Live your life to maximize your happiness and fulfillment.
Remember that your life is not just today it is from today until your death.
Determine what will give you fulfillment and happiness for the next year, for the next 3 years, the next 5 years, the next 10 years, and the next 20 years.
To have happiness and fulfillment in 20 years you are going to have to give up happiness and fulfillment today. You will need to work and put in the effort to lay the groundwork for what your life will be like in 20 years.
Life design then becomes a balancing act of how much short-term focus you need to give up for long-term focus.
It is never a straight exchange. There are all kinds of innovative ways you can prepare for the future while having happiness and fulfillment today. What can you easily give up today to set up the future? Giving up the happiness of an hour of TV for an hour of exercise may pay huge dividends for your future self. On the other hand, only focusing on the future means you do not have happiness and fulfillment today.
Examine your life so you can effectively balance what you do today for happiness and fulfillment and what you sacrifice today for happiness and fulfillment in the future.
Live for today, tomorrow, and the future.