhile – raising kids, the work I do, the way I live my life and interact with people.
70. to make a positive difference for people close to me. and therefore be happy.

71. to maintain a good work/life balance;

In the light of these responses, it seems that what most people yearn for is to feel peaceful, to be relieved of self-doubts, and to engage in meaningful work.

Which of these responses do you resonate with?
What would you like to add to this list?
Please offer us your thoughts in the comments.

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