I'm a nonconformist too, and in many ways I've arranged my life to suit myself. I'm a nightowl who works from home, getting up at the stroke of noon most days. (I've been scolded for being lazy too, but why is it different if you get stuff done at midnight or you get it done at 8:00 AM? )

Despite this, I've been feeling really stuck because I don't like the work I get paid to do, and the little free time I have seems to get sucked into a vacuum. If I'm going to find a way to fix the first problem, I have to fix the second one first. So I'm doing your exercise.

What I've found so far is that I do a whole lot of stuff I don't really want to do, not so much to conform, but to live up to standards I've created for myself that don't make me happy. I often feel guilty when I think of changing these things, but there are a few I'm inspired now to weed out. What you said about happy people being of more use to others really resonates with me, especially since I've been a little on the grumpy side lately. I'll let you know how my progress goes. :-)