Often we lament, “what is the meaning of life?” or perhaps ponder, “does my life have meaning?” This is a great start to contemplate one’s purpose, however such navel gazing doesn’t necessarily give us the access to figure out the what: what is it that gives you meaning in life?
It is different for everyone and not always easy to define. Some of the more obvious “what’s” include relationships and family, spiritual activities, meeting basic needs, whilst others are a bit more obscure such as social justice and political causes.
So to define sources of meaning in life – these are the building blocks of our construct of meaning. They articulate our individual differences in meaning-making. Want to find YOUR sources of meaning? Head to my Worksheets page for more information.
Sources of meaning is so worthy of our consideration if we want to break the cycle in our current world of short attention spans, meaningless social media scrolling and diminished mental health & wellbeing. Researchers theorise that there are core sources of meaning that drives our human condition. If you want the list, send me a message.
The more meaningful life seems to us, the greater our sense of wellbeing. It helps us feel more fulfilled and content. However, being able to articulate the what in life that gives us meaning helps us create a space to act more purposefully and set meaningful goals to achieve our ambitions.
If you’d like to read up on some great researchers of this topic:
Dr Michael Steger – an impressive Q&A with the creator of the Meaning in Life scale.
Dr Gary Reker – creator of the Sources of Meaning in Life profile (SOMP-R).
Dr Tatjana Schnell – check out this podcast where Tatjana shares her sources of meaning in life research.
And of course the founder of logotherapy, Dr Frankl, with his book Man’s Search for Meaning. This book chronicles his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describes his psycho-therapeutic method.