3 Ways to Cultivate an Essential Factor for Wellbeing in Midlife and Beyond

I’m sharing something deeply meaningful that has guided my own life and the lives of so many I’ve worked with. It comes from Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, who wrote Man’s Search for Meaning.

Frankl believed that meaning is not just something we want in life. It is something we need. It’s what gives us strength to face each day, to navigate life’s joys and hardships, and to live with purpose.

He said there are three main ways we create meaning in our lives. I’ll share each one, and then I’ll give you simple suggestions for putting implementing them into your life.

Way #1 – Creating a Work or Doing a Deed

This is about contribution or making an impact, whether large or small, through what we do. It could be in your professional work, your volunteering, creating art, or simple acts of kindness.

✅ Here are two simple ways to do this today:

1. Complete a small meaningful task.
   Maybe it’s writing a thank you note to someone who has supported you. Maybe it’s organizing one small space in your home so you feel clear and focused. Or doing something kind for a neighbor or stranger, like giving a genuine compliment.
2. Begin a small creative project.
   Write a short poem or entry in your journal. Plant flowers outside. Create something with your hands such as a bracelet, a meal, a note. Revisit what you enjoyed in childhood. There are now adult versions of these projects, and engaging in the projects has the added bonus of calming the nervous system and improving mental health. Check out adult versions of playdough, legos, and coloring books.

Remember, meaning is not always in big achievements. It’s in these small actions that leave a positive mark on your world.

Way #2 – Experiencing Something or Encountering Someone

Meaning isn’t only about what we do, but what we receive and feel through life. Frankl described how beauty, nature, art, and love bring deep meaning.

✅ Here are two simple ways to practice this today:

1. Engage with beauty.
   Watch the sunset. Listen to a beautiful piece of music with your full attention. Sit outside and truly notice the colors and shapes of the trees or flowers around you. Listen the birds.
2. Connect intentionally with someone.
   Call a friend just to listen and be present. Make eye contact and smile at a stranger today, acknowledging our shared humanity.

Meaning is created in these moments of connection, with the world, with beauty, and with each other.

Way #3 – The Attitude We Take Toward Unavoidable Suffering

Frankl believed that even in suffering, we can find meaning by choosing how we respond. This doesn’t mean denying pain, but transforming it by finding purpose within it.

✅ Here are two ways to practice this:

1. Ask yourself, “What is this teaching me?”
   When you’re facing a challenge, pause and ask what lesson, strength, or insight this experience is giving you. How might it prepare you to help someone else in the future?
2. Practice radical acceptance.
   Instead of resisting your pain or hardship, acknowledge it with compassion. Say, “This is what is happening right now. How can I care for myself and take one small next step forward?”

Choosing our attitude, even in the darkest times, creates profound meaning in our lives.

We explored three pathways to meaning:

1. Creating a work or doing a deed
2. Experiencing something or encountering someone
3. Choosing our attitude toward unavoidable suffering

These are powerful practices for any stage of life, but especially in midlife when we seek to deepen our purpose and live authentically. This is important to cultivate, as purpose and meaning are strongly associated with wellbeing in midlife and beyond.

One last suggestion – keep it simple! Your high-achieving brain may try to trick you into thinking that your action needs to be something huge or on a large scale.

Your action does not need to be grand in order to be powerful for cultivating a deep sense of purpose and meaning in your life.

If you’re ready to explore your own sense of purpose and create a second half of life filled with more joy, connection, and meaning, I invite you to join Your Happy Second Half. Cultivating purpose is just one of the many powerful topics we explore as we uncover what truly matters, reconnect with who you are now, and create a life that feels fulfilling and aligned in this next chapter.