To have a meaningful, happy, and successful life, you only need three things—a heart, a backbone, and a brain.

Heart

The heart is the compass in the sea of life. Without a heart, there can be no love, kindness, happiness, satisfaction, or value.

The heart gives us purpose and reason for existence. Every human being in their most natural form simply wants to love and be loved. Everything else is a whim. Our achievements in life happen in the name of what we love. When you love, your life will always be meaningful.

The heart determines our values. One equals one’s values—their worth is the worth of one’s entire life. They are what makes life worth living. Without them, our existence is an empty shell in which we cannot evaluate anything because there is no yardstick by which to measure it.

The heart is what always tells us what the right decision is. In every difficult situation, at our deepest level, we know the answer. But sometimes we listen to other voices to find an excuse to deviate from it. If we listen to our heart, we will not lose the light that guides us even through the darkest turns of reality.

The heart knows the difference between good and evil. It does not care what is convenient. It does not care what is popular or trendy. It does not care what is practical. The heart knows that love is the ultimate good, and anything that is not love can’t compete with any form of love.

The heart leads us to people. There are many practical and logical reasons that can make us turn our backs on our loved ones, our family, our friends. But the heart will never do that. The heart places the human being at the center of the universe, and it is clear to those who love that this is exactly where they belong.

The heart makes every result meaningful. Even if we have achieved all our dreams, it is the heart that allows us to appreciate our victories. No one is truly happy when success is only for themselves. It is always in the name of some value or another person we love, and then life is filled with meaning.

Sometimes life requires you to be bad. To sacrifice something in order to gain something else. To make a decision that will hurt someone. To be uncompromising when someone threatens your values. But if even then you are unable to be kind to the things that deserve it, then you have lost yourself along the way.

Backbone

Your heart can tell you the direction, but your backbone is what makes you walk the path.

Your backbone allows you to really choose and defend that which your heart leads you to. When you have headwinds against you, it keeps you on your feet and makes you take the next step. Your backbone is what will not let you betray your heart.

Your backbone chooses your values. It does not listen to what others say to you. It does not bow to the pressure of tyrants and ill-wishers. It keeps you in place when manipulators put their leashes around your neck and start pulling you in their direction.

The universe is worth one backbone. All possibilities are laid out before you, but your backbone drives you to reach for them and take them. Your backbone is the action that turns ideals into reality.

The backbone is perseverance. It is stronger than boredom. It overcomes fatigue. It conquers despair and mocks laziness. The backbone makes you work toward your goals every day and not give up until you achieve them.

The heart and the backbone are enough to make you an overman. If you have them, you are a person of values who does not compromise them, regardless of the circumstances.

Brain

Your brain enables you to live according to your values in a more intelligent manner and navigate the dangers of the outside world with greater ease.

Your brain allows you to see the big picture. To be aware of how your ideals and values fit into the whole world. To assess what might threaten them. This way, you not only protect them, but you are prepared to do so and have a clear strategy for how to do it.

The brain answers the question of how. When you have a goal from your heart and the ability to achieve it from your backbone, your brain tells you the specific steps. It is often the bridge between your outer and inner world. Through it, your personal values are practically transformed into physical reality.

Through the brain, you can see long-term ahead. With it, you foresee the consequences of a decision and how it will open new paths in the future. Thus, the specific steps become a path that leads you straight to your goals.

The brain can grasp other points of view. The heart and the backbone are preoccupied with your own inner world, but the brain will also take an interest in things that do not directly concern it. With it, you can judge when something is right, even when that thing is outside of you.

The brain is the key to success. In the reality we live in, there are many things we have to take into account, and the brain is the best tool to navigate us through the practical steps towards achieving our dreams.