Fulfilling and Meaningful Life Planning Techniques

Jul 21, 2024

Figuring Out Life's Purpose

Introduction

  • Struggling with finding passion and meaningful work
  • Want to enjoy work, find it fulfilling, and help people
  • Contemplating the role of medicine in life plan

Three Useful Exercises

1. The Gravestone Technique

  • Think about what you want written on your gravestone
    • Examples: Good dad, good husband, inspirational teacher
    • Realized teaching is a meaningful part of life
  • Consider what different people might say at your funeral
    • Close friends, family, colleagues, strangers
    • Focus on character, relationships, and impact
  • Consider what you want written on your Wikipedia page
    • Focus on achievements and world impact
  • Recommended reading: "How Will You Measure Your Life" by Clayton Christensen

2. The Odyssey Plan

  • From the book "Designing Your Life" by Stanford authors
  • Three scenarios of life five years from now:
    1. Continuing the current path
    2. Taking an entirely different path
    3. If money and societal expectations didn't matter
  • Writing out detailed day-in-the-life scenarios
  • Gained clarity on personal dissatisfaction with the current path
  • Importance of challenging and interesting work
  • Recommending periodic review and writing for clarity

3. The Ideal Ordinary Week

  • Idea from Simon Severino, business coach at Strategy Sprints
  • Fast forward two years and design an ideal ordinary week on your calendar
  • Example of ideal week activities:
    • Wake up at 8 AM, morning exercise, team meetings, work in the emergency department, gaming nights, board games, meals with friends, deep work, practicing music, art class, reading, learning
  • Consider what stops you from achieving the ideal week now
  • Reflect on barriers and make changes to move towards the ideal calendar
  • Prompting action to align current life closer to the ideal vision

Conclusion

  • No definitive answers, but exercises provide clarity
  • Encouragement to try techniques for directional guidance and reflection
  • Additional resources: Video on personal journey, philosophical thoughts about meaning and fulfillment