Purpose

The Meaning of Life

Where Most "Meaning of Life" and "Life Purpose" Books Might Mislead You

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, January 25 2023

You can't write a book called The Meaning of Life: A guide to finding your life's purpose and not have a strong opinion as to challenges with most philosophy, self-help, and personal growth books. Obviously, there are many, many takes on the question of what the point of it all is, and the overwhelming majority of them are honest and have...

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Growth

New, Better, More

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 10 2022

If someone were to ask me what their life mantra should be, I would suggest, “New, Better, More”.  Why?  Because that’s what keeps life interesting, engaging, and meaningful.  Let’s discuss. This blog and the book, The Meaning of Life, talk a lot about growth.  Growth is ultimately the point of life, as all living organisms strive to grow and it ma...

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Meaning

And Then What?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 3 2022

When talking about the meaning of life, you always have to start by defining your terms.  Why?  Because people almost always equivocate when you don’t.  You can look up the definition of life in the dictionary, for example, and no one will claim that that’s what they meant.  In addition to the literal definition of life, other meanings of “the mean...

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Growth

Money Is the Root of All Awesome

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, March 23 2022

"Money is the root of all evil."  Yes, it's a cliché because people will do horrible things over money: lie, cheat, steal, fight, and even kill.  It's also the source of much jealousy in this world: some people have it; some people don't; some people resent that others have more than they do (regardless of how much they have).  But most anger, jeal...

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Growth

Boredom: Very Important…and Very, Very Dangerous

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, March 2 2022

“Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.”  You might have heard this saying, which summarizes well the downsides of boredom.  Boredom is an emotional response to the lack of novelty, challenge, or engagement coming from a person’s surroundings, and it is a very important mechanism for keeping people and animals engaged in play and other activities tha...

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Desire

Your Desires Are [Subject to Change]

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, February 16 2022

After talking about how desires are a good thing despite some philosophies pointing out that they can sometimes cause you to to feel negative emotions, I thought I’d provide a short overview of how desires evolve over time. Whereas in my previous post I discussed how the endless number of desires you’ll have in your life is not necessarily a signal...

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Purpose

Be Like an Ant

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, October 13 2021

Setbacks can hit your psyche pretty hard.  Major losses involve mourning and recovery processes.  New roadblocks require resilience and new strategies.  When success requires desire and belief, evidence to the contrary of your progress toward your goals can be difficult to look past so that you can retain your will to carry on.

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Planning

How HR Cracked Life’s Formula for Success

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, June 23 2021

I know, I know—this headline is going to elicit groans from all of the memories of having to deal with an HR department when getting hired, promoted, or let go.  I get the stigma associated with HR.  But in my research and identifying the keys to success in life, I was looking for analogies that could best explain how it worked.  When doing so, the...

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Meaning

Inject Your Life with Meaning with One Simple Act

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, April 21 2021

Care. That is all. Seriously.

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Planning

Do You Need to Analyze the Nature of Your Existence to Find Your Purpose in Life?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, April 7 2021

Many philosophical and analytical people love to talk about the nature of reality and our existence.  Is any of this real, or are we living in a computer simulation?  Did we come from nothing, or is there a non-physical realm we go to or come from.  Did someone (ourselves or a creator) will us to be here?

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