Whitney Pennington-Rogers

This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews.

the New Year's resolution is a thing that many of us at least know about and maybe participate in some way, thinking about how we want to resolve to do things for the year.

How do you make the distinction between chasing achievement and cultivating a meaningful life?

I mean, and I think so much of this idea of resolutions also feels connected to the idea of happiness, that if we do these things, right, then ultimately we'll lead a happier life, we'll be happier people.

At least that feels like that's sort of the underlying goal for all of us in setting these resolutions.

And I know in your work, this is a big part of how you think about

meaning of life it's sort of making this distinction between happiness and meaning and so for those of us who you know might be hearing some of this for the first time can you talk a little bit about how you define living a life of meaning what is that what does that look like and why do you think that matters more than than happiness

Yeah, I mean, it feels so important.

And I guess if you look at it from the other lens, like I know that you in your work are spending lots of time talking to people who are sort of contemplating these big questions about what is the meaning of their own lives?

And then also what does happiness look like for them in that moment?

And when you find that people are coming to you and they say that they're feeling stuck or

unhappy or dissatisfied in some way.

I guess, what are you noticing that they're most often missing?

Is it, is it purpose and connection or is it something else entirely?

And it's so interesting that you note that because I think one question that I have for you is around the time that sort of elapsed since your talk and since you wrote your book.

So it was 2017 and now we're now in 2026, nine years later.

And since that time, we've experienced so many things culturally, right?

This pandemic, there's sort of this rising political polarization, which of course existed in 2017, but I think in

much greater degrees we're seeing it today, you know, growing existential threats like climate change and you name it, the list goes on and on, right?

How do you feel like when you, especially Victor Frankl, like how do you think these collective experiences have sort of reshaped the way you think about the way you give your life meaning or the way you think about the meaning of life and if they have at all?