Whatisthemeaningoflife?Whyarewehere?IsthereaGodorisn’tthere,andifthereisaGod,whatisitsnature?Ofalltheworld’sreligions,whichoneisthemostcorrect?Isthereanafterlife?Areweprimarilyphysicalbeingsorspiritualbeings?

　　Peoplehavestruggledformillenniatotacklethesequestions.Warshavebeenfoughtoverthem.Butasmuchasthesequestionscausepeopletolosetheirheads(sometimesfiguratively,sometimesliterally),thebottomlineisthattheseareverypracticalquestions.

　　BehindtheWheel

　　Thewayweanswerthesequestionswillprovidetheultimatecontextforeverythingelsewedowithourlives.Ifweplaceanyvalueonourlivesatall,wemustgivesomeconsiderationtothesequestions.

　　Let’ssayyouhaveyourlifeorganizedaroundgoals,projects,andactions.Yousetagoallikestartinganewinternetbusiness.Youbreakitdownintoprojectslikewritingabusinessplanandlaunchingyourwebsite.Andthenyoubreakthoseprojectsdownintoactionslikegoingtothebanktoopenabusinessaccountandregisteringyourdomainname.Fairenough.

　　Butwhystartthebusinessinthefirstplace?What’sthepoint?Whypickthisgoalvs.anyothergoal?Whyevensetgoalsatall?

　　Whatdeterminesthegoalsyouset(ordon’tset)isyourcontext.Yourcontextisyourcollectionofbeliefsandvalues.Soifthevaluesofmoneyandfreedomarepartofyourcontext,youmightbeinclinedtosetagoaltostartanewbusiness.Butwithdifferentkindsofvalues—adifferentcontext—youmaybedisinclinedtosetgoalsatall.

　　Themostsignificantpartofyourcontextisyourcollectionofbeliefsaboutthenatureofreality,whichincludesyourreligious,spiritual,andphilosophicalbeliefs.Youroverallbeliefsabouttheuniversewilllargelydetermineyourresults.Contextdictatesgoals.Goalsdictateprojects.Projectsdictateactions.Actionsdictateresults.

　　Withinacertaincontext,itwillbevirtuallyimpossibleforyoutoachievecertainresultsbecauseyou’llneversettherequiredgoalsthatwillleadtothoseresults.

　　Yourcontextworkslikeafilter.Whenyouareinsideaparticularcontext,youloseaccesstothepotentialgoals,projects,andactionsthatlieoutsidethatcontext.Forexample,ifyourcontextincludesthebeliefthatcriminalbehaviorisverybad,thenyouaren’tlikelytoworktowardsbecomingafutureleaderinorganizedcrime.

　　WalkinginMyShoes

　　Thisisalongpersonalstory,butIthinkyou’llfinditinteresting.Ifyoutakethetimetoreadit,Iwantyoutonoticehowmybeliefs(mycontext)shiftedovertimeandhowdramaticallytheychangedmyresults.

　　Forhalfofmylife,I’vebeensearchingforthecontextthatwouldgivemethebestpossiblelife.Ofcourse,thisisastrangepursuitbecauseitrequiressearchingforacontextwhileatthesametimealwaysbeingstuckinsideofone.Inotherwords,thedefinitionof“bestpossiblelife”isalsopartofanycontext,soIhavetofindacontextthatbothdefinesthattermANDprovidesameanstofulfillit.

　　Thispursuitbeganalmostaccidentallyforme,buteventuallyIbeganpursuingitconsciously.