Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl remains one of the most influential books of the 20th century. In the book, Victor tells us about life in Nazi concentration camps during Adolf Hitler’s brutal regime.
Before he was bundled into a concentration camp, Victor worked as a doctor in Vienna, Austria. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor lets us into the psyche of people like him (scholars, doctors, engineers, etc.) who were pushed into digging rail tracks…
His work centers around why some gave up on life and never returned. And why others held onto life and happily reunited with their family.
If you’ve not read the book, you can grab a copy on Jumia.
5 Motivational Takeaways from Man’s Search for Meaning
Man’s Search for Meaning changed my perception about so many issues in life. Here are my 6 takeaways from this great book…
Stop Chasing Success
Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you’re going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued, it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself…
No one wants to fail. Everyone wants to succeed.
After all, failure is an orphan (no one really likes being an orphan).
So we sacrifice everything: family, reputation, and health, just to get success.
Victor tells us this is not the way. We all need to calm down and focus on what matters.
You need not sacrifice so much for success. In fact, if you pick a field where you have an ‘edge of competency‘ and work hard at the field, success will probably come to you after a few years.
Running pillar to post in search of success is not the way. Don’t listen to society. They are always wrong. Always!
Have The Right Attitude
…everything can be taken from a man but one thing: to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way
Life is hard. You’ll fail. Many times. Constantly.
But it’s how you respond to your many failures that will define you, not the failure itself.
Throughout history, we read about stories of great minds who failed so many times, but still trudged on until they won.
Choose the right response always. That’s where the magic happens.
Embrace Suffering
Everywhere man is confronted with fate, with the chance of achieving something through his own suffering.
Look around you and notice how much everyone tries to run away from suffering.
Innovations that encourage comfort sell the most. Tools and toys that reduce human suffering are widely adopted in no time.
This is human nature. Though, it’s not bad in itself. This culture has now made many lazy and un-productive.
Consuming is now our default. Creating is now seen as suffering.
You need to push yourself to do hard things.
The obstacle is the way.
Be Responsible
A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the “why” for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any how.
Take responsibility for your actions. Don’t always be in a hurry to make judgements.
Remember that you have loved ones and a destiny to fulfill. The universe has sent you here for a reason.
Find that reason and accomplish every strand of what you’re born for.
Have Faith
The prisoner who had lost faith in his future was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay.
When I read this line from the book, my mind raced to a speech Steve Jobs gave before his death…
He said, “sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.”
You must resist the comforting urge to give up, whatever happens.
Keep the faith!
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