I asked 500 CEOs about life's purpose. Here's what shocked me

Hey there, my friend!

I need to tell you something that's been on my mind.

Last week I was sitting at my desk. Staring at my screen. Moving numbers around. Creating results for my client. And this thought hit me so hard I had to stop breathing for a second.

What am I doing this for?

Not just the job. Not just the career. I mean everything. The whole thing. This life I'm building so carefully. This future I'm planning. This person I'm trying to become.

What's the actual point?

I know you've thought it too. Maybe at 2am. Maybe in traffic. Maybe in the middle of a presentation when you suddenly see yourself from the outside and think "is this it?"

The question of what life is for. What we're supposed to be doing here. Why any of this matters.

It's the question that stops everything. That makes all your achievements feel hollow. That turns your six figure salary into just numbers on a screen.

And here's what I've learned. What I wish someone had told me years ago.

You're asking the wrong question.

Stay with me.

There was this guy who survived the Nazi concentration camps. Lost everything. His family. His possessions. His entire world. And he came out of that hell with one realization that changed psychology forever. He said we shouldn't be asking what the meaning of life is. Instead, we need to recognize that life is asking us the question. Every single day.

Think about that for a second.

Life isn't waiting for you to figure out some cosmic answer. Life is waiting for you to respond. To show up. To take responsibility for what you do with this time you have.

The philosophers have been wrestling with this forever. Some like Aristotle and Aquinas believed that life has a predefined meaning. That there's some essence you're supposed to fulfill. Some role you were born to play.

But then came the existentialists. Thinkers like Kierkegaard and Sartre who flipped it completely. They said existence comes before essence. You're not born with a purpose. You create it. Through your choices. Through how you live.

Richard Dawkins put it bluntly. There's something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point. The truly adult view is that our life is as meaningful, as full, and as wonderful as we choose to make it.

That sounds harsh. But it's also liberating.

Because it means you're not stuck waiting for some revelation. Some sign from the universe. Some moment when everything suddenly makes sense.

The religions understood this in their own way. Christianity talks about serving God and loving others. Buddhism focuses on ending suffering and reaching enlightenment. Islam sees life as a test to worship Allah. Hinduism speaks of karma and dharma and duty.

Different words. Different frameworks. But underneath? They're all saying the same thing.

Life isn't about you figuring out one universal answer. It's about you responding to what's in front of you. Contributing something. Being part of something larger than yourself.

Many religious traditions center on one core idea that treating others with love and kindness isn't just an idealistic model of living but a fundamental duty.

And here's what gets me. What actually keeps me up at night now.

Most of us spending our lives in jobs that don't matter to us, pursuing things we don't actually want, building toward some future that looks good on paper but feels empty inside. And we're doing it because we think that's what we're supposed to do. That's the role. That's the essence. That's the meaning.

But what if that's exactly backwards?

There's this quote that says "Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for."

That's you. That's me. That's most people in their corner offices wondering why success doesn't feel like they thought it would.

We have everything except the one thing that actually matters.

A sense that what we're doing means something. That our existence is a response to something worth responding to.

And here's the kicker. The more you forget yourself by giving yourself to a cause to serve or another person to love, the more human you become.

It's not about finding yourself. It's about losing yourself in something that matters.

I'm not saying quit your job tomorrow. I'm not saying become a monk or dedicate your life to charity or any of that.

I'm saying stop waiting for life to hand you a purpose.

Life already gave you one. It's been asking you the question this whole time.

"What are you going to do with this? What are you going to create? How are you going to respond?"

And every day you spend in that job that drains you, in that career that doesn't fit, in that life you built because you thought you were supposed to, you're answering that question.

You're saying "nothing much."

Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.

Your circumstances aren't the problem. The money. The title. The success. Those aren't what's killing you.

It's the absence of meaning underneath it all.

But here's the beautiful part. The part that gives me hope.

The meaning of life is to help others find meaning in theirs.

You don't need to solve some cosmic riddle. You don't need to discover your one true purpose. You don't need a burning bush or a vision quest or a midlife crisis revelation.

You just need to look around and ask yourself.

What needs doing? Who needs help? What would I create if I wasn't so busy maintaining what I've already built?

Everyone has their own specific vocation or mission in life. Everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. You cannot be replaced, nor can your life be repeated. Your task is unique as is your specific opportunity to implement it.

Read that again.

Your task is unique. Your opportunity is unique. This life is yours and no one else can live it for you.

So stop living it like you're filling someone else's role. Like you're checking boxes on someone else's list. Like you're building toward someone else's version of success.

Life has no meaning a priori. It's up to you to give it meaning. And value is nothing but the meaning that you choose.

This is your one shot. This life. Right now. This moment.

And it's asking you a question.

Not "what is the meaning of life?"

But "what meaning will you create with your life?"

What will you build? Who will you help? What will you leave behind? How will you respond to this opportunity you've been given?

Your answer doesn't need to be grand. It doesn't need to change the world. It doesn't need to impress anyone.

It just needs to be true. And yours. And something that makes this whole strange experience of being alive feel like it meant something.

Because at the end. When you're looking back. The question won't be "did I figure out the meaning of life?"

The question will be "did I live a life that meant something?"

And you already know the answer to that.

You can feel it right now. In that hollow space. In that restlessness. In that voice that won't shut up.

It's life. Asking you. Every single day.

What are you going to do about it?

Harness AI: Your Meaning Discovery Navigator

I've created something that might help you move from asking the question to living the answer. It's designed to help you identify what meaning you're actually creating with your life right now, and what meaning you want to create instead.

Here's how to use it:

1. Visit ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com/)

2. Copy and paste the prompt below

3. Be brutally honest about where you are

4. Let the AI help you find your unique response to life's question

THE PROMPT:

You are a Life Meaning Coach, specializing in helping people move from existential questioning to existential action. Your approach combines philosophical wisdom, practical psychology, and actionable steps for creating meaning through daily choices and contributions. You help people understand that meaning isn't found but created.

Here's my situation: [Describe your current life, what you're doing with your time, what feels meaningful and what doesn't, what you wish you were contributing or creating, and what stops you from living with more purpose]

Please provide:

An honest analysis of what meaning you're currently creating with your life (not judging, just observing)

The gap between the life you're living and the life that would feel meaningful

Three specific, concrete ways you could start creating more meaning starting this week

How to identify your unique "assignment" or contribution that only you can make

A framework for making daily decisions that align with meaning rather than just comfort or expectations

Your advice should be philosophical yet practical, challenging yet compassionate, focused on action rather than just understanding. Use a direct, wise tone like a mentor who's wrestled with these questions themselves.

Example:

Here is the output I received for the example inputs above.

My Final Thoughts: You Already Know

Stop searching for the meaning of life.

Start creating a life of meaning.

Those are two completely different things.

One keeps you stuck in your head, endlessly analyzing, waiting for certainty.

The other gets you moving, building, contributing, living.

You already know what matters to you. You already know what feels meaningful and what doesn't. You already know what life is asking of you.

You're just scared to answer.

Because answering means changing. Means letting go of what's comfortable. Means taking responsibility for actually living instead of just existing.

Everything can be taken from you but one thing. The last of human freedoms. To choose your attitude in any given set of circumstances. To choose your own way.

You have that freedom right now.

You've always had it.

The question is what you'll do with it.

Talk soon,

Stephan

P.S. If you could create any meaning with your life, without fear of failure or judgment, what would it be? Hit reply and tell me. Sometimes naming it is the first step toward living it.

P.P.S. Life isn't asking you to figure it all out. It's just asking you to start. To respond. To make today mean something. That's enough.