[nicksalt]

This question strikes me as something I was searching for as well. About 3 years ago someone shared this with me and it changed my whole perspective of the "Life KPIs" I was monitoring.

Here it is:

"Life is not about happiness but rather the ability have purpose, to do something meaningful, and to have it matter that you lived at all. Keep adding value to the world big or small, and you'll never be short of gratitude."

I wont be prescriptive, instead, all I can tell you is that it's changed my life. I started optimizing for the above and haven't looked back since.