It’s not the meaning of life, it’s life’s many meanings

May 01, 2015 12:53 PM

Baumeister’s fascinating research explores the four fundamental human needs for meaning, including purpose, value, efficacy and worth.

We need to see our activities as oriented toward a purpose. We need to feel that our actions are right and good and justifiable. We need to experience the efficacy that we’re making a difference. And we need to feel worthy of respect from ourselves and others.

His research found that people are more secure if their lives furnish multiple ways of satisfying their various meaning needs. That those who draw their worth from several sources are able to handle failures and setbacks better, whereas those who rely on a single source of meaning are more vulnerable to threats and losses.

Proving, that it’s not the meaning of life, it’s life’s many meanings.

And so, we all have a responsibility to build a unique, diversified portfolio of meaning. A robust repertoire of activities and interests and practices that are guaranteed to provide them with the experiences of fulfillment, satisfaction and happiness.

I remember when I initially created my own living document. My personal constitution of meaning. It completely transformed the way I responded to my emotional low point.

With this document, which I call my meaning making mission, instead of dwelling on my sadness or depression or boredom or creative impotence, I could just pick something off the list and get to work. I could make meaning instead of monitoring moods. I could feed my emotions into the meaning algorithm that ran my model of the universe.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s your system for making meaning instead of monitoring moods?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “14 Things You Don’t Have to Do Anymore,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com