Once you’ve conquered Maslow’s original hierarchy of needs, dig into his final need that he added later in life. Achieve not for yourself but for your community or your world. Transcend the self, and feel that higher order need.
As another commenter mentioned, altruistic endeavors are a good choice. Even things like being a Boy Scout leader can be hugely fulfilling of that broader need.
This. This is the thing that I have discovered gives back a sense of fulfillment like nothing else.
My wife and I went through an extremely rough patch in our marriage where we considered divorce. We got our finances in order (even after going through a bankrupticy) and went to marriage counseling with a fantastic marriage counselor.
Now more than a decade later, we are pre-marriage mentors and financial coaches through our church. It is more fulfilling that I could have possibly imagined.
I think I remember reading or hearing Malcolm Gladwell reccomend to visit less fortunate/developed parts of the globe, and understand what really matters for humans, as well as realising how small things even can help.
For an extreme case to seek inspiration from someone who has everything, and genuenly seems content with his life is Bill Gates.
Best of luck, and congrats on achieving what you have!
It's GREAT that you're in this position! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
I went through this as well. 10 years ago I was at the peak of a career but missing purpose. I rededicated my life to serving other people. It has given me a whole new lease on existence, and I can't recommend it enough. It really feels better to give than to receive!
The short, overly simplistic answer is that all you need to do to rededicate yourself to a life of helping people is to listen and learn to what they need. Volunteering is a good way to learn about people who need help, but it's not the only way. Volunteering in person can be tough right now because of COVID, but there are some things you can do online, and if you have a bit of patience you could wait until in-person volunteering picks back up again and then establish some goals for yourself (e.g., "volunteer at least 3 days each month for 6 months")
Outside of volunteering, you could take time to listen to and learn about people who you think might need help. Depending on your geography, those might be different folks.
If the things above STILL don't work for you, you could do something that is maybe slightly more dangerous, but still can work. Flip it around and look for things to be outraged by. Things you can't stand. Mass deforestation. Racial injustice. Human trafficking. 1000 other injustices to choose from. And then get active! (Be cautious with this one -- rage alone isn't productive -- you have to mix your outrage with your proactive strengths and positive energies too!)
In my case, I ended up discovering my passion for helping low-income youth prepare for careers, which became my full-time focus and it's been a true privilege to work on.
This. There is a group of computer illiterate people who do important work for our society but they were forced to work or learn from home, a team viewer sessions once or twice a day is really refreshing to see how our IT skills are useful - and that instant gratification "thank you" and joy in the camera.
I noted elsewhere, but directly to this q: one volunteering site that doesn't require you to figure out detailed extensive plans before getting started, is probably https://justserve.org . They let orgs and volunteers sign up and see what is available, for a given locality.
Paint smiley faces or flowers on small stones and randomly leave them on sidewalks around your town. No more than one every few blocks. Never check on them again.
Study karma.
Learn how to adjust your presence to uplift the people you pass by. Positive comments, compliments, and even learning how to hope for someone’s recovery when they insult you.
Call a local publicly funded organization and ask if they have volunteer opportunities.
Red Cross is worldwide and have lots of different volunteering activities. Also, most cities in the world have centras with volunteers doing different things. You need to find local engagement, and getting to know people, your network start to expand in that area. You can start by calling these and ask how to proceed, what would be suitable, or even just try out a course or something.
This is something that may enrich your life, but I wouldn't rely solely on volunteering and charity. They should be part of life, but your yearning is more personal than that.
Hey - just my two cents. You seem like someone of means (intellectual and financial). Volunteering and charity can be personally fulfilling but systemised charity is ineffective. Use your skillset and networks to resolve something from the root. Financial inequality is the root of most social ills - is there something you can do in micro-financing? Something in upskilling/education or employment?
Good luck! I feel you will hit upon something worth while.
It sounds like you can do much more than volunteering, especially if you're good at making and hitting goals.
Check out the Bill Gates documentary on Netflix if you haven't. One notable thing he does is he picks up a lot of books on the problems faced by the world.
Personally, I'd love to help out the average person. People in my area are underpaid and have terrible working conditions - the average "senior" programmer makes a little over $1,000/month and most end up in dead end jobs with few opportunities. There's also people in more remote areas, who are paid too little to find a better job, and labor laws are barely sustainable anymore.
As someone who has implemented what you wanted, maybe you can help others do the same. Instead of giving soup to homeless people, you can give them a reasonable goal to strive for.
Do you have hobbies? What do you like to do? Seek out opportunities that play to your strengths. Every small organization, community institution, or non-profit entity could use some volunteer help. Most of them aren't taking out google adwords.
In San Francisco or Seattle, Google "soup kitchen volunteer {city}".
Low commitment, no special skills required. Go try it. Talk to the other people there. Ask where else they volunteer. You can literally google this today and help this week.
Are you following Black Lives Matter? Get involved at the local level. Research your police department and social services funding for your city. Really dig into the details. Find organizing groups there that are working to enact real change through fiscal policies.
I'm also from Barcelona, and while I consider myself fortunate and relatively successful, I'm still far from the point you currently are.
However, I have experienced doing social projects purely for meaning during few months between opportunities. The most fulfilling one was setting up a mentoring program in high school, where I went through a set of sessions with a small group of ambitious young students. Not technical mentoring, more like practical general life advice delivered in a workshop manner, as if I was an older friend. They all enjoyed it a lot, and to this day, few years later, we still stay in touch and I'm very happy to see how much they have grown since then.
From my experience being born here, there is a strong pull from society to conform and stay mediocre. I want to change that, and help those ambitious to create their own path.
Unfortunately, working at a startup I don't have time for that currently. But I will definitely get back to something like this once I'm financially independent.
If you would like to discuss more, email is in my profile.
As another commenter mentioned, altruistic endeavors are a good choice. Even things like being a Boy Scout leader can be hugely fulfilling of that broader need.