The Ten Commandments for a Life of Fulfillment

If you have ever wondered which is the basic recipe for a life of fulfilment, this article delivers ten basic rules – “the ten commandments” – which, provided that they are applied consistently over time, lead to an existence of joy and contentment as well as health and contribution to those around us, even in the advent of the 100-years life-span.

1. Sleep 8 hours per every 24-hour unit. In my humble opinion, this is the foundation of a healthy longevity which also allows for sustainable productivity at work with enough energy left to spend with those you love and care about. Specialists assert that 1-2 nights of bad sleep, or even insomnia, per week are normal, but more than that is supposed to be indicative of deeper issues which must be addressed.
   
   
2. Eat nutritious, delicious food: Like sleep, good food is essential for a life of healthy longevity. Good food is defined as “nutritious and delicious”, so that we do not start hating our lives while nourishing our bodies with food which simply does not taste well. Conversely, delicious but not-so-nutritious or straightforward detrimental food has its obvious downsides, so an individual balance is necessary, particularly due to the costs involved. I would say, from my personal experience, when “nutritious and delicious” food is not available for a reasonable price, going for a sort of alternation between “delicious but not so nutritious” and “nutritious but no so delicious” seems feasible, at least for a while.
   
   
3. Drink enough water (or tea), and reduce the amount of alcohol and coffee: In order to make water a little bit more enjoyable, adding half-a-teaspoon of salt per 400 ml of water is a solution. If possible, completely eliminating alcohol and coffee is a big plus – or reducing them to a maximum.
   
   
4. Meditate daily at least 20 minutes: Many people cannot meditate. It was a huge struggle when I started with 5 minutes per day, almost six years ago. The first 10-12 days were horrible, but afterwards it became increasingly easy and nowadays I meditate 20 minutes every evening. The benefits are tremendous.
   
   
5. Walk outside (preferably in nature or in a park) for at least 30 minutes every day; if possible exercise 4-5 times a week, for at least 30 minutes each time: I do not exercise anymore, but I walk daily 10.000 steps at a brisk pace. I also include quotidian activities like grocery shopping in this step-counting. When I can, I climb the stairs instead of using the elevator and I walk instead of taking any vehicle. Due to time constraints, I cannot practice anaerobically, but I have done so daily for 5 years (2013-2018) and it was both refreshing and clarifying.
   
   
6. Make your bed every morning. Clean your living space regularly. Cook your own food as often as possible. Wash your dishes regularly and clean your table after each meal. Wash your clothes regularly with high-quality laundry detergent. For all these activities, the best way to keep on doing them is to block time in your personal calendar and to stick to it.
   
   
7. Spend time in real life with family and friends, at least 4-5 times a week. Choose wisely whom you spend time with – choose people who lift you up and make you want to be the best version of yourself. Again, the best way to make sure that you actually pursue these activities is by blocking time in your personal calendar.
   
   
8. Limit the use of electronic devices for networking to strictly logistic purposes. If that is not feasible, limit their use for entertainment to 30 minutes in the afternoon. I still have to manage this one long-term; I have managed to reduce my screen time outside of work obligations to less than two hours daily, including movies in the evening, but I would like to decrease it even more to less than one hour.
   
   
9. Work 8-9 hours a day, with 20-minute breaks every 2-3 hours (instead of a big 1-hour break in the middle). Take regular vacations when you disconnect completely from work even if that means to just stay at home and do nothing. This was a deal-breaker for me and while it did take some self-training in disciplining myself not to read work-emails, gradually it became easier and more natural.
   
   
10. Read books, visit museums, go to cinema and theater, attend live concerts, participate in events close and far from where you live, organize parties and invite old and new friends/acquaintances, dare new experiences, love yourself. Life-long education, and more precisely life-long self-education, is the new normal. Education as self-education does not refer to reading mandatory books and fulfilling specific tasks under time pressure, but the ability to grow as an individual towards becoming one’s best self – what I have come to call “the good-enough self” because it refers to that level of personal comfort which then allows to explore further potentialities transcending our innate possibilities.
    
    

You do not have to start with applying all of them at once; starting slowly, one principle at a time, is a better strategy, and once that principle has become a habit, adding the next one and so on. I have tested these “Ten Commandments for a Life of Fulfillment” with students in several classes, as a short pilot-project in which I was searching for solutions to the constant disengagement of students due to various distractions such as smartphones, laptops, or good old sleep during my lectures. The feedback was astonishingly positive, as the combination between clear instructions and myself serving as reference system yielded quick results: they soon reported better sleep habits, a more positive mood, more sustainable work routines and improved relationships (friendships, family interactions, even romantic encounters). I am sure these ideas will help you, too.