Purpose

Meaning

What You Need in a Meaning of Life Book

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, April 12 2023

There are a lot of books out there on the meaning of life and your existence in this universe. Some are focused on the religious or the spiritual, while others are focused on the philosophical or the ethical. Of course, there is only one that I know of that worked back from evolutionary biology and psychology to conclude the human drivers of...

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The Meaning of Life

Where Most "Meaning of Life" and "Life Purpose" Books Might Mislead You

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, January 25 2023

You can't write a book called The Meaning of Life: A guide to finding your life's purpose and not have a strong opinion as to challenges with most philosophy, self-help, and personal growth books. Obviously, there are many, many takes on the question of what the point of it all is, and the overwhelming majority of them are honest and have...

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Growth

When Growth Goes Wrong

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, December 21 2022

The Meaning of Life: A guide to finding your life's purpose goes into a lot of detail about how growth is the point because all life strives to be in a better state over time. It differentiates this purpose from happiness, which is the indicator of growth, such as when you feel happy after eating, sex, sleeping, or physical activity. One of the...

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Suffering

Do People Need Religion?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, December 14 2022

Religion is a difficult subject because of how it is tied to deeply held beliefs of the individual. Additionally, most people who analyze it are either making a case one way or another or are providing some sort of critique. (Note: I found this out the hard way for when I wrote that God was a great source of belief when someone doesn’t believe in...

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Growth

New, Better, More

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 10 2022

If someone were to ask me what their life mantra should be, I would suggest, “New, Better, More”.  Why?  Because that’s what keeps life interesting, engaging, and meaningful.  Let’s discuss. This blog and the book, The Meaning of Life, talk a lot about growth.  Growth is ultimately the point of life, as all living organisms strive to grow and it ma...

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Success

The Positive Outcome

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, July 27 2022

There is one unifying goal in all of life: the positive outcome.  Everyone is looking for that one meaning in life that makes them feel fulfilled: service to others, love, happiness, pleasure, achievement, learning, personal growth, financial success, respect, or appreciation.  The truth is that it is all growth-related, as everyone looks forward t...

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Growth

Money Is the Root of All Awesome

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, March 23 2022

"Money is the root of all evil."  Yes, it's a cliché because people will do horrible things over money: lie, cheat, steal, fight, and even kill.  It's also the source of much jealousy in this world: some people have it; some people don't; some people resent that others have more than they do (regardless of how much they have).  But most anger, jeal...

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Growth

Boredom: Very Important…and Very, Very Dangerous

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, March 2 2022

“Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.”  You might have heard this saying, which summarizes well the downsides of boredom.  Boredom is an emotional response to the lack of novelty, challenge, or engagement coming from a person’s surroundings, and it is a very important mechanism for keeping people and animals engaged in play and other activities tha...

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Desire

Your Desires Are [Subject to Change]

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, February 16 2022

After talking about how desires are a good thing despite some philosophies pointing out that they can sometimes cause you to to feel negative emotions, I thought I’d provide a short overview of how desires evolve over time. Whereas in my previous post I discussed how the endless number of desires you’ll have in your life is not necessarily a signal...

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Meaning

The Purpose of The Meaning of Life Blog

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, October 20 2021

The Meaning of Life Blog has a clear mission: To help individuals understand the primary drivers of humans' sense of meaning in life so that they can foster a greater sense of purpose in their own lives. Why is this so important, and what is different about how I help people with meaning and purpose compared to people who have been writing or speak...

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