Introduction:
The question of life’s purpose has intrigued humanity for centuries, evoking deep contemplation and introspection. Each individual’s pursuit of meaning is unique, shaped by personal values, beliefs, and life experiences. The older I got, and the more basic Maslov’s needs were met, I found myself thinking more about the questions around Purpose and Meaning. It became clear that the answer to this question is so fundamental for a person’s life since it provides guidance for how we navigate our time on Earth and make impactful decisions. In this article, I, therefore, like to share my personal views and dive into various perspectives on the purpose of life and explore how they can shape our personal lives and the organisations we lead.
Evolution and Growth:
From a biological and spiritual standpoint, life’s purpose can be seen as the continuation and advancement of the species. This perspective emphasises survival, adaptation, and the pursuit of knowledge and progress. It urges us to embrace growth, individually and collectively, and contribute to our world’s evolution. As mentioned earlier, I found that the more basic Maslov’s needs are met, the more space we create to think about why we are here and where we want to shift our species towards in the future. For example, the safer an employer feels within an organisation, the higher the chance of a successful career. And from an evolutionary perspective, we need people to dare to take new steps in order to diversify the risk of our species.
Religious and Spiritual Purpose:
Many religious traditions propose devine purposes for life, such as serving a higher power, attaining enlightenment, or fulfilling a predetermined plan. These purposes often revolve around moral and ethical values, personal growth, and establishing a profound connection with the divine. Depending on one’s religious beliefs, this can be merged with the previous paragraph. One viewpoint of this could be that religious beliefs are created as a foundation of values to strengthen groups to survive biologically. However, another perspective to this is that a connection with what a person calls the devine, can connect us to the right self-improvement, following passions, nurturing meaningful relationships and finding contentment in our experiences.
Contribution to Society:
Another stream of thought suggests that life’s purpose lies in the tangible actions of positively impacting society and the world. Acts of service, helping others, promoting social justice, and leaving a lasting legacy that benefits future generations become central to this viewpoint. It argues that by contributing to society, we find a more profound sense of purpose and fulfilment. Evolutionary speaking this makes sense, thinking about you as a cell within a larger body of the group has some evolutionary advantage to survive as a species.
During my research, I stumbled upon the Japanese term Ikigai, which refers to the intersection of four fundamental elements; what we love, what we are good at, what the world needs, and what we can be paid for. It embodies a sense of purpose and fulfilment by aligning our careers, passions, talents, societal contribution, and financial sustainability. This is a more conscious translation of the viewpoints above. More conscious, and therefore a tangible framework to guide one’s journey to fulfilment if you want to look at an individual level instead of us as a species.
Personal Fulfillment and Happiness:
Some people, like Victor Frankl’s theories, believe that life’s purpose revolves around seeking personal fulfilment, happiness, and joy. This seems to be more appealing to the Western individualistic worldview. This perspective urges self-improvement, following passions, nurturing meaningful relationships, and finding contentment in our experiences.
I feel very strongly in favour of this theory, since it connects us with the power of consciously experiencing the now, and how can you feel fulfilled if you can’t even experience life? It reminds us that our own well-being is an essential ingredient in the pursuit of a purposeful life. But although it connects us with the present, I personally don’t believe the purpose of life is happiness and joy. Frankl rightfully emphasises that even in the most challenging and desperate circumstances, individuals can choose their attitude and response to their circumstances. By adopting a positive and resilient mindset, individuals can find meaning and purpose even in the face of suffering. We can’t only have happiness and Joy because without deep valleys no high peaks. We need adversity, suffering, and discomfort from time to time to take action, adapt and take action toward fulfilment.
Finding your reason to live in the Inevitability of Death
While searching for meaning, I stumbled upon the philosophy books of Stoicism, and one quote resonated deeply: “memento mori” — translated in English to; remember that you must die. Stoic philosophers like Seneca and Marcus Aurelius contemplated death to embrace the present and live virtuously. They believed in cultivating virtues like wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance, accepting the uncontrollable, and finding inner tranquillity through virtuous practices.
Personally, I found great energy in this thought since it encourages us to make decisions in the now and taking action towards the higher meaning in every moment possible. Thinking about death pulls everything into perspective and guides you to what is necessary to do today. Not only biological and physical, but in my experience, it speaks to the unconsciousness and pushes us to what we need to do to become spiritually fulfilled.
Discovering Your Meaning:
Discovering our personal meaning can be challenging in a world filled with distractions fighting for our attention. All around me (myself included from time to time), I see people being dissatisfied with life, drained and tired, and just feeding the ego. Therefore I believe the quest for meaning holds a large potential to energise us and stray away from this mindset.
While libido is often referred to as the lust for sexual pleasure, in Jungian psychology, it is more often used for a lust for life or a life energy. The concept of life energy is more abstract and varies across different cultural and philosophical traditions. This concept is present in various traditions, such as Chinese medicine (Qi), Ayurveda (Prana), and some spiritual beliefs. It often refers to a vital force or energy believed to animate living beings and contribute to their overall vitality and well-being. I believe finding meaning is finding alignment with and turning on this this kind of energy.
Viktor Frankl reminds us that the meaning of life isn’t something we passively stumble upon but rather something we actively create and pursue. By identifying our unique “will to meaning”, life energies or personal sense of significance and direction, we can uncover purpose and meaning even amidst adversity. This can only be achieved through conscious choices, meaningful connections, and the pursuit of worthy goals and values.
Conclusion:
I write this now because I believe more people and especially the leaders of organisations who direct this world, need to align to their larger purpose to take leadership, and responsibility and tackle the challenges we’re facing as a species today.
I found purpose through positive actions towards self-improvement, following passions, nurturing meaningful relationships, and finding contentment in my experiences. Only if I do this, can I focus on the larger picture and serve my community. Careerwise, I decided to focus on contributing to society by improving Healthcare, Education and improving the Sustainability of the planet we live on.
As we embark on our personal quests for meaning, it’s crucial to acknowledge that the purpose of life is an individual journey. We all walk different paths in life. We can uncover our unique purpose by exploring different perspectives, nurturing self-awareness, and aligning our passions, talents, societal impact, and personal fulfilment. In doing so, we pave the way for a more meaningful, fulfilling existence that resonates within ourselves and positively impacts the world around us.
