Why Having a Life Purpose Is a Matter of Life and Death

When people ask me what they should do with their lives, I usually start by asking people two key questions: what do you enjoy doing and what do you believe in? If you can unite what you value and what you want to do, you have a winning formula – you have a life’s direction, a life purpose. Some people realise their passion is teaching and guiding young people, other people are healers, others are artists. Now researchers have found that having a life purpose not only fulfils you, but is good for your health too. Having a purpose in life can decrease your risk of dying early, according to a study published recently.

I read about this online and will report on what I read. Researchers from Michigan University analysed data from nearly 7,000 people aged between the ages of 51 and 61 over four years. They had to fill out psychological questionnaires on how they felt about their life purpose and dying. The results, published in a JAMA journal, shocked the researchers.

People who didn’t have a strong life purpose were much more likely to die than those who did, and specifically more likely to die of heart diseases. There you go – not having a life purpose is metaphorically and literally heart breaking!

For the study, a life purpose was defined as ‘a self-organizing life aim that stimulates goals’.

“I approached this with a very sceptical eye,” said study author, Celeste Leigh Pearce, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan. “Now I find it so convincing that I’m developing a whole research program around it.”

The study found that people without a strong life purpose were more than twice as likely to die between the study years of 2006 and 2010, compared with those who had one.

Doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor

This link between a low level of purpose in life and dying remained true despite how rich or poor people were, and regardless of gender, race, or education level.

The researchers also found the link to be so powerful that having a life purpose appeared to be more important for lessening risk of death than drinking, smoking or exercising regularly.

“Just like people have basic physical needs, like to sleep and eat and drink, they have basic psychological needs,” said Professor Alan Rozanski. “The need for meaning and purpose is number one. It’s the deepest driver of well-being there is.”

The new study adds to a small but growing body of literature on the relationship between life purpose and physical health.

Prof Rozanski published a paper in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, in that used data from 10 studies to show that strong life purpose was associated with reduced risk of death particularly death from cardiovascular disease, like heart attacks or stroke.

Research proves a purpose can save your life

Study authors of the new Jama research used data from a large survey of older adults called the Health and Retirement Study. Participants were asked a variety of questions on topics, such as finances, physical health and family life.

A subset of participants filled out psychological questionnaires, including a survey called the Psychological Wellbeing Scale. This includes questions designed to understand how strong a person's sense of life purpose is. It asked them to rate their responses to questions like, “Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them.”

The study authors used people's answers to quantify how powerful their life purpose was. The researchers then compared that information to data on participants' physical health up until 2010, including whether or not participants died and what they died from.

The survey didn’t ask participants to define how they find meaning in life. What matters, according to the researchers, is not what a person's life purpose is, but if they have one and how passionately they feel about it.

“For some, it might be raising children. For others, it might be doing volunteer work,” Prof Pearce said. “Where your life fulfilment comes from can be very individual.”

The lead researcher found her life purpose

The study’s lead author, Aliya Alimujiang, a doctoral student, said she got involved in the project because of a personal interest in mindfulness and wellness.

Ms Alimujiang had worked as a volunteer in a breast cancer clinic and said she was struck by how the patients who could articulate how they found meaning in life seemed to do better when battling cancer.

That experience helped her define part of her own life purpose – researching how having a life purpose impacts on people.

“I had a really close relationship with the breast cancer patients. I saw the fear and anxiety and depression they had,” Ms Alimujiang says. “That helped me. That’s how I started my research.”

Prof Pearce says that while the link between life purpose and physical well-being seems strong, more research is needed to explore the mental, emotional and physical connection between the two. Is having a low life purpose connected to high levels of stress hormones. Prof Pearce also wants to look at ways to help people find their life purpose. She is not sure if that comes through education or therapy. I think in part it also comes through will-power. You need to get out there and look for it.

“What I’m really struck by is the strength of our findings,” Prof Pearce said. “It seems quite convincing.

“I think it’s about what people think is most valuable to them. Community, achievement, reputation, relationships, spirituality, kindness – these all feed into a person’s life purpose. So there is not a specific definition for any one person.” If you haven’t found your life purpose, I call on you to do some soul searching. What do you enjoy? What do you believe in? How can you unite the two? Get out there and find your life purpose – because it really is a matter of life and death.