finding purpose and meaning: intentional living workshop

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Finding Purpose and Meaning: Intentional Living Gleb Tsipursky, PhD President, Co-Founder and Chief Insights Officer Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

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Finding Purpose and Meaning:Intentional Living

Gleb Tsipursky, PhDPresident, Co-Founder and Chief Insights Officer

Intentional Insightswww.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

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

What is the Meaning of Life?

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, 155-169.

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 USdo not necessarily experience

a lesser sense of meaning and purpose.

• Darrin M. McMahon, Happiness: A History, (2005).

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

2011 World Happiness Report: (http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/Sachs%20Writing/2012/World%20Happiness%20Report.pdf)Intentional Insights

www.intentionalinsights.org

Why does Purpose in Life Correlate with Religion in the US?

1. Strong community connections2. Opportunities for serving others3. Venues to reflect on meaning and

purpose

• Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships (New York: Bantam Dell, 2006).Intentional Insights

www.intentionalinsights.org

What About Less Religious Societies?

In other societies, non-religious venues often offer opportunities for:

1. Community connections2. Serving others3. 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)

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

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 setting3. Helping others find meaning and purpose in

life

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

How do you as an individual find purpose and meaning in life?

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

Strategies: Evaluation

Purpose and Meaning Questionnaire (PMQ)

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

Strategies: Highest-Order Goals

What is the meaning of life for me?

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

Strategies: Purpose

What is my purpose in life?

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

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, to2. Make effective decisions, that3. Achieve my short and long-term goals

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

Strategies

• Individual Reflection• Group Discussion• Revision (at home)

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org

Strategies

Workshop Feedback• Feedback Form• Video

Intentional Insights www.intentionalinsights.org