"We need to eat, to be clothed, to be educated, to be treated with affection, to be played with. We need laughter and purpose and healing. We need to be invited to stretch our minds, hearts and imaginations, which are all infinite in their capacities – infinite and therefore spiritual. We need these things far more than we need 30 brands of toothpaste or 40 styles of watches."

Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work

What matters to you in the story of life?

Not only do you have a unique contribution to offer the world. Your contribution is also in demand. It is needed. If you doubt that for a moment, simply look around you. Observe. Take a look at the people who are not smiling today, or who are not eating, who are not educated, who are not treated with affection, who are not healthy, who are not employed. Take a look at the environmental destruction, the xenophobia, the passivity and lack of self-worth that is abundant in the societies we have created for ourselves. There is a need.

The world isn't working for everyone. It needs pioneers to be treating problems at the root causes, not just the symptoms, to be making change at a systemic level. The key is to realise that there is a need for you and that what you do matters; that there is a meaning for you to be here; and that the meaning lies not in the story of money. It lies in the story of life.

Doing what matters requires a capacity to diagnose the problems we face, to understand the underlying patterns, to remove barriers, to find the leverage points and make the change there. It requires us to be conscious of the consequences of our actions, and to choose to do good, not harm, according to the deeper values and the higher ideals we each hold.

The challenge is to identify that activity which is needed, and at the same time brings you joy, and focusing on that.