Indeed, the research on writing about life goals has been noted by Edwin Locke as a very important future development of goal-setting theory (Locke, 2019). As goal-relevant actions may be encouraged by embodied cognition, and embodied cognition has been related to (dynamic) self-regulation, this may be the process through which written goals lead to action (see Balcetis and Cole, 2009). Specifically, through the link between cognition and behavior, it can be seen as beneficial to write down intended actions as this will lay the path to act out the intended actions.
You might wrestle with spiritual ideas and uncertainty, no matter how weak or strong your beliefs are. This kind of exploration is a common and natural part of seeking meaning after a loss. As quoted in the book, Living with Grief, Robert Neimeyer says that loss “requires us to reconstruct a world that again the link between alcohol and hair loss makes sense.” These are but a few examples of finding meaning as you grieve. Existential philosophers connect the concept of the absurdity of life to the creation of meaning. Absurdity refers to the idea that there are a lot of unknown circumstances in life, and anything can happen to you at any time.
- Perhaps most objectivists would, at least upon reflection, accept that
both the parts of a life and the whole-life relationships among the
parts can exhibit meaning. - If this optimism is also turned into concrete plans for the future, there is an increased chance that this positive envisioned future will become a reality (cf., Schippers et al., 2015).
- Especially research around the effect on writing on our daily actions is lacking in evidence.
- That same evening over supper, I got my friends to blind taste a bottle of Bordeaux—an evil trick, given that we were in the Rhône.
The end-products of this meaning-making process (“meaning made” [74]) can be operationalized as benefit finding (i.e., finding positive implications for a negative event) or sense-making (i.e., finding a suitable explanation for a negative event within the global meaning system). A successful resolution of the meaning-making process will then lead to better psychological functioning and better adjustment to stressful events [75]. The elements discussed above provide the context for developing a potentially effective life-crafting intervention. Although most agree that describing an ideal vision of the future sober living houses would be a key element of such an intervention, below we identify other elements that should be included, whether the intervention is designed to improve well-being, happiness, performance, or all of these. According to McKnight and Kashdan (2009), “the creation of goals consistent with one’s purpose may be critical to differentiating between real purpose and illusory purpose” (p. 249). Recent research also showed that it is better to have no calling than an unfulfilled calling (see Berg et al., 2010; Gazica and Spector, 2015), making it also a boundary condition that people follow through on this.
Future Research and Developments
The idea is that by making concrete plans and identifying obstacles (if-then plans), people are better able to visualize their desired future and will be less tempted to engage in activities that distract them from their goal (Mischel, 1996; Mischel and Ayduk, 2004). For many it is important to have a job that suits them, and a job which they feel passionate about and from which they can get energy (see Werner et al., 2016; Downes et al., 2017). However, research on mental illness prevails the literature in occupational health psychology, despite a call for a shift toward more research into positive psychology as antipode for work-related health problems such as job burnout. Relatedly, research on job crafting shows that people can actively enhance the personal meaning of their work and make it more enjoyable by changing cognitive, task, or relational aspects to shape interactions and relationships with others at work (Wrzesniewski and Dutton, 2001). Consequently, it is not always the job itself but the meaning you give to it that is important (Demerouti et al., 2015).
Anxiety
Given that 84% of the world’s population is religiously-affiliated, examining the effects of beliefs surrounding a higher power on meaning and, consequently, psychological well-being, is key to understanding more about the human condition. The pursuit of meaning has underlined human activity for millennia, if not longer — stretching back to thinkers like Aristotle and Plato all the way up to modern-day philosophers, psychologists, and scientists. While meaning-making is subjective, it is that very fact that makes it valuable.
3.1. Meaning-in-Life: A Salutogenic Concept in Nursing and Health Science
He is a researcher, author, and teacher, and is a world expert on meaning and purpose and globally sought-after speaker and facilitator. For example, you may feel a sense of incomprehensibility after experiencing trauma or, counterintuitively, trying too hard to understand why your life has meaning. Although such experiences may lead the self to feel small in the context of vastness, they may also remind us that we belong to that vastness—that we are an indelible part of the wider universe in which we exist. If you make use of the tips provided here, you really can create more meaning in your life. Maybe you find meaning in that one flower that somehow grew from between the cracks of the sidewalk.
You have to create a personalized internal system of meaning–and often, you’re starting from scratch. Given that the universe is infinite and continually expanding, finding the meaning of life is a comically tall order. But finding the meaning of your life, specifically, can help you remain resilient through illness, trauma, and loss. For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour.
Golden Age
However, research shows that finding meaning in life, whatever that might be for the individual, could significantly benefit well-being. For most of the 20th century, philosophers, psychologists, and psychiatrists argued that meaning in life is a rare, profound experience, attainable through an active search, deep self-reflection, or some other arduous way of creating meaning in a seemingly meaningless world. But we now know that most people, most of the time, report that their lives feel more meaningful than not. Although actively constructing meaning may be required in some cases—for example, when your world is turned upside down after a traumatic event—cultivating meaning in life may be as simple as detecting the meaning that is already there.
If you recognize that developing friendships is something that is important to you — despite your shyness — what actions might you take this week, or today, to work toward that goal? Perhaps you might initiate several conversations with co-workers that you would not otherwise talk to, or sign up for a social event in your town, even though you don’t know anyone. If being healthy so you can run around with your young children is important to you, how might this value motivate you and affect the choices you make as you go through the day today? Perhaps you might go for a 15-minute walk today, or forego a sugary snack. After his release, Frankl founded the school of logotherapy (from the Greek logos, meaning “reason” or “principle”), which is sometimes referred to as the “Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy” for coming after those of Freud and Adler.
This holds true especially when we frame our meaning with a bigger audience in mind, thereby touching upon something universal – an insight, trait or strategy that speaks to the needs of our global society. It is both empowering and healing to be able to create meaning from even our most adverse experiences and use it as a foundation for helping others realize growth in their lives. However, it is arguable that this process cannot be executed to its fullest capacity unless we begin with gaining awareness of self. Another activity is to use meaning to move you toward your character strengths.
It should be noted, however, that it is also important to see work in relation to other areas of life. Christensen (2010) noted that many of his contemporaries ended up working 70-h working weeks and also were often divorced and estranged from their children over time. They could not imagine that this end result was a deliberate how to cure boredom choice, so it seems important to choose the kind of person you want to become not only in your career but also in other areas of life (Christensen, 2010). This also means making strategic decisions about how to allocate your time and energy, instead of letting daily hassles make these decisions for you (Christensen, 2017).
In existential therapy, the goal is to create a meaningful and purposeful life. The therapist does this through reflective listening and Socratic questioning. Existentialism is centuries old and is still used today to address profound questions. Existentialism has the benefit of helping people create meaning in their lives. By becoming aware of freedom and choice, individuals can mitigate their anxiety about the unknown.
In contrast to error-theoretic arguments for nihilism, there are
rationales for it accepting that objective values exist but denying
that our lives can ever exhibit or promote them so as to obtain
meaning. One version of this approach maintains that, for our lives to
matter, we must be in a position to add objective value to the world,
which we are not since the objective value of the world is already
infinite (Smith 2003). The key premises for this view are that every
bit of space-time (or at least the stars in the physical universe)
have some positive value, that these values can be added up, and that
space is infinite. If the physical world at present contains an
infinite degree of value, nothing we do can make a difference in terms
of meaning, for infinity plus any amount of value remains infinity. One way to question this argument, beyond doubting the value of
space-time or stars, is to suggest that, even if one cannot add to the
value of the universe, meaning plausibly comes from being the
source of certain values. One straightforward rationale for nihilism is the combination of
extreme supernaturalism about what makes life meaningful and atheism
about whether a spiritual realm exists.
It
is worth considering how far this sort of case is generalizable, and,
if it can be to a substantial extent, whether that provides strong
evidence that only life as a whole can exhibit meaningfulness. Subjectivism was dominant in the middle of the twentieth century, when
positivism, noncognitivism, existentialism, and Humeanism were
influential (Ayer 1947; Hare 1957; Barnes 1967; Taylor 1970; Williams
1976). Those who continue to hold subjectivism often
remain suspicious of attempts to justify beliefs about objective value
(e.g., Trisel 2002, 73, 79, 2004, 378–79; Frankfurt 2004,
47–48, 55–57; Wong 2008, 138–39; Evers 2017, 32, 36;
Svensson 2017, 54). In
contrast to these possibilities, it appears straightforward to account
for what is meaningful in terms of what people find meaningful or what
people want out of their lives.
Not only do they help us find meaning in our lives, but older adults who do have a ‘passion’ also score higher on measures of psychological wellbeing. They report higher life satisfaction, better health, more meaning in their lives, and lower anxiety and lower depression than adults without a passion (Rosseau & Vallerand, 2003, as cited in Vallerand, 2012). Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Meaning and Valued Living Exercises for free. These creative, science-based exercises will help you learn more about your values, motivations, and goals and will give you the tools to inspire a sense of meaning in the lives of your clients, students, or employees. On the other hand, if the people around you are negative individuals who drag you down, you might want to make some changes. It’s hard to feel passionate and purposeful when you’re surrounded by people who aren’t interested in making positive contributions.