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Sep 15, 2017 · Journalist and author Emily Esfahani Smith doesn't care so much about happiness — rather, the pursuit of meaning and fulfillment.
Jul 31, 2017 · Amid this uncertainty, author Emily Esfahani Smith has illuminated a timeless foundation on which to build a meaningful life in The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters. It hinges on four pillars: belonging, purpose, storytelling, and transcendence.
- Katrina Schwartz
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- Belonging. "Belonging comes from being in relationships where you are valued for who you are intrinsically and where you value others as well," Esfahani Smith said.
- Purpose. This is not the same thing as a job that makes you happy. "The key to purpose is using your strengths to serve others," she said. For many people, that happens through work, which means economic problems like low workforce involvement or lack of engagement at work are existential problems too.
- Transcendence. Transcendence is when "you're lifted above the hustle and bustle of daily life, your sense of self fades away and you feel connected to a higher reality," Esfahani Smith said.
- Storytelling. She says this one often surprises people, but the story we tell ourselves about ourselves is powerful and can change. "Creating a narrative about the things in your life brings clarity.
Jun 28, 2019 · In her book “The Power of Meaning,” Emily Esfahani Smith rounds up the latest research to argue that the search for meaning is far more fulfilling than the pursuit of happiness.
Jan 10, 2017 · Emily Esfahani Smith is a journalist and the author of The Power of Meaning: Finding Fulfillment in a World Obsessed With Happiness (Crown). In this book, Smith argues that the unending pursuit of happiness has distracted us from what really matters—the search for meaning in life.
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In this book, Smith identifies four pillars of meaning: Belonging, Purpose, Storytelling, and Transcendence. To explain them, Smith taps into the wisdom of a wide assortment of sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, neuroscientists, and literary figures.
Drawing on the latest research in positive psychology; on insights from George Eliot, Viktor Frankl, Aristotle, the Buddha, and other great minds; and on interviews with seekers of meaning, Emily Esfahani Smith lays out the four pillars upon which meaning rests.
