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We live in a time of answers. Type your question into a search engine or AI chatbot and you’ll receive an instant, logical, high-quality response. But there is one question no technology can answer for you: What is the meaning of life? And the answer, oddly enough, is simple. I once saw it on a postcard in a café in Kathmandu: The meaning of life is whatever you want it to be.
Since then, I’ve dedicated myself to unpacking the science of meaning — trying to understand where it truly comes from. Is it flow state? Well-being? Habits? Goals? Failure? Resilience? Fun?
What do we regret most?
Maybe a better starting point is to ask: What compromises meaning?
In the book Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, palliative nurse Bronnie Ware captures the reflections of people in their final days — when the truth can no longer be hidden. The top regrets:
- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish I had let myself be happier.
Regret, I believe, lives at one end of an emotional spectrum. At the other end is fulfillment — the sense that life is meaningful, resonant and coherent. Regret is pain from the past, reheated for the present. To reduce it, can we outsource work, courage and happiness to AI?
Related: 9 Tips for Finding Your Life Purpose
Will abundance lead to emptiness?
Can AI and robotics automate the mundane so that hard work becomes optional? Elon Musk thinks so. He predicts that our future challenge won’t be productivity, but human fulfillment. Without adversity and longing, will an abundance of everything drive us into emotional collapse — or worse, trap us in echo chambers of narcissistic pleasure, the stars of our own digital realities?
Or will we do what humans always do — manufacture challenge, strive, compete and dream big? Even if we’re monkeys in glass cages, under the watchful gaze of a superintelligent “god” that punishes misbehavior, rewards effort and medicates us with algorithmic precision? Well, many of us do like rules and boundaries. Would I prefer an AI overlord to flawed human governance? Maybe. Could AI usher in a great reset, reallocating wealth and distributing resources more efficiently? Quite possibly. Will it honor merit — or invite, even compel, everyone to contribute meaningfully? (I asked ChatGPT, which answered that compulsion would only be required if we face existential threats.)
What makes the journey worthwhile?
Whatever the future holds, the central challenge remains: making the journey feel worthwhile. Ensuring what we do matters — if only to ourselves.
For much of history, religion, kings, nations, communities and families prescribed our values. There was no need to ask deep questions, especially when the primary value was survival. But now we must ask questions like: What is important to me? What brings me fulfillment? What legacy do I want to leave?
Purpose can feel grandiose, but values are ingrained — often diffracted beneath the surface of our awareness, revealed in moments of stress or joy. When you clarify your values, you can begin to create your own spiritual practice.
How do you put values into practice?
Love fitness? Stretch at dawn, run at sunset and build your life around it. Value kindness? Serve others, act with compassion and volunteer weekly. Value peace? Meditate, teach yoga and campaign to end wars.
Living in alignment with your values creates meaning, especially when it’s hard. We need resistance. We need positive stress. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing how far we’ve come: how we now handle pressure better than a younger version of ourselves, or how we’ve restored balance after chaos and disruption.
In my workshops, I ask people what they’re most proud of achieving in the past year. The answers are never about ease. They’re about resilience — overcoming illness, supporting loved ones, pushing through stretch goals or simply refusing to give up.
What is the hero’s journey today?
We don’t have to be perfect. But we do need to try, fail and try again. That’s the hero’s journey: leave the comfort zone, gather allies, gain skills, get knocked down and rise again. We conquer the dragon and return home changed. That journey is what creates meaning.
AI can’t give us that. It can be a tool, but we still need mastery, growth, community and courage.
Yes, some may get left behind — immersed in virtual realities, fed by robots, existing in gamified, plasma dreams. A real-life Matrix. But there’s another possibility: We define our values, and AI helps us find challenges where we can still make a difference. It suggests allies. It nudges us toward purpose. And like any good guide, it lets us stumble.
Related: Want to Find Your Purpose? Stop Looking for It. Start Living With It.
Where do we begin?
We do something worthwhile — whether it’s achieving a goal, being of service or loving someone.
We work less. We live authentically. We stay connected to friends. We speak our truth. We allow happiness, but it starts with values. Because if you don’t choose them consciously, you’ll absorb them unconsciously, whether it’s from consumer culture, influencers or convenience — and you’ll feel empty.
So, unearth your values. Practice them. Build resilience. Dream big. Aim for the stars — and with the help of superintelligence, you just might get there.