035: Michael Steger - Making Purpose a Worthy Empirical Study That Helps, Not Hurts
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Show Notes
Michael Steger is a professor of psychology and founding director of the Center for Meaning and Purpose at Colorado State University. For more than 15 years, he has researched how people flourish by living a meaningful life. Michael has published more than 100 scholarly journal articles and book chapters, as well as three books. He was recently named as an Extraordinary Professor by North-West University in South Africa. He received his B.A. in Psychology from Macalester College and his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and Personality Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 2005. His graduate work on developing a measure of meaning in life earned him the Best Dissertation Award from the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies. He has continued to research the foundations and benefits of living a meaningful life. In addition, he has published research on factors related to achieving well-being, how people adjust to traumatic life events, and social influences on depression. He is the co-editor of Designing Positive Psychology from Oxford University Press, and Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace from American Psychological Association Press. His research also investigates what makes work meaningful, and how meaningful work enriches employees and organizations. He currently serves as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Personality, and serves on the editorial boards of several other journals. You can contact Michael at [email protected]
Listen as we talk about:
- How he's made purpose a living thing
- How he's created a template that connects data to the human condition
- How self-absorption gave him the compulsion to help
- Why his study of purpose has actually created purpose in the real world
- The main key to living moment by moment of purpose is to be authentic
- The impact of shifting his intention to start on a path rather than a project
- Why the biggest question for scaling purpose is "how can I simplify meaning and purpose?
- Why establishing harmony within your life allows you to have your purpose and integrity driven by your values
- How people of other perspectives shape him
- Why we must strive to learn from experiences
Resources mentioned:
- Michael's TED Talk
- Viktor Frankl - Man's Search for Meaning
- Irvin Yalom - Existential Psychotherapy
- Carol Ryff
- Gary Reeker
- Sign up or hear more about our Path to Purpose course via [email protected]
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