Choose Purposeful Whys for a Meaningful Life

There are two steps. And the first step is captured by this aphorism from the great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He says, if you have your why in life, you can get along with almost any how. And that underscores the importance of purpose, of the sort of things we talk about when we talk about mission or vision, what's driving our actions and where are we trying to go. But Nietzsche only gets at one level. The first level is figuring out your why. The second level is to realize that not every why is equally worthy of your investment.

Ryan McAnnally-Linz is the associate director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. He is a coauthor with Volf of The Home of God and Public Faith in Action (Brazos), a 2016 Publishers Weekly Best Book in religion, and has written for The Washington Post’s Acts of Faith, Sojourners, and The Christian Century.

Get Ryan’s book here:

Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most. Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, Ryan McAnnally-Linz