This is post 2 of 3 in the series. You can jump to the other two posts below:
Stage 2 Contents: Click a link here to jump to a section below
- An Overview of Stage 2
- Posts on Habits, Picking a Path, & Making Progress
- Posts on Lifestyle Design, Life Roles, & MEDS
- Posts on Existential Crisis, Ikigai, & Life Purpose
- Posts on Happiness & Self-Actualization
- Posts on the Meaning of Life (& Death)
Sloww Stage 2: Getting Started with Life Purpose & Meaning (for Heroic Humans)
An Overview of Stage 2
Key problem(s) addressed at this stage:
- “How do I find and create purpose in my life?” Humanity is currently in the midst of a meaning crisis. Jim Collins estimates that only 3-5% of humanity has found their purpose.
Who Sloww is for at this stage:
- Heroic humans actualizing life purpose as the heroes and heroines of their own journeys.
Taglines Previously Used:
- “Lighter Living + Higher Purpose” (also considered “High Imprint Living with a Low Footprint Lifestyle” / “High-Impact Living with a Low-Impact Lifestyle”)
Stage Description:
- Sloww promotes finding purpose because there’s nothing more important than meaning in life but no one taught us how to find it (and we are currently in the midst of a collective meaning crisis). Everyone has the right to a life of purpose. Once you find your purpose, you can create from your purpose. Your self-actualization is also your self-transcendence as you give yourself to the world.
Note: The slowing down and simpler living from the prior stage is transcended and included in this stage—making space for you to find your life purpose:
Full List of Posts for Stage 2
You can see my own personal progression through stage 2 by skimming a summary of posts 101-200 and Sloww’s evolution from 1.0-2.0.
Note: Links with a lock icon (🔒) go to a Premium post.
Posts on Habits, Picking a Path, Making Progress, & Time Management
Habit Building (& Breaking):
- Building Better Habits with “Atomic Habits” by James Clear (Book Summary) + 🔒 Premium Summary
- The Ultimate Life Hack is Understanding you can’t do ALL the Life Hacks—and that’s Perfectly OK
Picking a Path:
- 10 Life (& Work) Hacks from “Essentialism” (Book Summary)
- The Paradox of Choice — Even Not Choosing is a Choice
- The Secret of Productivity is a VERY BIG Waste Paper Basket
- Say “NO” Often to Say “YES” to What Matters
Making Progress on Your Path:
- 🔒 “Essentialism” + “Atomic Habits” Synthesis: How to Pick a Path & Make Progress (+ Infographic)
- 🔒 “Golden Circle” + “Three Layers of Behavior Change” Synthesis: How to Better Understand Your Brain with Simon Sinek & James Clear (+ Infographic)
Time Management:
- Mental Bandwidth Management is the New Time Management
- Time Equality: How Do You Use Your 24 Hours Per Day?
- Timeboxing: The #1 Productivity Hack for Actually Doing Your To-Do List (+ 10 Timeboxing Tips)
- Create a Daily Routine with Calendar Time Blocking (+ 7 Pro Tips)
- “When” by Daniel Pink: Upgrade from “How-To” to “When-To” (Book Summary)
Posts on Lifestyle Design, Life Roles, & MEDS
Introduction to Lifestyle Design:
- Lifestyle Design 101: What is Lifestyle Design? (& 35+ Questions to Ask Yourself)
- 🔒 Behind the Scenes: A Look at My Personal Lifestyle Design
- Optimize with Brian Johnson: An Intro to his Life’s Work on Virtues, Habits, & the Fundamentals of Optimal Living
- Slow Living Lifestyle Design — One Day (Pixel) at a Time
Considering your Life Roles:
- The Five Balls of Life: A Very Short Story about Balance
- The Four Burners Theory: Defining Your Life Roles & Priorities
- “Then what?” The Story of the Tourist and the Fisherman
MEDS (Meditation, Exercise, Diet, Sleep):
- A Simple Wellness Strategy: MEDS (Meditation, Exercise, Diet, Sleep)
- What is Forest Bathing (also known as Nature Therapy or Shinrin-Yoku)?
- Why You Should Take Naps for Better Health & Creativity
- Mindful at Mealtime: The Zen Buddhism Five Reflections
- Blue Zones: The Longevity Lifestyle of Earth’s Oldest People (Purpose, Diet, Activity, Community, & More)
- Blue Zones: How Ikarians Live Simply for 100+ Years
- All 150+ Longevity Ingredients from The Blue Zones Kitchen Cookbook (+ Spreadsheet Summary)
- 🔒 Stream of Consciousness: Does a Timeless Diet Exist?
Posts on Existential Crisis, Knowing Yourself, Ikigai, Life Purpose, & Monetizing Purpose
Existential Crisis:
- I had an Existential Crisis! (+7 Ways to Positively Overcome It)
- 4 Existential Crisis Videos to Help You Find Purpose & Meaning in Life at any Age (on the 4th Anniversary of my own Crisis)
Getting Started:
- What is Your Purpose in Life? 10 Deep Thoughts to Guide Your Hero’s Journey to Finding Life Purpose
- 🔒 Life Purpose Search Synthesis: I Googled “Life Purpose” & Read 100+ Articles (Literally)
- 🔒 Stream of Consciousness: Is Life a Sine Wave of Repeated Hero’s Journeys?
Getting to Know Yourself:
- What is a Talent Stack? (& How I’m Thinking about My Unique Stack)
- What is the Flywheel Effect by Jim Collins? (& How to Build Momentum for your Life Purpose)
- Personality meets Spirituality in “The Wisdom of the Enneagram” by Riso & Hudson (Book Summary)
- After all the Enneagram Tests, I’m Stuck Between Enneagram Types 3, 5, & 1 (Type Summaries)
- Edit Your Purpose: The Story of the Cracked Pot
Ikigai Approach (My Top Recommendation):
All of these posts and more are part of the new eBook: Ikigai 2.0: A Step-by-Step Guidebook to Finding Life Purpose & Making Money Meaningfully (+ Bonus Workbook)
- What is the Hedgehog Concept by Jim Collins? (& How Does it Compare to Ikigai?)
- The True Meaning of Ikigai: Definitions, Diagrams & Myths about the Japanese Life Purpose
- Ikigai 2.0: Evolving the Ikigai Diagram for Life Purpose (& Why and How it Needs to be Redesigned)
- My Ikigai 2.0 — A Detailed Personal Ikigai Example of How to Find Your Life Purpose
- “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life” by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles (Book Summary)
- How the Japanese Wake Up to Joy and Purpose: “Awakening Your Ikigai” by Ken Mogi (Book Summary)
Monetizing Purpose:
- 🔒 Monetizing Purpose Synthesis: How to Meaningfully Make Money from Your Life Purpose (+ Infographics)
- 🔒 Naval Ravikant Synthesis: How to Build Wealth by Being Yourself (+ Infographics)
- Everything from Money to The Meaning of Life: Wisdom from “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant” (Book Summary)
- “How to Get Rich (without getting lucky)” by Naval Ravikant (Summary & Infographic)
A Variety of Additional Approaches to Life Purpose:
- Hero’s Journey Approach: 15 Legendary Themes & 75 Quotes from “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho (Book Summary)
- Inspirational Perspectives: 3 Life Themes from the Most Viewed Commencement Speeches
- Inspirational Perspectives: 20 Life Purpose Perspectives from Oprah’s “The Path Made Clear” (Book Summary)
- Simple Approach: Life Purpose: “The Crossroads of Should and Must” by Elle Luna (Book Summary)
- How-to Approach: Create Your Life Purpose with the Why Discovery Process from “Find Your Why” by Simon Sinek (Book Summary)
- Vocational Approach: On Vocation, True Self, & the Inner Journey: “Let Your Life Speak” by Parker J. Palmer (Book Summary) + 🔒 Premium Summary
- Spiritual Approach: Your Purpose on “A New Earth” (Eckhart Tolle Book Summary #2)
- Religious Approach: Eternal Purpose: “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren (Book Summary)
- 🔒 “A New Earth” + “Purpose Driven Life” Synthesis: How to Live a Life on Purpose with Eckhart Tolle & Rick Warren
Posts on Happiness & Self-Actualization
Happiness:
All of these posts and more are part of the free eBook: The Hierarchy of Happiness eBook — 100+ Powerful Perspectives on How to be Happy
- Happiness 101: The Beginner’s Guide for How to be Happy (Money, Simplicity, Relationships, Culture)
- Happiness 201: The Advanced Guide for How to be Happy Psychologically (Expectations, Practice, Choice, Purpose)
- Happiness 301: The Master’s Guide for How to be Happy Spiritually (Presence, Letting Go, Transcendence, Joy)
- 5 Life Lessons Learned from The Alchemist’s Secret of Happiness Story
- Mo Gawdat: Ex-Google Exec Engineers a Happiness Equation
- Naval Ravikant: 15 Timeless Thoughts & 50 Naval Quotes on Peace, Happiness, the Meaning of Life, & More
Self-Actualization:
- What is Self-Actualization? Here’s what Maslow said about Self-Actualizers
- The New Science of Self-Actualization: “Transcend” by Scott Barry Kaufman (Book Summary)
- 🔒 Self-Actualization Synthesis: How to be a Healthy Self-Actualizer (+ 2 Infographics)
- 🔒 Stream of Consciousness: Can you be Selfish AND Save the World?
Posts on the Meaning of Life (& Death)
Meaning of Life:
- A Deep & Detailed Summary of “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl (Book Summary) + 🔒 Premium Summary
- 10 Purposeful Themes & 25 Top Quotes from “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl
- The Modern Art of Living — With Great Choice comes Great Responsibility
- 25+ Art of Living Quotes to Inspire the Ultimate “Work” of our Lives
- 35+ Alan Watts Quotes on the Meaning of Life, Knowing Yourself, Slowing Down, & More
Meaning of Death:
- 15 Deep Insights about Death to Understand the Meaning of Life & Live Fully Alive
- 🔒 Stream of Consciousness: Is Death the Best Invention of Life?
- Write Your Own Eulogy — Then Live Up To It
- Your Entire Lifetime is only 1% of Recorded History
- A Lifetime by the Numbers — “Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives” by David Eagleman
- 25 Life Lessons from “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch (Book Summary)
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