How would you rate your life?

Is this a typical day for you?

Alarm churns its ugly sound. You wake up, hit the snooze and sleep for another five to 10 minutes. Then the alarm sounds again, by this time you wake up and grudgingly you begin to dread the day ahead of you. Why is Friday so far away? And isn’t this Monday supposed to be an extended holiday?

Then you get into your regular routine. You go through traffic, you used to cuss and curse the traffic, but by now you finally accept reality and consider traffic as a way of life.

You drop by your favorite coffee shop and get a cup of macchiato with double espresso to wake you up. You try to open your laptop, take a look at those emails you need to answer. The day is passing.

You hate your job, but you have mastered the art of the artificial smile. You work overtime, you schmooze your boss, gossip with your peers, and talk about the latest episode of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Walking Dead.

You tolerate your co-workers, you hate your boss — you know — the type of jerk who orders you around, but mouths motivational clichés and platitudes about teamwork and yes… motivation.

You look around you and every one in your department seems to be doing the same. You actually hate your job, but you do not want people to know it. There are so many things you do not love about your work, but the one thing you do is the paycheck. The day is passing.

So you work overtime. Life is short, but some days are long. You’re stressed. So you, together with your like-minded friends drop by somewhere to de-stress. Get a couple of drinks, smoke a few packs of cigarettes, joke around about how stupid and imbecile your bosses are, pick up the tab, go back to your place, open your Smart TV, watch another new season with 13 episodes of your favorite series. Another day has passed.

And so the alarm churns its ugly sound, you wake up and you hit the snooze button and you go back to sleep, try to grab a few more minutes of precious slumber… and the day continues, but this time something is slightly different. The long weekend is near, and there is an extended holiday. The budget airfare you availed will serve its purpose, you can now travel out of town or out of the country for a few days of recreation and relaxation.

You know there are bills to pay, but then again, what’s the use of the credit card if not for “emergency travel” like these? Another day has passed.

The weekend is here, you will not travel this time and so you live a fabulous weekend enriched by spirited drinking and engaging entertainment courtesy of those subscription apps. You work hard and you play hard. Isn’t this what motivational speakers say all the time? You do not plan for tomorrow and enjoy the day. Carpe Diem! No restraints, for after all, life is YOLO! Days have passed.

You grow older, and go higher on the corporate ladder. This time you embellish yourself with things that make you feel good. You follow famous French and Italian friends of yours. Prada, Chanel, and Versace. You follow TV drama and reality shows although you convince yourself that you are not a sucker. Those reality shows are not real anyways, but they just are so entertaining.

You get promoted and buy a cool car and a condo. Those easy payment terms really make it easy to own things. This time, someone comes along and becomes a part of your life. Relationships are hard to manage, but then again, that is life isn’t it?

And many days pass. Multiply this routine by 365 days and you have a year. Multiply this with a few more years and you have a lifetime. So if this is how you would rate your life. From a score of one being the lowest and 10 being the highest, would you say that your life is fulfilling or would you say that there is something missing?

Maybe this is why so many people are go through a modern day 21st century invention called: “Quarter Life Crisis.” With all the technological developments and science providing us with stuff and apps that are designed to make our lives easier, how come there are more and more people who are depressed, dropout of their jobs inexplicably, zone out like they’re half dead and think that life is not worth living at all?

And then there are others who keep on churning out great work everyday. They are happy, they continue to learn, and they live fruitful lives. They become a blessing to people around them, and their lives inspire others.

How do they do it? I only have three words as an answer. They need to discover and to have: Passion, Productivity, and Purpose. Those who have the three are obviously enjoying their lives and they need to share their ideas, knowledge and experiences to those who do not.

(Bestselling book author and productivity expert Todd Henry, Francis Kong and a host of successful leaders will talk about Passion, Productivity and Purpose in a whole day conference entitled: “Die Empty” on Nov. 9, at Samsung Hall, SM Aura. For registration or inquiries contact April at +63928-559-1798)