Furry FeetNotes: What's the Most Important Book You’ve Never Read?
For me it was Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. I finally read it.
The Last of the Mohicans.
The Godfather
Forrest Gump
These movies are American cultural reference points. Most are at least familiar with the titles and know what they are about. The GIFs and the memes.
There is one thing each of these films have in common.
I’ve watched none of them.
I will someday.
Probably.
I have a similar list of books. Authors I read consistently reference certain works, many of which I haven’t read. But should.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl is one of the most common reference points in my regular reading. I realized earlier this year that I’d never read it.
This month I remedied that fact.
I am certainly glad I did.
Victor Frankl was an Austrian psychologist who founded an entire school of psychology called Logotherapy. He believed, taught, and practiced that the primary motivational force for the human psyche is meaning. He practiced this discipline until his death in 1997. There are over 15 centers for Logotherapy in locations around the world. While he was a brilliant, highly educated professional, there is one thing that gives him proper authority.
Victor Frankl survived the horrors of Auschwitz.
This certainly gives Man’s Search for Meaning — well — meaning.
There’s a lot to process in this book. The first half is his story — an insider look at the gruesome realities of a Nazi concentration camp, and what it takes to survive a nightmare.
But this book is more than a horror story wrapped in autobiography. The layers in this book make it potentially one of the most important books I’ve ever read.
Here are a dozen lessons I learned while reading this short book:
Beauty brings surprising meaning, especially in difficult circumstances. A violin playing at the darkest, ugliest and most horrific moment connects the hearer to a memory, a hope, or someone they love.
Future hope brings significance to our lives. When we close our eyes to the future and only live in the past life becomes meaningless. We must always think forward.
Humans connect purpose to usefulness. I am needed by a person/people or I am needed by a work or a task.
Love is the absolute anchor to meaning.
There needs to be pressure in our lives. Stress doesn’t have to be bad. We connect purpose to the struggle involved with moving toward a goal or a task that is making a difference in someone else's life.
This is why retirees are often unhappy doing nothing but bridge and shuffleboard. It could be why both sets of my grandparents died within weeks of their spouse. When meaning ceases exists, life will soon also cease to exist.The meaning of life is not abstract, nor is it universal. Purpose is deeply personal. It is never themeaning of life. It's your meaning for your life. Instead of asking, “What life can offer me?”, ask, “What can I offer life?”
Meaning/purpose is always about other people. Generosity is at the core of self-actualization.
We find meaning through these avenues:
Creativity (Making something, building a work, doing a deed or a task)
Beauty/Love (Experiencing intimacy with something or someone)
Overcoming (Triumph over tragedy, becoming more than the sum of our difficulties)
This is a fantastic "in the moment" decision-making filter:
Live as if you were living for the second time and had acted as wrongly the first time as you are about to act now.Living in dreams of the past is far different from remembering the realities of the past. As we get older and have more life behind us than in front of us, actualized potential and fulfilled meaning is something no one can take away from us.
These two statements are true and accurate at the same time:
There is potential to find meaning in suffering.
Suffering is not required to find meaning.
Helping others discover purpose/meaning is one of the most important things we can do.
I spend a lot of time working directly with business owners, entrepreneurs, and non-profit leaders. One of the very first activities in my consulting/coaching process is to help these leaders discover their purpose.
Not A purpose.
Not THE ultimate purpose.
THEIR purpose.
And it is revolutionary.
Probably not for the whole world.
Maybe not even for their organization (although leaders who know their purpose will lead purposeful organizations, and that does change everything.)
But for them. For the humanity. Meaning for their own soul.
After clarity of purpose, the Growability® Business Model provides a framework for every other part of their organization.
But according to Frankl, (and to point 12 above) helping others find their purpose may well be the most important work any of us could ever do.
So, let us be alert—alert in a twofold sense: Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.
Victor Frankl
I commend this book to you, my reader. If you read it (or have read it), I would love to know your thoughts.
Now maybe I should plan some time to dig into The Godfather?
Remember, you are doing better than you think.
B.
Note: If you or your organization would like to discover your purpose, and get your hands on a Business Operating System that will provide your organization with long-term growth, stability, and meaning — I’d love to have a conversation.
Download this PDF and respond to this email.
I’d love to help.
This is my every Sunday-ish essay containing bits and bobs of what I’m reading, writing, watching, thinking, and experimenting with this week. Every month or so I also send complete notes from a book I’ve read, so you can decide if you want to read it too. Like the old version of Cliff’s Notes. But more Hobbit-like. Furry feetnotes. It’s always free. But if you like it and want to upgrade your subscription to paid, it will certainly help fund the coffee necessary to keep writing.
I am a consultant, coach, and trainer with Growability® Consulting, specializing in non-profit and cross-cultural business and leadership. Check out the Growability® Podcast at all your favorite podcast places. Would you like help with tools for managing your information, time, and projects? Respond to this email.
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