Michael Steger, PhD (#05)

The Shannon Harvey Podcast

After listening to this week's podcast, I suspect that you won't be able to stop yourself from taking a moment to reflect on what really matters to you the most in life, on what is truly important to you... and why.

This episode is with Professor Michael Stegor – a world-leading expert in finding meaning in life. He's the Founder and Director of the Center for Meaning and Purpose at the University of Colorado. Among other things in the interview we discuss:

• Why feeling that we have more meaning and purpose makes us biologically healthier
• The new research showing that helping our kids to find meaning from a young age is really important
• How to find meaning (even though it's different for everyone)

What I find interesting, when I look back to this conversation, is that although it didn’t fit exactly into my investigative deep dive into mindfulness that ultimately came next for me – the interview was profoundly influential on everything I’ve done since and will do in the future. At the end you’ll hear Mike reveal that he used to be a therapist, and I think you’ll get a sense that he must have been really really good. He seems to just get people, and really understand what makes life worth living.