Important things are elements of life that make life worth living. It is up to each individual to decide what is important to them. Social institutions such as societies, communities, cultures, families and religions may also provide guidance in this area.
All (170)
Basics (27)
Social Life (29)
Working Life (18)
Personal Development (34)
Way of Life (34)
Little Things (28)
Academic Life | Access to Services |
Basic Material Needs | Beach Days |
Becoming Your Own Boss | Being Nice |
Being Reliable | Being Yourself |
Bike Rides | Building Character Strengths |
Building Grit & Resilience | Business Pursuits |
Calculated Risk-Taking | Career Changes |
Career Progression | Caring For a Pet |
Chasing Dreams | Clean Air |
Clean Water | Close Friends |
Collaborating With Others | Community |
Conversation | Creating Value |
Creative Expression | Cultivating Humility |
Cultured Living | DIY Projects |
Dating | Doing Good |
Dreaming | Education |
Eliminating Waste | Embracing Imperfection |
Emotional Connection | Emotional Development |
Emotional Needs | Employment |
Environmental Quality | Environmental Responsibility |
Epic Experience | Ethical Behavior |
Facing Fears | Fairness |
Family | Family Time |
Financial Stability | Forgiveness |
Fresh Air | Gaining Perspective |
Gaining Work Experience | Getting Noticed at Work |
Getting Some Sun | Going For Coffee |
Good Memories | Good Movies |
Gratitude | Great Art |
Health | Healthy Relationships |
Home Cooked Food | Honesty |
Housing Quality | Human Dignity |
Hygiene | Imagination |
Income | Independence |
Intimacy | Justice |
Keeping In Touch | Kind Gestures |
Laughter | Leadership Pursuits |
Learning From Failure | Learning Languages |
Life Experience | Lifelong Learning |
Literature | Living Abroad |
Love | Making Life Decisions |
Managing Emotions | Managing Stress |
Marriage Life | Meaningful Work |
Meeting Commitments | Meeting People |
Mental Health | Moments of Friendship |
Moments of Wonder | Morals |
Music | Mutual Respect |
Nature Walks | Nostalgic Feelings |
Nurturing Relationships | Nutrition |
Opening Up To People | Overcoming Adversity |
Parenting | Paying Off Debt |
Peace | Perfect Words |
Personal Freedom | Personal Presence |
Personal Reflection | Personal Space |
Philosophical Exploration | Physical Fitness |
Playing | Pleasant Routines |
Political Participation | Preparing For Retirement |
Privacy | Productivity |
Professional Ethics | Professional Relationships |
Professional Reputation | Professionalism |
Prosperity | Pursuit of Adventure |
Pursuit of Curiousity | Pursuit of Happiness |
Pursuit of Hobbies | Pushing In to Worthy Projects |
Quality Time | Quiet Moments |
Reading | Redemption |
Religious Life | Research Projects |
Resolving Conflicts | Retirement Life |
Rights & Freedoms | Road Trips |
Safety | Saving Money |
School Life | Security |
Self-Discipline | Self-Esteem |
Sense of Purpose | Shared Experiences |
Showing Respect | Sidelining Negativity |
Sleep | Social Connectedness |
Social Skills | Social Status |
Social Support | Solving Problems |
Spending Wisely | Spiritual Development |
Sporting Life | Stargazing |
Studying Hard | Sudden Realizations |
Sunrises & Sunsets | Taking on Challenges |
Taking on Responsibilities | Time Outdoors |
Traditions | Travel Life |
Trust | Using Emotion |
Values | Volunteering |
Work Ethic | Workplace Safety |
Do Something Even if It's Wrong
This is a saying that appears in several old country music songs but its origin appears to be unknown. At first, it sounds unethical but perhaps its point is more that you shouldn't overthink life but rather participate in it.Spending a long time thinking about what is important to you can easily become overthinking. You want to make sure that you're not doing something unethical or destructive. However, if you're doing something positive, it doesn't have to be the perfect thing.Opportunity Costs
Opportunity costs are what you give up when you do something. This is based on the observation that we all have limited time and resources such that doing one thing often means giving up on something else. This is something of a bleak and systematic view but it is also true that you can't do everything such that thinking through what is important is often useful.Have Your Cake and Eat it Too
Have your cake and eat it too is the philosophy that trade-offs aren't always necessary such that you can deem everything you want as important and go for it all. This has negative connotations as unrealistic because trade-offs do exist and ignoring them is simply denial or wishful thinking. However, it is surely a good think to be optimistic and to seek balance whereby you prioritize many things. This can also provide resilience when one thing fails as you have other things you are pushing towards.Failing
You may decide that a thing is important but then completely fail at achieving that thing. People often talk of learning from failure and moving on. This is perhaps easy enough. The hard part can be determining whether you are on the brink of success and your persistence will pay off or whether you are never going to succeed such that recognizing the failure is your best option. Here it is perhaps good to note it can be helpful to try many things. Deciding just one thing is important and pushing that too hard can make failure kinda tough.Humility
Modern culture may push us towards doing great things, setting big goals, becoming the best in the world at something and competing. This may be positive as a big vision in life can be motivating. However, it is also important to make progress each day -- to identify important but relatively humble things that are you are able to improve today and move forward. There can be a joy in doing humble things well and in small accomplishments that aren't necessarily glorious to the world but are important to you.Little Things
Little things are positive things that come easily without great effort. A person can decide that appreciating these things and living with gratitude for these things is important. If your big plans in life aren't going well, as is often the case, returning to the little things once in a while can be refreshing.
