The world feels to us more frightening and demoralizing than ever before. While a longer, more objective view of history that looks beyond immediate crises suggests significant overall improvement trends over time, the ubiquity of information can certainly make it feel like the world is getting steadily worse. An important facet of value is moral justification—which sometimes involves rationalization, to lend a feeling of legitimacy to one’s actions. And an important facet of efficacy is a subjective feeling of control—which is sometimes an illusion, in the face of uncontrollable life events.
Finding meaning and purpose in a frightening world is not easy, but I still believe in better times. There is reason to be cautiously optimistic about the course of human history and the future of humanity, though it may be a case of “two steps forward, one step back” toward gradually greater cooperativeness, compassion, and rationality. Your purpose in life is as unique to you as your fingerprint. We all have a particular set of talents, experiences, skill sets, and interests that light us up. Purpose is related to these, but it is your reason for being. It is why you get out of bed in the morning, even when the day is dreary, you’re tired, and you know the tasks and challenges ahead are going to be hard or even boring.
Purpose is the long game, not the short-term goal. You never get to the end of it. In Japan, this idea is known as ikigai, and it’s the concept of following your joy. Ikigai has grown popular in the West in recent years as a way to help people find their dream careers and career paths. The concept is finding the overlap between what you love and the world needs with what you are good at and the world will pay for. You craft your sense of purpose from your passion as well as practical considerations. Finding your purpose in life might sound like a nice-to-have, but it’s more important than you may think. Living a meaningful life contributes to better physical health and mental fitness. It also reduces the risk of chronic disease. Multiple studies have even found that it can help you live longer.
Achieving goals may not help you find the purpose of life, but knowing your purpose can help you achieve your goals. When you truly know your purpose, you’ll experience a sense of clarity like never before as you’re able to connect what you want to achieve to your ultimate fulfillment. You’ll feel passionate, driven and laser-focused. You’ll stop battling with the past and the future and start living in the present – and that’s the greatest gift you can give yourself.
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