Meaning.

What drives you?

That question has been asked since the dawn of man, most likely.

Pleasure, said Freud.

Power, said Adler.

Those are valid, but I think Viktor Frankl got it right when he said it’s Meaning.

Frankl, a neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor was born in Vienna on March 26, 1905, survived Nazi concentration camps, and later taught and practiced in Vienna until his death on September 2, 1997.

Frankl’s core claim is simple: people don’t live by pleasure or power alone—we live by purpose. When we locate a “why,” we can bear almost any “how.”

Simon Sinek explains the importance of “why” beautifully in this classic TED Talk:

A key component of Frankl’s theory is that suffering ceases to be suffering when it finds meaning. Suffering doesn’t magically become good. But it can be used for good. That’s not denial. It’s more like defiance—choosing a response that honors a higher purpose.

If a man, facing death in a concentration camp, can find purpose and meaning in his suffering so can you and I.

He leaned on the idea that those with a purpose can bear almost any “what.” In camp he kept imagining the lectures and work he’d do after liberation. He helped prevent suicides by helping others imagine their future.

He determined to hold on to the last of his freedoms by choosing his attitude.

If you don’t have a why, your what-who-and-how, are diminished.

What is your why?

If you’re restless…good! Embrace the struggle.

Find your why and find meaning.