Brian S. Lowery

I wish incredible personal achievements for all of you, so I think that personal achievement is fantastic.

However, sometimes we replace the deep human need for meaning with chasing of personal achievement.

And it's a problem when we confuse those two things.

And the reason they get confused, the reason it's easy to confuse them, is because personal achievement is easy to quantify.

You know if you got that job.

You know if you bought that home.

You know what your salary is.

It's easy to see.

And it feels comfortable to chase things you understand and you can achieve.

That's one reason.

The other reason is that personal achievement feels good.

Personal achievement feels good.

We think we want this happiness, and personal achievement provides a hit of happiness.

It feels fantastic when you make that achievement.

Getting meaning doesn't necessarily feel that way.

For example, studies find that parents who spend more time parenting their children report more meaningfulness in life, but not necessarily more happiness.

So these things are not the same.

So if you want more meaning in life, what is there to do?

One, look for opportunities to participate in others' stories.

You might try a little supporting actor energy if you want meaning.