How can we make a meaningful life? The answer to this question is outlined in a TED talk by Joshua Hicks: A scientific approach to a meaningful life. He describes four pillars of meaning: mattering, experiential appreciation, purpose, and seeking coherence.
Mattering is about feeling significant to others and leaving a positive lasting mark. Mattering to others often means having good relationships with friends and family members, while sociocultural significance may come from the work that we do. We can build relationships and cultivate friendships, and help others through work or volunteering. Make time to CARE.
• Communicate well
• Authentic awareness
• Relate with listening
• Emotional intelligence
• Take time for others
• Include, invite, introduce
• Make connections
• Entertain and have fun
Key skills for mattering are communication, emotional intelligence, and other social skills. Learn helpful skills with TED talks at the Relate and Communicate Pathways, plus the book (Amazon affiliate links provide a small commission that helps to support the Daily PlanIt) and TED talk below:
- Mattering by Jennifer Breheny Wallace, TED talk Why we need to know our lives matter.
Appreciation of experience is about noticing the world around us. We may enjoy a conversation or the taste of food, be moved by hearing music, or seeing the beauty of a rainbow or lightning. We may feel joy or awe in natural settings. We can increase our ability to be aware with meditation, by reducing distractions, expressing gratitude, and by exploring with curiosity. Be made SANE:
• Be observant and open
• Embrace mindfulness
• Make music and create art
• Add awareness of self and world
• Delete distractions and devote time
• Enhance workspaces and home
• Seek and see beauty
• Appreciate with awe and wonder
• Notice nature
• Express gratitude
Learn more with TED talks at the Create Pathway, plus the books and TED talks below:
- Joy: Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee, TED talk Where joy hides and where to find it
- Awe: Phosphorescence by Julia Baird, TED talk The power of feeling small: how awe and wonder sustain us
- Humor: Humor Me by Chris Duffy, TED talk How to find laughter anywhere
Purpose is the pursuit of goals that are both personally meaningful and make a positive mark on the world. Identify strengths, reflect on priorities, and plan purpose with vision, mission, and values for meaningful goals. Break large ambitions into smaller, actionable steps. Overcome procrastination and other obstacles. Maintain motivation and focus on what energizes you. Regularly review progress and re-align daily actions with your “why.” SMART MOVES for purpose:
• Start with strengths
• Master attention
• Act with agency
• Reach for vision and mission
• Target priorities
• Manage distractions
• Overcome procrastination
• View progress with reviews
• Engage energy and flow
• Stay on track for results
Key skills for purpose are self-reflection, knowledge of the career search process, goal setting, planning, and time management. Look for Clues to Purpose and Ikigai. Learn helpful skills for purpose with TED talks at the Purpose, Work Engagement, and Aspire Pathways. Start with the following book and TED talk:
- Get It Done by Ayelet Fishbach, TED talk How to set the right goals and stay motivated.
Seek Coherence – the feeling that your life makes sense. Regular routines provide the rhythms that help us feel that life is meaningful. Experiencing a traumatic event, shattered expectations, and overthinking can leave us feeling that life is beyond our comprehension. Seek clarity when life feels UNCERTAIN:
• Uplift with compassion and self-care
• Navigate change and uncertainty
• Choose to cultivate courage
• Expand thinking and examine beliefs
• Regulate emotions
• Take small steps with a structured routine
• Act with agency to control or influence what you can
• Integrate influence
• Notice with experiential appreciation
Key skills for coherence are emotional intelligence, resilience, positive self-talk, psychological distance, courage, and realistic optimism. Learn helpful skills with TED Talks at the Clarity Pathway (which includes emotional intelligence) and the Psychology Pathway. Plus the following book and TED Talk:
- Coherence by Alan Watkins, TED talk The Journey from mental health to enlightenment. Wake up, Grow up, Own up, and Show up.
Learn more at The Choice to Act. Find more TED talks by speakers who are also authors at TED talk book discussion.
I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.
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