Back to Finding Purpose and Meaning In Life: Living for What Matters Most
University of Michigan

Finding Purpose and Meaning In Life: Living for What Matters Most

Welcome to Finding Purpose and Meaning in Life: Living for What Matters Most! In this course, you’ll learn how science, philosophy and practice all play a role in both finding your purpose and living a purposeful life. You will hear from historical figures and individuals about their journeys to finding and living a purposeful life, and will walk through different exercises to help you find out what matters most to you so you can live a purposeful life. As an added benefit, you will also have complimentary access, for a period of time, to the Purposeful App. This groundbreaking mobile and desktop app is designed to help you build a purposeful rhythm into each day, so you can bring your best self to what matters most. Look for more information in Week 1 of the course! By the end of this course, you will: 1. Understand that having a strong purpose in life is an essential element of human well-being. 2. Know how self-transcending purpose positively affects well-being. 3. Be able to create a purpose for your life (don't be intimidated, this is different from creating "the purpose" for your life). 4. Apply personal approaches and skills to self-change and become and stay connected to your purpose every day. We are thrilled that you are here! We look forward to hearing and learning from you throughout this course!

Status: Lifelong Learning
Status: Self-Awareness
BeginnerCourse7 hours

Featured reviews

GS

5.0Reviewed Oct 21, 2020

Comprehensive introduction to the subject of purposeful living without being overwhelming in terms of time commitment or complexity of information. Very well produced and easy to follow.

BG

5.0Reviewed May 21, 2020

This is one of the best courses I have taken. It makes finding 'purpose' accessible in the things one does everyday and not only in the big achievements which may not be in the reach of everyone.

D

5.0Reviewed May 18, 2020

I found this course beneficial in focusing my thinking about what is and should be important to me in life. Taking a self-critical approach to this issue has been difficult but revealing and freeing

AD

5.0Reviewed Aug 11, 2025

This course was fantastic in helping me gain a deeper understanding of my purpose, how purpose shows up in different areas of life, and how having a purpose impacts your wellbeing more than you know.

BS

5.0Reviewed Jul 12, 2020

This is first must basic course and should be taken during schooling period or initial age in journey of life and need to revisit at some interval to refine, fine-tune the purpose of the life.

JT

4.0Reviewed Dec 19, 2020

Thoughtfully presented and with good continuity -- except for the very end discussions which apparently had different themes and contexts that weren't explained, so they were exact duplicates.

PI

4.0Reviewed Apr 24, 2025

I found this course beneficial in focusing my thinking about what is and should be important to me in life. Taking a self-critical approach to this issue has been difficult but revealing and freeing

BF

5.0Reviewed Dec 13, 2020

The course was easy to understand and there are helpful actionable items. However, this course really made me think of how I am walking purposeless. And having a purpose needs to be purposeful.

LB

4.0Reviewed Jun 21, 2020

This course can give you interesting anecdotes and research about the importance of having a purpose in life, but I think it doesn't actually help much towards creating or finding your own purpose.

AL

5.0Reviewed Jun 20, 2024

If you feel like you're lost, I recommend you to take this course. Easy and fun to learn if you love philosophy and psychology. I love it. I feel so proud of myself for taking this course.

YA

5.0Reviewed Jun 19, 2020

Very interesting. course. I really enjoyed how purpose was always discussed in many different aspects of life. I also enjoyed how thorough and science-based the discussions were in this course

DB

5.0Reviewed Aug 25, 2020

Professor Vic's style of sharing his personal story made a huge impact on me. His references to studies and experiences with his own students made this course very meaningful. Thank You!

All reviews

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Scott Mathews
2.0
Reviewed Jun 7, 2020
Sheryl A
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Reviewed May 25, 2020
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3.0
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Reviewed Jan 3, 2021
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Reviewed Jun 9, 2020
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Reviewed May 19, 2020
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Reviewed Apr 25, 2020
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Reviewed Apr 28, 2020
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Reviewed May 1, 2020
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5.0
Reviewed May 11, 2020