Finding Purpose and Meaning: Intentional Living
Gleb Tsipursky, PhD President, Co-Founder and Chief Insights Officer Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org
Program Overview – Research and thinkers on finding purpose and meaning – Purpose and meaning from an evidence-based perspective – How do you as an individual find purpose and meaning in life? Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org
What is the Meaning of Life?
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Research Shows People who can give a clear answer have better lives with higher mental and physical well-being • Martin Seligman, Authentic Happiness (2002) Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org
Research Shows Clear and strong sense of meaning correlates with religion • A. Okulicz-Kozaryn (2010). “Religiosity and life satisfaction across nations,” Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 13, 155169. Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org
Research Shows The important thing is simply to have a sense of purpose, not the source of the purpose • M. F. Steger, (2012). “Making meaning in life,” Psychological Inquiry, 23, 381-385. Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org
Research Shows People who live in societies with less religious predominance than the contemporary US do not necessarily experience a lesser sense of meaning and purpose. •
Darrin M. McMahon, Happiness: A History, (2005).
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2011 World Happiness Report: (http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/Sachs%20Writing/2012/World%20Happiness%20Report.pdf)
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Why does Purpose in Life Correlate with Religion in the US? 1. Strong community connections 2. Opportunities for serving others 3. Venues to reflect on meaning and purpose
•. Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships (New York: Bantam Dell, 2006).
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What About Less Religious Societies? In other societies, non-religious venues often offer opportunities for: 1. Community connections 2. Serving others 3. Reflecting on meaning and purpose •. Gleb Tsipursky, Having Fun in the Thaw: Youth Initiative Clubs in the Post-Stalin Years, in the series, The Carl Beck Papers in Russian and East European Studies, No. 2201 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012)
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Research Shows Sense of meaning is strongest when it comes from individual reflection and self-work NOT when it’s simply adopted from outside prescriptions • P. T. P. Wong, The human quest for meaning (2012); M. F. Steger, (2009). “Meaning in life.” In S. J. Lopez (Ed.), Oxford handbook of positive psychology (2nd Ed.) (pp. 679-687). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org
Evidence-Based Ways to Gain Sense of Life Purpose and Meaning 1. Reflecting on one’s sense of meaning and purpose 2. Doing so in a social setting 3. Helping others find meaning and purpose in life
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How do you as an individual find purpose and meaning in life?
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Strategies: Evaluation
Purpose and Meaning Questionnaire (PMQ)
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Strategies: Highest-Order Goals
What is the meaning of life for me?
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Strategies: Purpose
What is my purpose in life?
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Strategies: Person I Want to Be
To live my purpose, what kind of person do I want to be? Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org
Strategies: Living Intentionally To become the person I want to be, what steps can I take in my everyday life to live intentionally? Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org
Strategies: 3 Steps to Gaining Agency
Agency = Living Intentionally How can I optimize my ability to: 1. Evaluate reality clearly, to 2. Make effective decisions, that 3. Achieve my short and long-term goals Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org
Strategies • Individual Reflection • Group Discussion • Revision (at home)
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Strategies
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