What is the Meaning of Life?

I was recently invited onto @TheShagsworth’s podcast and he asked me the question of all questions:

What's the meaning of life?

I've thought about this question a lot and my answer is: fulfillment

When I use the word fulfillment, I mean it from a genuinely internal sense. We often look for things to make us happy or feel fulfilled but they can't. It's a material possession designed for short-term pleasure but it can't (and doesn't) make your soul whole.

I believe if you're able to find genuine fulfillment, you're likely doing something that is a net positive for society. I often watch people who are participating in a debaucherous lifestyle claim to be happy but they never say they're fulfilled.

Happiness and fulfillment are different. Fulfillment is lasting and endlessly rewarding but happiness comes and goes. That new car you bought makes you happy initially but after a while, the endorphin hit you had from having a new item enter your life will slowly dissipate.

The hard part though is finding what makes you experience fulfillment. There are a myriad of occupations and hobbies that someone can participate in these days and it's difficult to decide which path to follow to reach the end goal of fulfillment. However, I was able to find mine.

I started solo traveling years ago and on one particular trip to Germany, where I was traveling between Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg and I sat on multiple high-speed trains thinking about my life throughout my 9-day visit. I wondered about what I wanted to do with my life and what my purpose was in this world.

---

“Black Victim To Black Victor” Book by Adam B. Coleman. Rated 4 1/2 Stars on Amazon!

“Adam B. Coleman puts his arm around the people he has lived amongst his whole life, providing them with honest and incredibly personal insight.”

“Wow. I had no idea when I started to read this book, how important the message is for every single one of us.”

Wrong Speak Publishing’s First Book! Purchase Now from WSP’s Store or Amazon!

---

It's unbelievable how much thinking you can get done on a train while on vacation without any obligations or distractions but that's when I figured out what my purpose was and even made the decision to write a book (although that took a couple of years to manifest).

I realized that the thing that always made me feel fulfilled was helping people. All of my jobs have been customer service oriented, ranging from alarm company dispatcher to in-person tech support. I would go above & beyond to help people because I cared and it was fulfilling.

I made it my objective to become a positive force in the world by doing my best to help others no matter the occupational direction I decided to head in. This purpose is what gives me fulfillment and my fulfillment contributes in small ways to benefiting others in society.

This fulfillment is something that I believe benefits both yourself and society equally and we need that fulfillment as an additional motivating factor to ultimately benefit others around us.

Does it feel like more people these days are less fulfilled? Yes, it seems this way.

We live in an attention economy, where one distraction is pitted against the other to get the attention of as many people as possible. However, when you're distracted, someone else benefits, and often monetarily.

When you're distracted from seeking your purpose, which will ultimately lead to fulfillment, we all lose. The more lost & empty souls roaming the earth, the worse it is for us all.

Only you can find this purpose but if you're having trouble, maybe you need your own version of a German train to de-clutter your mind and find what's likely standing right in front of you.