Why is Living the Life You Want so Important? Duh!

If you’ve joined any Vixen events, you know that my mission is to help women live the lives that they WANT to live. Why? Because when you live the way you want to live, when you are your most authentic self, you help not only yourself, but all of us. 

When you live how YOU want to you:

• Have a greater impact on the world
• Are more able to help others
• Get more of what you want
• Increase the collective consciousness

Scientists have been studying how happiness, contentment and fulfillment work and how they not only affect the individual, but also how they affect the collective. Read on to see why—other than just being happier—you should live your best life. 

You Will Have a Greater Impact on the World

Studies show that when you are yourself, when you show up in the world as you, you have a much greater impact on it.

Most people know of Oprah, but few know that she quit 60 Minutes, the infamous news program, because the way the journalists reported and interviewed didn’t fit with her emotional interviewing style.

Instead of staying with something that didn't’ align with her values, Oprah started the Oprah show, which turned into the Oprah empire. Not only did Oprah impact millions of women through her show, but she also started Oprah’s Angel Network, a non-profit that’s raised more than $80 million and established 60 schools in 13 countries. 

Everyone defines “impact” differently. For some people, it means raising children who become outstanding people. For others, it means dedicating themselves to a cause. For others, it means treating people kindly every single day regardless of what’s going on in their own life. 

For me, impact means helping accomplished women live the lives they truly want to live. I’ve had and enjoyed other careers. I was a corporate attorney for one of the largest law firms in Atlanta and I owned a financial services business. I know I helped people in those positions, but by doing what I was truly put here to do, which is help women live lives they love, I know I’ll have an even greater impact. 

You Will be Fulfilled and Therefore More Able to Help Others

Have you ever had one of those days where everywhere you go people either say “hi” or smile and nod to the point that you wonder if you’ve got something on your face or toilet paper on your shoe?

When you truly step into yourself and the life that you enjoy living, you create a radiance from within that emanates into the world. Those days where everyone smiles at you? Those are your radiant days. 

In 2008, a joint study between Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego, showed that happiness does indeed spread. So that effect we talked about above—it’s real.

“When a person becomes happy, a friend living close by has a 25 percent higher chance of becoming happy themselves,” according to an NPR piece about the study. “A spouse experiences an 8 percent increased chance and for next-door neighbors, it's 34 percent.”

So not only can you intentionally “have impact on the world” when you’re doing what you love, you indirectly impact those around you. What an awesome win-win!

You Will Get More of What You Want

A Harvard study showed that when people are themselves, they get more of what they want. Another not-bad outcome resulting from going after what you want!

After asking 166 entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas before investors, the Harvard scientists interviewed the entrepreneurs about how they approached their pitches. Were they trying to impress the investors or did they show up as themselves? The researchers found that the entrepreneurs who were “genuine” or authentically themselves during the pitch, “were more than three times as likely to be chosen as semifinalists” than those who tried to cater to the judges. 

Thank you science, for supporting that being yourself and going after what YOU want creates a lovely cycle of abundance. 

You Will Increase the Greater Consciousness on Earth

Collective consciousness increases when people increase their own consciousness. Doing that makes us all more aware of how we show up in the world and how we intersect with and treat others. Therefore, when you are more aware of yourself and what you want, you increase the greater consciousness on earth. In essence, you become a better person. And who doesn’t want that? 

Of course, living the life that you want to live takes intention, openness and willingness to receive. It also starts with defining your core values. If you don’t know what your core values are, you won’t have the foundation for creating the life that you truly want to live. Interested in starting the process of defining your core values? Check out this worksheet.