Exploring Meaning, Connection, and Achievement: A Guided Exercise for College and Beyond
For many of us, our college years mark a pivotal stage of development — our first time moving away from home and launching into adulthood and independence. College also offers us a unique opportunity to read widely, think deeply, build lasting connections, and ask ourselves who we want to become: what we value in ourselves, in our relationships, and in our work.
These are big questions. But when we engage with them over time, we can strengthen our well-being, deepen our sense of self, and experience more fulfilling and lasting success. To help, I’ve designed an exercise you can use at any point during college — or even later in life — that breaks these questions into three core categories: meaning, connection, and achievement. Below each category are guiding questions to spark your discovery. You can also turn them into an interactive exercise:
Use each question as a journal prompt. Write down your answers and revisit them every few months. What did you learn about yourself? How have your answers changed? Are there new questions you would like to add?
Share these questions with friends and family over dinner. Take turns answering, and after each response, discuss what surprised you, resonated with you, or inspired you.
Meaning
How would you like to contribute to yourself, your community, and the world?
How would you like to be remembered?
How would you like to engage with your faith or spirituality?
Which big questions or mysteries in life inspire you?
What are your core values?
Connection
What kind of family member, friend, or partner do you want to be?
What do you value most in your friendships, relationships, and communities?
What kind of relationship do you hope to have with your family during your college years?
What kind of family would you like to create as an adult?
Achievement
What would you like to learn more about? What ideas spark your curiosity?
What topics or issues do you enjoy discussing and debating? What excites you about them?
Who are your role models? What do you admire about them?
What kinds of stories inspire you, and why?
What problems in your community, in your country, or even in the world do you hope to help solve? How could you go about doing so?
Taking time to reflect on these questions can be a powerful step toward getting to know yourself and building a meaningful, connected, and fulfilling life. As you go through the questions and revisit them later, remember that it’s okay for your answers — and for you — to change, grow, and evolve.
