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Finding Direction When You’re Feeling Lost

By Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries — 2021

At a certain point in life, people transition from “time to live” to “time left to live.” This shift creates a new sense of urgency about identifying the purpose of our existence. And as people confront this challenge, they come up against a set of fundamental human needs that collectively define how we experience the meaning of our existence: belonging, purpose, competence, control, and transcendence. Thinking about these five pillars of meaning can help you reinvent your life.

Read on hbr.org

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Meaning Is Healthier Than Happiness

People who are happy but have little-to-no sense of meaning in their lives have the same gene expression patterns as people who are enduring chronic adversity.

Article
Emily Esfahani Smith
2013
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20 Signs You’re Unhappy (And What to Do About It)

These days, many of us suffer from a loss of meaning, direction, vitality, mission, purpose, identity, and genuine connection—a deep unhappiness that most of us have come to consider as simply ordinary.

Article
Lissa Rankin
2020
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Social Isolation’s High Physical and Psychological Toll

Studies of polar researchers, astronauts, and others in isolation shed light on possible effects of social distancing, including increased forgetfulness, depression and heart attacks.

Article
Betsy Morris
2020
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Choose Meaning Over Happiness

Happiness is fleeting but meaning is forever.

Article
James Hollis
2018
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EXPLORE TOPIC

Finding Meaning