Wellbeing column: In search of the Meaning of Studies

Are you looking for your own thing or meaningful work? Or has the passion for your field and studies faded? If you’re pondering the significance of your studies and career, that’s good! You are someone who wants to live a good life. Meaningfulness arises when we find our actions purposeful and valuable. It comes from the feeling that we are connected to other people and a larger goal that feels important to us. It’s worth considering meaningfulness, as experiencing it is linked to higher life satisfaction and both mental and physical well-being. But what on earth to do if studying feels tedious, your career path isn’t clear, and everyday student life feels somewhat meaningless?

I believe that experiencing meaningfulness is a skill that can be nurtured and developed. Meaningfulness is characterized by moments when we feel a sense of belonging, work for the common good, and grow as individuals (Martikainen, Kudrna, and Dolan 2022). These experiences can be created and strengthened through skillful actions. This requires the ability to pause and notice meaning, sufficient self-awareness, and persistent commitment to goals that are important to oneself.

Notice Meaning

You can see studying as a pathway to achieving life goals that matter to you. Even in a seemingly dull course, consider what useful skills for the future the course teaches. Instead of focusing on the substance, pay attention to broad skills that are beneficial in all jobs and life in general. Regardless of the field, higher education teaches at least thinking, problem-solving, communication, and self-management skills. Meaning can be found in noticing that we are becoming skilled workers and persistent individuals, no matter the subject studied. It’s also good to remember that the world is changing so rapidly technologically and culturally that we cannot yet know what job opportunities will be available in the future. Your path is most likely to be found by developing a variety of skills and trusting that completing one thing will open new doors.

Get to Know Yourself

Good self-awareness helps in experiencing meaningfulness. When you know what you are good at and what is important to you, you can harness your skills for activities that add value to others. Meaningfulness can come from immediately applying what you’ve learned in your own work or participating in project work that benefits a company. While sitting in a lecture or reading articles, reflect on how the topic relates to your own life; does it connect to something you already know or have experienced? Self-awareness also helps in framing your life story in a meaningful way. Even amidst suffering and challenges, you can experience meaning by seeing what led to the situation and what can be learned from the difficulties. The significance of a delayed thesis or stalled studies may only become apparent years later when you understand the place of challenges in your life course and the lessons learned from them.

Commit to Action

Meaningfulness is created by noticing that you have learned something, grown as a person, or gained new insights about the world. Such experiences arise when you commit to working towards things over the long term. A job as a subscription salesperson can lead to a career in IT, or a degree in hospitality management can take you to the other side of the world as a trainer. Doing something, whatever it is, always opens new doors and leads towards a life that suits you. This rarely happens by waiting. Research has also shown that we value things we have worked for. Therefore, choose one path to commit to for a set period: commit to completing your studies, take a six-month sabbatical to write a blog, or complete a three-month internship in a job that isn’t quite your field. At best, you might find yourself doing something meaningful, but at the very least, you’ll learn something new that could be useful in the future.

Finally

To clarify the direction and meaning of your life, you can try the following exercise:

Take a piece of paper and divide it into three parts. In the first part, list all the skills, talents, strengths, and positive qualities you have. In the third part, list the problems in the world that worry you. In the middle section, come up with at least three ways to use the skills from the first section to solve the problems in the third section. Use your creativity! You can also draw if that feels natural to you.

Study Coach

Jenni Virtanen