Life in First Principles

Let's express life through its finite ingredients. There are three resources in life that everything else depends on. Every time you waste any of them, they're gone forever. These are time, energy, and focus.

Time

Time is the one variable that nobody has any control over. There are 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year. Time offers the same equal consistency to everybody, but at different lengths. We are born, we live, and we die. All you can do is maximise the other variables in the time given to you, in a way meaningful to you.

Energy

Being alive is a prerequisite, but not sufficient to reach happiness. Given a lifetime, to maximise your purpose and happiness, depends on your energy levels. Energy is the ability to do things, physically or mentally. Having a body sufficiently healthy that will enable you to pursue your purpose. For some, this can be a physically strong body, having a good sleep, healthy diet, and regular exercise. For others, it can be sufficient to be able to get up from the bed and hold a pen. And for some even the ability to express your thoughts through a computer device (such as Stephen Hawking). Energy levels vary from person to person, but so are the energy needs. Energy is not a "have or have not" constant like life is, it is rather a variable that tends that changes every moment, and tends to go down with age. Energy is the multiplier that lets you get the best out of the time given to you.

Focus

Being lucky to be alive, and having sufficient energy, gives the optionality to spend your attention in many ways. Focus is about how we use our time and energy in a directed way. It is the ability to concentrate our attention in a direction that makes us happy, or spread and waste in the universe in a way benefiting others or nobody.


Focus is the variable that we have most control over, and the variable that has the biggest power to change our life. Used in a purposeful way, even in short lifespan and limited energy levels, it has led to personal fulfilments, or human achievements that are remembered throughout millennials. Used purposelessly, can lead to wasted long life full of energy, and many regrets in a death bed.

The happiness formula

If time is a yes/no constant, and the energy level is a multiplier for every moment, then focus is the exponent of all. Every moment, we are alive, we have a certain energy level that we can use for something purposeful or waste for nothing. Then we have recharge again. Every moment we have the ability to focus our energy to things that matter to us, or waste it aimlessly. Life happiness is the sum of all moments we had, with sufficient energy to help us focus on things that makes us happy.

Happiness is the sum of all finite moments where
we focus our energy towards our purpose

Every time we waste these finite resources, they're gone forever. Make sure you are alive first, healthy and energised second, and also focused on what makes you happy. These variables build on top of each other and require a delicate balance. Focus too much on one thing, and you may lose your life in an instant. Ignore your health, and your energy levels will suffer hindering the ability to focus. Do everything right, and still a meteor can hit you and end it all. There is no guarantee, or fairness in any of these, only the awareness of its working. This formula is re presentation of how these finite resources can be transformed into happiness in the equation called life.