post written by: Marc
95 Questions to Help You Find Meaning and Happiness
At the cusp of a new day, week, month or year, most of us take a little time to reflect on our lives by looking back over the past and ahead into the future. We ponder the successes, failures and standout events that are slowly scripting our life’s story. This process of self-reflection helps us maintain a conscious awareness of where we’ve been and where we intend to go. It is pertinent to the organization and preservation of our long-term goals and happiness.
The questions below will help you with this process. Because when it comes to finding meaning in life, asking the right questions is the answer.
- In one sentence, who are you?
- Why do you matter?
- What is your life motto?
- What’s something you have that everyone wants?
- What is missing in your life?
- What’s been on your mind most lately?
- Happiness is a ________?
- What stands between you and happiness?
- What do you need most right now?
- What does the child inside you long for?
- What is one thing right now that you are totally sure of?
- What’s been bothering you lately?
- What are you scared of?
- What has fear of failure stopped you from doing?
- What will you never give up on?
- What do you want to remember forever?
- What makes you feel secure?
- Which activities make you lose track of time?
- What’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever made?
- What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
- What are you most grateful for?
- What is worth the pain?
- In order of importance, how would you rank: happiness, money, love, health, fame?
- What is something you’ve always wanted, but don’t yet have?
- What was the most defining moment in your life during this past year?
- What’s the number one change you need to make in your life in the next twelve months?
- What’s the number one thing you want to achieve in the next five years?
- What is the biggest motivator in your life right now?
- What will you never do?
- What’s something you said you’d never do, but have since done?
- What’s something new you recently learned about yourself?
- What do you sometimes pretend to understand that you really do not?
- In one sentence, what do you wish for your future self?
- What worries you most about the future?
- When you look into the past, what do you miss most?
- What’s something from the past that you don’t miss at all?
- What recently reminded you of how fast time flies?
- What is the biggest challenge you face right now?
- In one word, how would you describe your personality?
- What never fails to frustrate you?
- What are you known for by your friends and family?
- What’s something most people don’t know about you?
- What’s a common misconception people have about you?
- What’s something a lot of people do that you disagree with?
- What’s a belief you hold with which many people disagree?
- What’s something that’s harder for you than it is for most people?
- What are the top three qualities you look for in a friend?
- If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?
- When you think of ‘home,’ what, specifically, do you think of?
- What’s the most valuable thing you own?
- If you had to move 3000 miles away, what would you miss most?
- What would make you smile right now?
- What do you do when nothing else seems to make you happy?
- What do you wish did not exist in your life?
- What should you avoid to improve your life?
- What is something you would hate to go without for a day?
- What’s the biggest lie you once believed was true?
- What’s something bad that happened to you that made you stronger?
- What’s something nobody could ever steal from you?
- What’s something you disliked when you were younger that you truly enjoy today?
- What are you glad you quit?
- What do you need to spend more time doing?
- What are you naturally good at?
- What have you been counting or keeping track of recently?
- What has the little voice inside your head been saying lately?
- What’s something you should always be careful with?
- What should always be taken seriously?
- What should never be taken seriously?
- What are three things you can’t get enough of?
- What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
- What fascinates you?
- What’s the difference between being alive and truly living?
- What’s something you would do every day if you could?
- At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
- Which is worse, failing or never trying?
- What makes you feel incomplete?
- When did you experience a major turning point in your life?
- What or who do you wish you lived closer to?
- If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be?
- What’s something you know you can count on?
- What makes you feel comfortable?
- What’s something about you that has never changed?
- What will be different about your life in exactly one year?
- What mistakes do you make over and over again?
- What do you have a hard time saying “no” to?
- Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
- What’s something that used to scare you, but no longer does?
- What promise to yourself do you still need to fulfill?
- What do you appreciate most about your current situation?
- What’s something simple that makes you smile?
- So far, what has been the primary focus of your life?
- How do you know when it’s time to move on?
- What’s something you wish you could do one more time?
- When you’re 90-years-old, what will matter to you the most?
- What would you regret not fully doing, being, or having in your life?
Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section below. And of course, check out our sister site, Thought Questions, for more thought-provoking questions like these.
Photo by: Hartwig HKD
If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe via email or RSS.
Or for a powerful dose of inspiration download our new ebook.
41 Comments
December 4th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Beautiful photo! Great read!
When I’m 90 years old, I hope I can still run in the marathon we call life.
December 4th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
This post is the best beginning for a new week ever. All the questions make me think that “just waiting” is not an option. A perfect kind of re-fueling inspiration… thanks!
December 4th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
Hi there Marc,
Nice post. Very inspiring.
I will definitely copy all of the questions and answer them in my own blog with a reference to your blog.
December 4th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Thanks for a thought-provoking post. These are great questions that help us learn more about ourselves and others. I’ve answered this question and found that it provides a good way to measure where I am in living my life, “What are my core values?” Thanks again.
December 5th, 2011 at 9:06 am
This is exactly the sort of post I should be reading right now. At 19 I feel so lost… I don’t know what I am doing here at university, or what the point of this race called “life” is and where I fit in!
These questions provide a good starting point. Thank you!
December 5th, 2011 at 9:39 am
I hope that when I am 95 years old that I can say that my life mattered, to at least one person whose life I have touched.
December 5th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Thanks for the great post. These questions will help me reflect on my life at the end of this year, and set me up for a better new year.
December 6th, 2011 at 9:36 am
These questions are inspiring and make me think. But what if I cannot think of anything I have that everyone wants? I know what I want to work towards, but I feel stuck sometimes.
December 6th, 2011 at 11:27 am
So thought provoking! I have just finished my answering. It took me awhile, but it was worth writing.
Thank you Marc!
Greetings from Zurich.
December 6th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
@Jackie Paulson: Me too!
@Sharon Tay: We all feel stuck sometimes. This is feeling is totally natural. Life is an endless series of emotional highs and lows. The key is to discover things that you love doing and then do them as often as you can… that’s something everyone wants.
December 6th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Don’t know how you do it Marc, but so glad you do. Another stunningly crafted post. This post maybe about happiness but actually stimulates it as the more I read of it the better I felt and the greater the awareness about my life lifted. Happiness really just needs witnessing and accepting doesn’t it? It’s never chased or a ‘when’ or ‘if’ but a wow in the now!
December 6th, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Q: When you are 90 years old, what will matter to you the most?
A: Living until I am 91.
But in all seriousness, great collection of questions. Makes me think about the important stuff.
December 6th, 2011 at 11:57 pm
OK I’ll be honest, I don’t really have time to sit and write out all my answers to these at this exact second… but I think it’s a super important exercise so I promise I AM going to do it! Thanks so much for providing such a helpful tool to knowing yourself and moving forward! Love it!
December 7th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
I thought this was really helpful. These questions made me think about my life at the moment, and I found it interesting how the same answers kept coming up for multiple questions. Thanks Marc and Angel for another brilliant post! I love reading your blog each week!
December 8th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Very nice post. These questions inspired me to think about my life and where I want to go in the next year.
Thanks and regards from Pakistan,
December 8th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Some of these questions just made me think; I really didn’t have an answer. But many of them made me realize that I am much happier and better off than I often consciously realize. So thanks for that.
December 9th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
These are really good questions to ask yourself. I am very recently unemployed and wondering if I need a change of direction in my life. Thanks!
December 10th, 2011 at 2:42 am
Thanks for the long list of questions. I am still trying to find direction in life at the age of 26. The question “Why do you matter” sounds simple yet so difficult to answer.
Thanks for this blog. It really helps when I am lost.
December 11th, 2011 at 4:22 am
This is a great post with so many amazing questions to reflect upon. One alone is worth thinking about for days. Thanks for the push in the direction of keeping a good perspective on what is most important!
December 16th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Great questions. They can really help you reconnect with your true self.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:57 am
These questions highlighted some thoughts that I’d never taken time to consider before. Awesome, thank you.
December 22nd, 2011 at 11:59 pm
You’re posts have helped me think more about my place in life! Thankyou so much for your thoughtful contributions to the internet!
December 28th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
A friend sent these questions my way, and they really got me thinking. I was told I’m experiencing a quarter-life crisis. The questions helped give me some perspective. Thank you!
December 29th, 2011 at 1:06 am
Perfect questions to reflect on my life as this year ends and a thought provoking start to 2012. Thank you!
December 30th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
You guys are awesome! These questions really have me thinking about where I want to go in life.
January 3rd, 2012 at 11:54 am
This is a reflective way to start the year, I’m glad I stumbled on this.
January 4th, 2012 at 3:03 am
It was easy to read all positive questions/statements. A bit harder to ask or answer those like “what do you need to stop doing to yourself”. Thats where I need to work most. However I didn’t run from, it I faced it. That in itself is the sign of improvement. Now I take each one, challenge it, the outcome…. a solve or change is a win.
January 14th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
These questions should be reviewed once a year! Thanks! My second review since this was posted.
January 25th, 2012 at 9:00 am
Marc and Angel Hack Life, thank you! I’ve begun answering these questions on my blog: http://wp.me/p1ziiZ-9l
February 1st, 2012 at 5:35 pm
These questions are fantastic!
It is really helps to read and think about them.
February 6th, 2012 at 9:22 am
Great list of questions to ask yourself regularly.
February 24th, 2012 at 1:05 am
Hey there Marc and Angel!
These questions are really awesome… SUPER LIKE!
February 27th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
I echo everyone’s comments. I am disappointed right now that I didn’t purchase that journal book I was eyeing up the other day at the store. 1ST THING ON MY LIST TO DO TOMORROW. Then I plan to start answering your inspiring questions, honestly.
Love your site.
March 1st, 2012 at 10:55 pm
What a great list. I learned a lot about myself. Favorite, most eye opening question for me:
Q: If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?
A: Can’t say it would be very long. I really need to change the way I speak to myself.
March 13th, 2012 at 9:48 pm
I’m now 64 and these questions were enlightening. Some I never considered. At this age so many turning points… Did I make all the right turns? Not on your life. But it’s been a good journey.
March 13th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
I truly enjoy the inspirational words of wisdom, I need every bit of it.
March 19th, 2012 at 5:58 am
I’ve only gotten down to about the first 5 or 6 questions and already I am intrigured! Very thought provoking and well done!
July 19th, 2012 at 4:20 am
great, thanks for sharing this
September 4th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
I loved it. These questions have been really, really helpful.
Thanks a lot! <3 What you do is amazing.
November 14th, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Great questions to expand the mind. Life and all that is in it is a gift from the infinite mind; and the only way that life can go wrong is by following a set of limited thinking.
April 16th, 2013 at 12:13 pm
This article is a life savior. I have been experiencing several negative events and negative emotions that have of course put a person that is bubbly and free-spirited as myself into a turmoil. The natural human instinct is to internalize negativity when negative things occur. This article has helped me to finally put events in perspective in my effort to move forward. Hopefully going through this self-reflection questions will be the little”push” I need to achieve my happiness and balance again.
Leave a Reply