Paul Brian
Life has so many ups and downs.
Sometimes there’s too much going on and other times there’s not enough.
Fortunately, there are those who reach a state where they are truly happy with the life they live.
Here are the top signs someone is genuinely content with their life.
1) They don’t need outer wins to be happy
The first of the signs someone is genuinely content with their life is that they don’t need outer wins to be happy.
The romantic partner of their dreams, the ideal income and career, physical and mental health are all well appreciated.
But somebody who is content with their life is somebody who has real gratitude.
He or she is not depending on anything to come their way or happen in order to “complete them.”
This contentment is inside them and doesn’t come and go with the tides.
2) They have career goals that align with their life purpose
Next up in the signs someone is genuinely content with their life is that their career is aligned with their life purpose.
Finding your purpose in life can be a journey.
But once you find what makes your heart sing, finding or creating a career that aligns with it is the most natural thing in the world.
It may take time, as well as blood, sweat and tears, but it’s all worth it.
A content person doesn’t have a perfect or easy job, but they have a job that’s meaningful to them.
And that makes all the difference.
3) They have reached a state of professional and personal fulfillment that allows them to focus on additional projects and goals
The alignment of career and purpose also feeds into the contented person’s relation overall to their career.
In addition to being satisfied and happy about their career and how it relates to their life purpose, a contented person often has hobbies and passions that they do outside of work.
Their satisfaction in work leaves them breathing room to also do other projects and additional goals of their choosing.
This kind of flexibility adds to the contentment factor and helps them avoid burnout at work.
They work hard, for sure, but contented people always leave some time for enjoying life as well.
4) They aren’t jealous or competing with those around them
There’s a place for trying to be “the best.”
Wanting to succeed and excel is a wonderful instinct, but it can go too far.
The idea that we are all in competition can unfortunately lead down a road of jealousy and vicious competition.
A person who is genuinely content with their life doesn’t get jealous.
They also don’t try to be “better” than other people.
They try to be the best they can be. But the idea of living life in order to prove something to somebody else is foreign to them.
In fact, living life to prove something to other people is the antithesis of happiness.
You should be living life to prove things to yourself.
5) They genuinely enjoy helping others succeed and find joy in life
The next of the signs that someone is genuinely content with their life us that they truly enjoy helping others.
They have far transcended the need for recognition or helping people for a motive.
Even “good karma” or a blessing from God or gods has faded in importance.
They just actually like helping others succeed and find joy in life.
It’s empowering and gives them even more contentment than just keeping their happiness to themselves.
That’s the thing about contentment, it’s not limited or scarce, and the more you have of it the more you want to spread and share it.
This ties into the next point:
6) They treat everyone with respect and favor collaboration over conflict
The next of the signs someone is genuinely content with their life is that they favor win-win situations and try to collaborate before ever letting a situation get to the stage of conflict.
They have superseded the more juvenile impulse to clash and pick fights.
Even those who are aggressive, the contented person tries their best to deal with non-violently.
They’d rather find solutions where everybody can win than focus on the areas where things are not working out or are jammed up.
7) They have an ethical code they live by even if nobody’s watching
The next of the signs someone is genuinely content with their life is that they have an ethical code they do their best to stick to.
This isn’t a moral code that they are showing off about or need other people to see or even know about.
It’s their ethical code and they do their best to abide by it regardless of any outer rewards or approval.
It’s not about being seen as a good person, nor even about thinking of themselves as a good person.
It’s just about trying to live life in a way that makes sense to them and which they believe is correct.
8) They’ve faced their insecurities and ‘shadow’ and come out stronger
Our shadow side is not necessarily bad, but it is full of our unmet desires, our frustrations and our aspects of our personality that we haven’t faced or accepted.
Psychologist Carl Jung famously taught that we must face and “integrate” our shadow in order to become self-aware and reach our full potential and individualization.
This is a key of the contented person is that they’ve faced their inner insecurities and their shadow and come out stronger.
Rather than making them miserable, their self-awareness makes them feel even more secure inside, and being aware of both strengths and weaknesses increases their perceptiveness of what to do in life.
9) They have found peace and engagement in their romantic life whether single or paired
Lastly in terms of the signs someone is genuinely content with their life is that they have found peace in their love life.
This may sound like a cliche, but it’s true.
The contented person, whether single or in a relationship, has reached a place of openness and satisfaction.
He or she is happy being paired up or being single and doesn’t desperately cling to one or the other for well-being.
They have accepted that many aspects of love truly are out of our control, and the most we can do is communicate clearly, love fully and be honest with others and ourselves.
If they’re in a relationship they give their all and appreciate the benefits, without craving to be single.
If they are single, they really get to know themselves and exercise their free will and love of life, without craving to be in a relationship.
The secret of the contentment
The secret of contentment is to lead an active, fulfilling life that’s more focused on what you do than on trying to be happy.
Those who focus most on finding happiness tend to find it eludes them.
But when you’re in the zone I describe above, you’ve transcended the need for your ego to get everything it wants.
You’ve reached a state where you’re truly content with life and where your fulfillment isn’t dependent on external validation or achievement.
