Do you who feel overwhelmed, have you  lost your way and are you unsure as to what to believe in any more? Are you struggling to find balance, meaning or well-being in your life? I know I am and I know many others who are too. Many of us have never felt more insecure at work and at home. In the face of seismic economic, social, political and technological shifts many of us are still trapped in outdated modes of thinking and acting that are not working any more. What we need is a new philosophy for living in this emerging new world where we can be happy, make a living and help others find happiness too.

When I wrote the Magic of Groundhog Day, I was searching for a better philosophy for living and I felt that the movie held many of the answers. If Phil Connors had all eternity to develop his own philosophy and could practice different ways of applying it every day, then surely there were lessons to be discovered.

The Magic of Groundhog Day is a summary of these lessons, and above all it is my attempt to outline a philosophy for living. I believe that the main purpose of life is to develop our own meaning, and our own philosophy. As a typical only child I have always sought the road less travelled. I have  never been comfortable in organized activities, and religion has held little appeal. Yet I am also aware that I have what can might be described by others as “spiritual needs”.

I am more comfortable using the term “philosophy for living” as I have been more inspired by great philosophers than prophets. The philosophy I feel most comfortable with is Existentialism. At the heart of the Existentialism is the conviction that it is down to you and I as individuals to find meaning in out lives.  Now, the movie can be interpreted in many ways and I have written about the Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish perspective. yet, ultimately it is about one man’s journey to rise above the meaninglessness of his predicament.

Phil Connors lived in a meaningless world, where it seemed that nothing he did counted – as there was no tomorrow and therefore no consequences to his actions. What excited me about the movie was how he discovered meaning and overcame his predicament. He learned a new philosophy and new principles of how how to live  through his direct experience, not indirectly through a guru or gospel. He transformed his personality through experimentation, trial and error, observation and incremental changes in his behaviour. Surely, this is how we should live.  We should all be philosophers and scientists investigating our own lives.

Existentialism is not the same as self-absorption.  Like Phil, I want to lead a good life where I can help myself and help others too. This is a life built on Success, Fulfillment and Contribution. These are the three qualities of authentic success at home and at work. We need all three to achieve long-term happiness and well-being

Success = Making a Living and finding work you love doing
Fulfillment = Achieving happiness, finding meaning and peace of mind
Contribution = Helping others and contributing to Society

We need all three.I used to focus exclusively on the pursuit of material success.  The problem was that when I “made it” and was living the high life I felt unfulfilled. In addition,  I felt that I was not making a contribution and became certain that material success on its own is not enough. We all want to feel good, we all want to feel happy yet we often employ flawed strategies when we search for these elusive feelings. Our culture and these strategies often take the form of the ceaseless pursuit of wealth or pleasure. Sometimes this can lead to addictions such as  drug or abuse alcohol abuse. More subtle addictions are workaholism and consumerism.  Such addictions lead to great damage to ourselves, our loved ones, society and even the planet.

The big question for me is this. How can we achieve our own well-being in a healthy way that is good for us, for society and for the planet we live in.  There are over 7 billion of us and the individual decisions we take each day about how to live and work have serious ramifications. Indeed, we have to find an appropriate philosophy for living or face catastrophe.