Purpose and Meaning

Take a seat.

Purpose and meaning are often spoken of as though they are the same thing. They are not, and the distinction matters — particularly in retirement, when both need fresh attention.

Meaning is the deeper question. It is the “why” that most people carry through their lives — Why am I here? What has my life amounted to? What is it still for? These questions do not arrive only in retirement. They surface at significant moments throughout most lives, and retirement is certainly one of those moments.

Most people have a relationship with these questions already, even if they have never put it into words. The questions sit beneath the surface of many conversations, and have a way of becoming louder when the busyness of working life no longer drowns them out.

Purpose is different. Purpose is the “what.” It is the thing you are for, the activity or commitment that gives your days direction and your efforts a point.

During your working years, purpose was largely provided for you. The job supplied it — sometimes richly, sometimes inadequately, but it was there. Retirement removes that provision and hands the choice back to you. That is both a freedom and a responsibility. It catches many people unprepared.

Selecting a purpose in retirement requires more care than is generally appreciated. Not every activity that fills the time constitutes a purpose. Purpose tends to make use of who you are — your experience, your values, your standards, your particular capacities — and connects to something beyond your own comfort and convenience. It is also, ideally, something that can grow into a passion. A purpose that engages you deeply enough will do that over time.

The relationship between purpose, identity and meaning is worth noting. The question of meaning — the “why” — is significantly shaped by your answer to the prior question of identity: Who am I now? and What do I actually stand for?

Until these questions have been honestly engaged with, the search for purpose can feel directionless. This is why identity, purpose, and meaning are best thought of, not as separate items on a checklist, but as a conversation that unfolds over time — each one informing and deepening the others.

That conversation is worth starting before retirement arrives, not after.

Jack Lack’s Listening Chair is always here, as is your welcome.