If I could go back to my high school self, I would tell him that three things will give him the most meaning in life.
I would then tell him to focus on those three things if he really wanted to live the most meaningful life possible.
My high school self wanted to live the most meaningful life he could. He just didn’t know how or what that would look like (yet).
My current self knows now, however. Now I focus on those three things, and they have helped create a deep sense of meaning and purpose in my life.
In this article, I’m going to share three ways you can find a deep sense of meaning in your life, in the hope that it may help you find more purpose, fulfillment, and joy, as well.
I believe everything in life has meaning and purpose, and the more we pay attention to the deeper meaning in life, the more that deeper meaning will reveal itself to us.
You can experience them separately or together, but if you invest yourself in at least one of these, it can add a deep sense of meaning to your life experience.
Let’s break them down one by one.
1. Meaningful Relationships
On this blog, I focus mainly on helping people find and do meaningful work, but I also know that if I had to choose between meaningful work and meaningful relationships, I’d probably choose meaningful relationships.
That’s how much our relationships tend to mean to us, like our family, friends, and partners.
The work I do would mean far less if I didn’t have people to share my life with. This includes the people we tend to argue with or fight with.
It’s usually better to have a family you argue with than no family at all. It’s usually better to have a partner you fight with sometimes than not to have them in your life. It’s usually better to have friends you have disagreements with than no friendships.
Because even if there’s some disharmony in those relationships, even if they stress you out or annoy you sometimes, that bond still provides a deep sense of purpose, even if you’re not fully conscious of it in the moment.
So we can do ourselves and our lives a great service by investing in our current relationships and developing new ones. Just these bonds alone can make even the most ordinary life experience feel extraordinary.
When I look back on the best times of my life and the times that have meant the most to me so far, they have had a lot to do with the people I shared those times with. My family, my friends, partners, even random people.
Those experiences would have meant far less if I hadn’t shared them with those people.
These days, I’m conscious of the role my relationships play in my life and my happiness. Despite being mostly introverted, I do my best to make a conscious effort to let the people in my life know I care about them, even if I’m hundreds of miles away.
I also allow myself to make new connections with people in situations I normally wouldn’t have in the past (like making friends in the gym, for example).
All relationships, no matter how deep or long-lasting, tend to give us a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in our lives and are usually good for us.
And the more harmonious those relationships are, the better they’ll be for our overall health and well-being. I’ve made a conscious effort to increase the harmony in my relationships for this exact reason.
We spend an incredibly large portion of our lives working. If that work doesn’t make us happy, then we’re putting a big limit on our overall happiness and life satisfaction.
On the other hand, if we love our work, it uplifts every other area of our lives. The nature of our work and how we feel about it contributes immensely to our sense of purpose and fulfillment in life.
This is why I’ve spent the last ten years figuring this out for myself, and the last three to five years helping other people figure it out for themselves.
Meaningful work is one of the biggest factors that determine our happiness and health. Taking someone from work they hate to work they love can literally heal them mentally, emotionally, and physically.
It’s like night and day, and it’s absolutely worth the journey to find, follow, and do the work that matters most to you.
Here are some articles that can help you figure this out for yourself:
Meaningful contribution is about the result that’s created in the world through your actions. It’s how what you do (either professionally or not) contributes to others or the world.
When what you do contributes to others in a meaningful way, it adds a whole new sense of purpose to why you do what you do.
The fulfillment that comes from making meaningful contributions is immense. It’s one of the biggest drivers behind why I and many other purpose-driven people do what they do.
Many people are good at what they do, but they don’t care about the results their work produces in the world. They couldn’t care less about what the organization they work for does. They’re just collecting a paycheck.
Not surprisingly, these people tend to struggle with motivation and feeling fulfilled in their work. This is largely because their sense of contribution isn’t strong enough. They don’t care about the result of what they’re doing.
But when you care about the result of what you’re doing and how it contributes to the world, your motivation can be almost limitless. There’s so much purpose to what you’re doing. There’s so much meaning to it.
You’re contributing to the world in a way that resonates with you, and there are few things more fulfilling than that.
Sometimes, the simplest secret to discovering your purpose is to ask yourself how you’d like to contribute to the world. What type of legacy would you like to leave? How would you like to help others?
Once you pinpoint that, your purpose can become clear as day.
Now that we’ve gone over three ways you can add a deep sense of meaning to your life (meaningful relationships, meaningful work, and meaningful contribution), let’s talk about how to actually discover these for yourself.
How to Attract Meaningful Relationships
If you want to attract meaningful relationships into your life, it starts with creating space to allow them in.
This can mean different things, but it often means letting go of the types of relationships that aren’t fulfilling you so you can make space for more fulfilling relationships to enter.
It’s tough to attract a meaningful romantic relationship while you’re stuck in a toxic one. It’s tough to attract meaningful friendships while you’re spending all your time with negative influences.
It’s tough to develop a meaningful relationship with your family while staying stuck in old patterns and habits of communicating with one another.
Often, we must let go to let in.
We must let go of what is no longer serving us, get clear on what will serve us, and make space for it to enter.
What do meaningful relationships look like to you? What does a meaningful romantic partnership look like to you? Meaningful friendships? Meaningful family bonds?
Get clear on these things, let go of the types of relationships that aren’t serving you, and start making space for the ones that will.
How to Find Meaningful Work
Finding meaningful work starts with understanding what meaningful work looks like to you.
For me, meaningful work is fun, creative, and makes a positive impact on the world. (This article is an example of meaningful work to me.)
What does meaningful work look like to you? Try not to judge yourself or allow other people’s expectations to cover up your truth.
Think about what truly makes you happy. Think about the activities you love doing, regardless of whether you’re getting paid or not. Think about your strengths and gifts. Think about how you would like your work to help others.
Write these things down and get really clear on them. Then research financial opportunities starting from that foundation.
These can be powerful pathways to discovering the work that matters most to you.
How to Make Meaningful Contributions
You can make meaningful contributions to the world in so many ways. You can do it your work, your relationships, volunteering, charitable work, leadership, etc.
There are countless ways to contribute to the world, but I’m going to give you a piece of advice that will help you make meaningful contributions no matter which path you choose.
Here it is:
The more you grow as a person, the more you will be able to contribute to the world.
When you grow as a person and you fill yourself up, you have more to give others in all areas of life.
One of the main reasons I’ve been able to contribute to others in meaningful ways is because of the personal development I’ve put myself through over the last 10+ years.
The more I’ve grown, the more I’ve been able to help others and contribute to the world.
The more you learn, grow, experience, and overcome, the more you’ll have to offer to the world.
If you want to contribute in bigger and bigger ways, simply expand yourself as a person and you will naturally start contributing more to the world around you.
How to Create Your Own Meaningful Life
To finish this article off, I’m going to leave you with some final words of wisdom to help you create your own meaningful life, whatever that means for you.
A meaningful life starts with paying attention to the meaning that already exists in your life. It starts with gratitude and appreciation for what you already have, instead of always wishing and wanting for what you don’t have.
There is purpose in every experience. There is meaning in every life. The more you pay attention to this, the more it will express itself in your life.
Next, a meaningful life is consciously created. It is not created by default.
Finding meaning in life is an active process. It’s an intentional process.
Clearly decide what a meaningful life means to you. Create a clear vision of it – a clear idea in your mind and on paper.
Then start working toward that vision doing everything in your power to make it a reality.
Finally, the absolute best thing I’ve ever done to live a more meaningful life is to follow my heart.
I listen to my heart all the time because I know it’s connected to a source of wisdom and information my mind could never comprehend.
It already knows the path of my highest purpose and greatest joy, and if I just listen to what it’s trying to tell me and trust it fully, it will continue leading me exactly where I want to go.
I believe the same is true for all of us.
Pay attention to the meaning that already exists in your life, create your life consciously, and trust what your heart is trying to tell you, and you will live one of the most meaningful lives you could ever experience.
Michael Karp is a personal development blogger and self-published author. He started his personal development journey in 2011 as a sophomore in college.
Since then, he has self-published several books, started an online business and became a digital nomad, achieved his dream of moving to Thailand and traveling around Southeast Asia, built a following of 18,000 people on Instagram sharing personal development advice, became a life coach, found his life purpose, and healed his body with the power of his mind.
With a deep passion for serving others, Michael continues his hero's journey on a mission to help people around the world to empower themselves, realize their true potential, and achieve their dreams.
