How does having a sense of purpose influence our well-being?

To a pragmatist, the meaning of life is discoverable only via experience. The French philosopher Albert Camus asserts that the absurdity of the human condition is that people search for external values and meaning in a world which has none and is indifferent to them. The Epicurean meaning of life rejects immortality and mysticism; there is a soul, but it is as mortal as the body. There is no afterlife, yet, one need not fear death, because “Death is nothing to us; for that which is dissolved, is without sensation, and that which lacks sensation is nothing to us.” The nature and origin of consciousness and the mind itself are also widely debated in science. The explanatory gap is generally equated with the hard problem of consciousness, and the question of free will is also considered to be of fundamental importance. These subjects are mostly addressed in the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience (e.g. the neuroscience of free will) and philosophy of mind, though some evolutionary biologists and theoretical physicists have also made several allusions to the subject. This measure captures not just the presence of meaning in life , but also the desire to search for meaning in life. You can take an interactive version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, developed by Steger and colleagues, yourself here.

As you recall your life history, think about the biggest decisions you’ve made and how those decisions steered you to where you are today. Cohesion, or things that are predictable and make sense, is one aspect of finding meaning in life. Try to come up with some aspects of yourself and your experience that remain constant over time. You could bring up the subject by saying, “I’ve been feeling a little confused lately about my purpose in life. I’m trying to figure out what I value most and how I can come up with meaningful goals.” Now that you’ve written down your personal how to create meaning in life projects and goals, work on drawing concrete actions from them. Turn the abstract, big-picture things that give you purpose into specific actions that you can accomplish every day. In psychology, purpose is the intention to accomplish something that’s both personally meaningful and engages the world beyond yourself. Making genuine connections is at the core of this definition, so come up with projects that sincerely express who you are. Think of what gives you purpose on a day-to-day basis, and list projects and goals that relate most to your core values.

Different groups of Americans find meaning in different places

Examples include learning a new hobby, writing a book, getting into better shape, or being a great parent. You don’t need to be a doctor or firefighter to make an important difference in someone’s life. Suppose you’re a waiter; focus on the roles you play in your guests’ lives. Think about how you’re helping your customers unwind after a long day or celebrate an important occasion. In each of these examples, you and your loved one matter to each other, and that gives your life meaning. For instance, if you’re a parent, you play an incomparable role in your kids’ lives. You and your best friend are special, unique parts of each other’s lives. If you have a sibling, you share an irreplaceable bond with them. Finding meaning in your life likely includes a lot of self-reflection, which can sometimes be scary and/or emotionally painful. If it feels like too much, write in a journal or talk about your feelings with a trusted friend or family member, or a mental health professional.

Hopefully by doing this, you will be encouraged to act, either by trying to help the suffering person or showing understanding.This also applies to your attitude about yourself. Try to be as compassionate towards yourself as you would be to someone you really care about. If your goal is to run a marathon, then you can set that as your ultimate goal. However, it is important to break that goal down into more specific, manageable goals. There is plenty of evidence that suggests that how to create meaning in life breaking a big goal down into smaller, actionable steps makes you more likely to achieve that goal. Feeling as though your life has a purpose, that you have an impact and you are making the most of your abilities and your time, can infuse your life with meaning. If photography appeals to you, borrow a camera or take a class and see how you feel. Or maybe you are interested in helping others and are good at communicating — try tutoring to see if teaching helps you feel fulfilled.

The Meaning of Life

Four-in-five married people (82%) mention family as a source of meaning and fulfillment (including 34% who specifically mention their spouse or partner), compared with 59% of unmarried U.S. adults. Married Americans are also more likely to mention spirituality or faith; 23% do, compared with 13% of Americans that have never been married. By comparison, roughly four-in-ten Catholics (41%) and mainline Protestants (39%) say their religious faith provides them with “a great deal” of meaning and fulfillment. Also, in contrast with evangelical Protestants and members of the historically black Protestant tradition, fewer Catholics and mainline Protestants say religion is the most important source of meaning in their lives (17% and 15%, respectively). Instead, they are among the most likely of all religious groups to say that family provides them with the most meaning (50% and 54%, respectively). Like the open-ended question, the closed-ended questions find that those with more socioeconomic resources may have more opportunities for social activities than those who have fewer resources. For example, 55% of college graduates say spending time with friends provides them with “a great deal” of meaning and fulfillment, compared with 40% of those with a high school degree or less. Similarly, more than half (53%) of those with household incomes above $75,000 a year say that friends provide them with “a great deal” of meaning, while only 41% of those with incomes under $30,000 say the same.

Notice it’s the millionaires who spent their life working towards a deeper cause that remain content once all of their goals are checked off the checklist. Conversely, when we feel we lack meaning in our lives, when shit just doesn’t seem to matter, when there’s no clarity on how or why things happen to us, we do nothing. We sit on the couch and twiddle our thumbs and watch lame reruns while complaining on the internet about lame reruns. Fifty people can watch the exact same event and draw fifty different meanings from said event. That’s why your friends Sober House are sometimes the biggest assholes—because that meaning you just shared, to them, meant something completely different. Hamlet meditating upon Yorick’s skull has become the most lasting embodiment of the imagery of vanitas, conveying the theme memento mori (‘Remember you shall die’). In Douglas Adams’ book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is given the numeric solution “42”, after seven and a half million years of calculation by a giant supercomputer called Deep Thought.