The Power of Meaning: Finding Fulfillment in a World Obsessed with Happiness

by Emily Esfahani Smith

The search for meaning is not a solitary philosophical quest, as it’s often depicted, and as I thought it was in college—and meaning is not something that we create within ourselves and for ourselves. Rather, meaning largely lies in others. Only through focusing on others do we build the pillar of belonging for both ourselves and for them. If we want to find meaning in our own lives, we have to begin by reaching out.

People who know themselves can choose to pursue paths that align with their values and skills.

Research shows that when people use their strengths at work, they find more meaning in their jobs and ultimately perform better. And when they pursue goals that align with their core values and interests, they feel more satisfied and competent. They’re also likelier to persevere through challenges to actually accomplish those goals—that is, they are more purposeful.

Each of us has a circle of people—in our families, in our communities, and at work—whose lives we can improve. That’s a legacy everyone can leave behind.

But what it really is is reaching out into the void and connecting with people and letting them know they’re not alone.”

first, our sense of self washes away along with all of its petty concerns and desires. We then feel deeply connected to other people and everything else that exists in the world. The result is that our anxieties about existence and death evaporate, and life finally seems, for a moment, to make sense—which leaves us with a sense of peace and well-being.

This helps explain why encounters with mystery and transcendence are so transformative—they change the way we understand the universe and our place in it.

five specific ways that people can grow after a crisis. First, their relationships strengthen.

Second, they discover new paths and purposes in life.

Third, the trauma allows them to find their inner strength.

Fourth, their spiritual life deepens.

Finally, they feel a renewed appreciation for life.

they were actively working to make sense of what had happened to them—and that search for meaning helped them overcome the traumatic experience both physically and emotionally.

“A transition from material want to meaning want is in progress on an historically unprecedented scale—involving hundreds of millions of people—and may eventually be recognized as the principal cultural development of our age.”

“Part of the reason I feel lonely,” she said, “is because I don’t tell people things. I hold my thoughts and feelings inside. This taught me that I should make more of a point of talking to others—and not just for me, but for them. When we tell our story, we do two things. We understand ourselves better and we offer support to people going through the same thing that we’re going through.”

“was the importance of meaning—the search for meaning, the need to create meaning, the ability to experience meaning—was a basic motivating force of human behavior.

everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

“Being human,” Frankl wrote, “always points, and is directed, to something, or someone, other than oneself—be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter. The more one forgets himself—by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love—the more human he is.”