The Life Changing Magic of Meaning And 10 Tips to Make Your Life More Meaningful Today

“The person who lives life fully, glowing with life’s energy, is the person who lives a successful life.” -Daisaku Ikeda

Would you believe that Amazon has 15,941 books on ‘How to Find Meaning in Life’? Over the last few decades our definition of success has been shifting massively. We are beginning to search for a deeper sense of meaning. We are beginning to ask ourselves really important questions.

Questions like 'Why am I here?', 'What is my purpose?' and 'What makes life really matter?'. If you are reading this you must be on a similar quest. 

Here's the thing, life is very easy to waste and hard to use. It’s not easy to say I’m going to live a meaningful life. Most people chase happiness, which just comes and goes. When life gets hard, which it will, meaning gives you something to hold on to.  

It’s easy to just coast through life on autopilot. It's too easy to just settle and never search for more than mediocrity.

Living a life that feels inauthentic, off your path and not true to your core self will eat you up however. Ignoring your potential and settling for a life dictated by the opinions and judgements of others is the fast-track to misery, depression and a waste of a life.

If you find yourself thinking 'this can't just be it, there has to be more to life!' your gut and intuition are trying to guide you to a much better place. Sit up, pay attention and get excited!

Countless studies have shown that living a meaningful life is associated with the highest levels of happiness. Researchers have studied the presence of meaning (i.e. the perception of your life as significant, purposeful, and valuable) and search for meaning (i.e. the strength, intensity, and activity of people's efforts to establish or increase their understanding of the meaning in their lives)—and their role in our overall well-being. The results might really surprise you.

They have found that people who have meaning in their life are much healthier and happier.

In her heavily researched book, The How of Happiness, positive psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky noted that only 10 percent of happiness comes from extrinsic incentives like money, fame, and status. Scientists are constantly discovering that our happiness is much less determined by our outer world and circumstances than it is our inner world. Something I came to learn the hard way.

In this blog I’m going to talk to you about the dangers of a lack of meaning, the life-changing magic of having meaning in your life and how to start living a more meaningful life today.

 Life Without Meaning

Most people wake up in the morning dreading the day ahead. They run through their work day and to-do list. Their problems come rushing to hit them in the face seconds after waking. They cannot wait to get back into bed before they’ve even lifted their head off the pillow. The day is something to be endured rather than enjoyed. They are living in reaction rather than creation and wonder why they always feel so stressed, anxious and drained. Life feels like a constant problem to be solved rather than an adventure to be enjoyed. Sound familiar? 

For many years I was most people.

For such a long time I struggled with living my life for others, falling into the traps of outer success and just going through life unconsciously on autopilot. I was extremely disconnected from my true self. I got to a point where I wasn’t even enjoying life anymore. I was just going through the motions feeling exhausted, empty and unfulfilled. I knew something needed to change.

Living a life that is not true to you and lacking meaning is one of the most painful ways to go through life. The moment I decided to live a life of purpose and meaning everything changed. I sat down, did some serious journalling, and reconnected with my core values, strengths and what really mattered to me.

The Benefits of Meaning

For decades scientists have been studying the importance of meaning. Countless studies have found that having a sense of meaning increases life satisfaction, overall happiness, improved physical health and wellbeing, work satisfaction, lower levels of stress and even depression.

These studies show that having meaning in your life will give you:

• More energy and motivation

• Stronger resilience for when times get tough

• Increased life satisfaction and quality of life

• Improved mental and physical health

• Boost your confidence as your perceived value increases

• Longer life span (studies have shown people who believe their life has greater meaning live longer).

Why Meaning Is More Important Than Happiness

"Life is difficult. Not just for me or other ALS patients. Life is difficult for everyone. Finding ways to make life meaningful and purposeful and rewarding, doing the activities that you love and spending time with the people that you love – I think that’s the meaning of this human experience" - Steve Gleason

Many of us chase happiness rather than build a life that gives us true joy, meaning and fulfilment. Happiness is fleeting. Seeking meaning over happiness makes us much more resilient, we perform better and live longer.

We all know what we want but we never focus on who you want to be. Being is so much more important than doing. When you have purpose and meaning you are so focused on the person you need to become to get there, rather than the other way around. Being true to yourself, your truth and your purpose means complete alignment. That's what I experienced once I began this work. With alignment comes inner peace, joy and fulfilment. Nothing on the outside can ever give you those feelings.

10 Tips To Live a More Meaningful Life

1. Connection: Having deep and meaningful relationships where you feel accepted for who you are, not just what you do, is key to living a meaningful life. A sense of belonging gives us a real sense of purpose, value and meaning. Nourishing those connections daily will make your life much more meaningful. Look at your closest circle. Are you making time for and investing in nourishing relationships? Often a lack of meaning comes when we feel really disconnected from those around us.

2. Contribution: I’m such a big believer that giving is the secret to living. When you make time to serve others you will reach a whole new level of meaning. Research shows that people who help others are happier. Helping those less fortunate than you is a great way of gaining perspective on life and appreciating all that you do have. How can you begin to contribute in small ways? You don't need to save the world. Try an hour a week volunteering for an organisation you are passionate about.

3. Living in the present moment: It's hard to feel like our life has meaning when we are stuck in the past or anxious about the future. Have a grounding mantra like 'All of my power is in the present moment' or 'The only success is success in the present moment'. Our mind is always pulling us in different directions. Your life is only ever in this moment. Slow down and spend your moments wisely!

4. Purpose: People who feel like their life has a purpose live a much more meaningful life. Purpose is more about what you give than what you get. Use your passions and strengths to serve others. Connect with what makes you feel most alive and go do that! Harvard researchers studied the risk of cardiovascular death between people who reported living with a sense of purpose and those who didn’t. They found the risk of death was 20 percent lower in those who reported living with purpose.

5. Significance - in order to live a meaningful life we must feel like we have significance and that life is significant. Our life matters and living it well matters. Find what makes your life worth living and give significance to your life. Get out a pen and paper and start journalling if you feel completely lost on it.

6. Reframing: everything that has happened up until this point happened exactly as it was meant to. Instead of ‘why me?’ start asking ‘what is this teaching me?’. Reframe the greatest struggles of your life as the greatest strengths. Find meaning in your most painful life experiences and you will live a much more meaningful life.

7. Connect with your core values: This is key to living a meaningful life. Your core values are the things that matter most to you in life. One of my core values is contribution. Giving back is what makes me feel alive. Every day I try to contribute in some small way through my content and coaching or in my personal life. What are your core values? What matters most to you? Try my free workbook on it linked here.

8. Transcendence: find ways to rise above the day to day worries and stresses every day. What makes you transcend or forget about time when you're doing it? For me that is writing, playing with my niece and nephew or going for a walk in nature. What makes you forget to check your phone? The more time you can spend being in a state of flow, rather than stress, the more meaningful life will feel.

9. Change your narrative: a lot of people get stuck in a victim mindset and feel like life is always happening to them. I used to live there and I know how frustrating, draining and isolating it can be. Turn the things that broke you into the things that made you. Realise that every day you are writing your future. You are the creator and narrator of you life. Create something amazing!

10. Change your focus: most people are always focused on what they don't want. To live a meaningful life start focusing on what you DO want. Where your attention goes energy flows. Take 10-15 minutes to journal on important questions like 'What does a great day look like? Where do I want to be in 5 years? What do I want my legacy to be?'. The more you can connect with your true self and do more of the things that really matter the more meaningful your life will be.

Main Takeaway

“Don’t be pushed by your problems; be led by your dreams.” -Unknown

For me, living a life of meaning is waking up knowing that you are on the right path in life. You are doing what you are meant to be doing and it just feels right. 

One of the greatest freedoms we have as humans is that we get to decide how we live our lives. Most people get overwhelmed by that freedom. If you’ve read this far I assume you are not most people. I bet you are just like me, you want to squeeze every last drop out of life. You want to get to the end of your life and say ‘wow, that was amazing!'.

So, what makes life meaningful for you? Do you feel like you’re on the right path, doing what you’re meant to be doing? If not, what’s holding you back?

Living a life of meaning will make you a healthier happier person and one that others love being around. Your personal joy and fulfilment is your responsibility. Take any one of the tips above and start applying it to your life today. Change doesn't happen without action.  

You only live once and you should find your meaning in it. Having a sense of meaning really is the difference between a life well lived and a life wasted. As the great Oscar Wilde once said: