What Gives Life Meaning?

Have you ever wondered what gives life true meaning? It's a question that has puzzled philosophers and thinkers for centuries. Here's a common fallacy we often hear, "The purpose of life is to be happy." This pursuit can lead to considerable stress and disappointment. If you chase happiness, what happens when you get there? Do you plant a flag in the land of happiness and stay there forever? Unfortunately, that's just not how the human experience works.

If the purpose of life isn't to be happy, then what is it? I'm glad you asked! Let's explore the pursuit of values. By focusing on values, we can lead a meaningful life, making "happy lives" synonymous with meaningful lives. We search for purpose, we search for value. This is the foundation I set in any treatment setting, be it traditional therapy or psychedelic care.

Step 1: Review the Value Domains that Matter

The first step is to discover the areas of life that are important to us. Here’s a list of Value Domains:

• Parenting
• Personal Growth
• Leisure
• Spirituality
• Physical Health
• Work/Education
• Community/Environment
• Family Relationships
• Intimate Relationships
• Social Relationships

Take on as many domains as you can during the exploration phase, disregarding those that are not relevant to you. For example, if you're not a parent, parenting might not matter—or maybe it does if you're a fur parent! If you’re retired, work and education are probably less important, so you might focus on leisure and personal growth to find meaning after your career. The more you explore, the better you'll understand yourself and optimize all areas of your life.

Example:

Here’s how I ranked my value domains:

• Parenting - 10
• Personal Growth - 9
• Leisure - 6
• Spirituality - 5
• Physical Health - 10
• Work/Education - 8
• Community/Environment - 5
• Family Relationships - 7
• Intimate Relationships - 9
• Social Relationships - 8

After ranking, I found many important areas. Don't feel pressured to tackle them all at once—take them on as you can. This sets the groundwork for all your goal setting and to set you up for success in the pursuit of meaning.

Step 2: Identify Your Value Words

Once you have chosen the value areas, identify the value words that relate to each area. For example, focusing on Health, you might choose several words and then narrow them down.

Example:

Value Domain: Health

Round 1:

Inspiration, Adventure, Play, Fun, Consistency, Pride, Freedom, Patience, Rituals, Inner Strength, Reliability, Structure, Mastery, Growth, Vitality, Excellence, Challenge

Round 2:

Consistency, Freedom, Inner Strength, Mastery, Growth, Challenge

Round 3:

Consistency, Mastery, Challenge

Here they are, the Core Values in my Health Journey!

Repeat this process for each domain to filter down to your 3-5 most important value words.

Step 3: Identify Your Valued Intentions

Valued intentions mean defining your value words within the context of their domains.

Example:

Value Domain: Health

Consistency means:

"I have the inner strength and discipline to maintain my workout routine, diet, and health-based behaviors. I understand I will have setbacks, but I will stay the path despite small setbacks."

Mastery means:

"I will engage in health activities that allow me to see progress. I will develop a sense of mastery over my health behaviors, and a sense of self-mastery that I am holding inner discipline and strength to continue on my health journey despite life obstacles and internal obstacles."

Challenge means:

"My health journey will come with challenges, I understand that and will rise to those challenges. I also want to engage in health behaviors that pose a challenge. I don’t want to take the easy road, I want it to be hard – this will help me in my pursuit of Mastery."

Conclusion

After completing these steps, you will have identified the domains of life you want to change, your core values in those areas, and set your valued intentions. This is a significant accomplishment. Congratulate yourself!

If you get stuck at any point, consider checking in with a provider to help identify the internal barriers to connecting with your values. At NouraLife, this is the bedrock of what we do, and we would be happy to explore these steps with you. Now, engage in Value-Based Goal Setting and take the first steps towards living a meaningful, fulfilling life.