A New Way to Think About the Good Life

It’s a great time to get serious about living a good life. Across the disciplines, the number of scholars engaged in research about happiness and well-being is at its peak, and the wealth of knowledge derived through this research grows each day. From the results of an 85-year-long study of happiness to the websites and courses dedicated to disseminating this research, there’s now so much information available about how to live good lives that its vastness can overwhelm. To take advantage of this research, it helps to think for yourself about what living a good life means, and about what your best possible life looks like.

Human beings have in common shared physiological and psychological structures. This makes people similar, but it doesn’t make them the same. It makes sense, then, that the good life would be similar for us all, but not the same. This is what the latest research on the good life shows. It shows us that there are three dimensions of the good life (happiness, meaning, and psychological richness), but that people value each dimension in different degrees.

When forced to choose between these three dimensions of the good life, some subjects chose happiness, some chose meaning, and some chose psychological richness. Across the world, there is no unanimity in how individuals think about the good life. This is because the good life is not a one-size-fits-all phenomenon. Human beings are similar, but people are not the same.

Happiness, meaning, and psychological richness are essential components of the good life. Our shared responsiveness to the experiences they deliver means that each dimension is part of the good life for all of us. Pleasant experiences, fulfilling experiences, and interesting experiences enhance people’s lives. They deliver happiness, meaning, and psychological richness. But each resonates in different degrees with different people.

Some people lean more heavily towards one dimension than the other. Some people want more of one than the other. Some people crave and structure their lives around happiness. They prefer the comfort, security, and the pleasant experiences these conditions create. Others prefer purpose-driven activities that engage their minds and the fulfilling experiences that deliver meaning within our lives. Still others prefer indulging their curiosity, immersing themselves in challenge and complexity, and the interesting experiences that deliver psychological richness.

All three are essential to the good life. As I describe it in my recent book, the good life is a three-legged stool that collapses if it is missing one of its legs. But our individuality means the good life looks different for all of us. One person’s good life might be dominated by psychological richness, while another’s happiness, and another’s meaning. But their lives are impoverished without all three legs.

We need it all, but in different degrees. By thinking about the degrees to which each kind of experience resonates with you, you can come to understand what the good life looks like for you. You can learn what your best possible life looks like.

This is how you determine what your best possible life looks like. It’s also what positions you to take advantage of all that researchers have learned about happiness, meaning, and psychological richness. When you know what you’re after, you’ll know what to look for. You’ll know what to google and which headline to click on first and you’ll know what to do with whatever you learn. This is how you get serious about living the good life. And it is how you’ll start living your best possible life.