Fulfillment is the story we believe about ourselves.
Fulfilment is achieved if and only if you like the story you tell yourself about your life. Be this at the end of the road or any point along the way, you will feel fulfilled if you like the story you tell yourself about yourself. The magic here is, with the right framing, there are infinite stories to be told about your life. This means:
- You can feel fulfillment at any moment in time. You just have to frame the story right. If you're in a tough spot, see it as the trials part of the hero's journey and keep on moving. The story that you tell yourself about your life changes your feeling of fulfillment.
- There is no such thing as a successful life. Since your life story can be told a million different ways, there is no single objective summary of a persons life — any abbreviation selectively leaves out information that could be stitched together to tell a different story.
- To figure out how to live a meaningful life, think about who you want to know your story (maybe just yourself) and what would make a story you'd be proud to tell.
- Remember that the world is transparent. Sometimes, the stories people tell are so compelling they temporarily mask fabrication (see Forbes to jail pipeline), but to keep the audience you care about believing your story, you must make sure it is or becomes true.