The Purpose Of Life Is Usefulness: Not Happiness

4 min readFeb 9, 2019

Originally published at ayomidejohnson.com on February 9, 2019.

For a long time, I believed there’s only one purpose of life, and that’s to be happy.

Right? Why go through all the pain and suffering? It’s all to earn happiness in some way or the other.

I’m not the only person who believes this. In fact, everyone else is chasing happiness in their lives. Some even go as far as hurting others just to have it.

This is why a lot of people buy stuff they don’t need, or try to get the approval of people they don’t like.

It’s Who We Are

I care more about how we can change. At the end of the day, you’re lying in your bed, thinking,

“What next in this pursuit of happiness?”

People try a lot of things to join the clique of “Happy People”

Buy something everyone else is buying and think that makes you happy.
Hook up with the real G’s and think that makes you happy.
Get a well paying job you really don’t like, but everyone wants to hook up with someone who’s at least got a well paying job — You are happy.

Then after all, you get to ask yourself what the purpose of life is anyway — That’s if you actually self-reflect. Well, I can tell you what’s the problem is: You are chasing vain and random things that you believe makes you happy.

How Do You Achieve Happiness

Happiness is all a facade. A made up story passed onto generations. Most things we do in our lives are just activities and experiences which we believe makes us happy.

You go on holiday.
You go to work, a well-paying job.
You go shopping.
You have drinks or (get high).
You can finally flaunt a new car yourself.

Those things should make you happy, right? But they are not useful. Happiness is only a by-product of usefulness. You’re not creating anything. You’re just consuming or doing something. And that’s great.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to go on holiday, or go shopping sometimes. But to be honest, it’s not what gives meaning to life.

Are You Making A Difference?

Most people are not creating or adding anything of value to the world. All we do is consume, and that’s great. I’m a consumer too. But honestly, it’s not what gives meaning to life.

What really makes me happy is when I’m useful. When I create something that others can use, or something even I can use.

I recently ran into a quote by Ralph Emerson, and all the dots connected. It says,

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

I have ever since become more conscious of what I’m doing with my life.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT’S MAKING A DIFFERENCE?

Groom Your Mindset

Start asking yourself about the things you can do to actually make and be a difference, wherever life places you. I am not asking you to change the world. Just have a mindset of making it a little bit better than before you were born.

Here are some of the smallest things you can do that make a lot of difference:

Call a friend, check up on them, if you have extra cash, ask if you can assist financially.
Help your boss with something that’s not your job description. It paves ways of learning a lot of new things for you! (That’s how I learned marketing!)
Write an article about your experiences and share for others to learn.
Start a company based on value and service of humanity.

Those are just a few of the things I do at intervals. You can always make up your own list.

The last thing I want is to be on my deathbed and realize there’s zero evidence that I ever existed.

Conclusion

Being useful is a mindset. It starts with a decision. The day I woke up to realize I’m doing nothing to change my world, I started writing!

For you, it can be painting, fashion, robotics, volunteering, speaking. Don’t take it too seriously. Don’t over-think it. Just Do It. Anything useful.

When you do little useful things everyday, it adds up to a life that is well lived.

What do you think the purpose of your life is?