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💡 The Big Idea: How to Take Action on the Things That Really Matter

Ever find yourself procrastinating on something important by doing something completely mindless or pointless instead?

Don’t lie 😉 We all have.

Every once in a while, it’s fine. But if you find yourself slipping into this trap consistently, it’s likely because you don’t really see the point in doing the thing.

In this newsletter, we’re going to look at how you can consistently take action on the things that matter by infusing them with purpose and meaning.

And we’re going to start in an unlikely place: a World War II concentration camp.

Logotherapy in a Nutshell

Victor Frankl was a neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and, perhaps most famously, a Holocaust survivor who developed a form of existential therapy called Logotherapy.

He wrote an incredibly moving book where he details his experience in the Nazi concentration camps as well as lays out the basic tenets of logotherapy as a way of enduring suffering by finding meaning.

One of my favorite quotes of his from the book is this:

Pretty powerful considering what he had to endure. Even more amazing when you consider that he had an opportunity to escape but chose to stay with his parents since he knew their inevitable fate.

What really surprised me, though, while reading A Man’s Search for Meaning, was how difficult it was for Victor Frankl to help people move past the experience.

The second part of the book is a detailed look at logotherapy (logos = “meaning” in Greek) and how he tried to help fellow survivors find new meaning in the next phase of their lives.

That’s the part that you and I can really learn from.

Finding Your Why

One of the things Victor Frankl saw in the concentration camps was that the people who had a “why” were the ones who survived.

As Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Whoever has a why to live can bear almost any how.”

But once the war was over, many of them had trouble living as free men and women again.

So, after his release, Victor Frankl dedicated his life to helping people rediscover purpose and meaning. The stated goal of logotherapy was to fill the existential vacuum.

The vacuum that Victor Frankl was talking about? Boredom.

That was published in 1946 but applies more than ever to our current day.

The bottom line: without a sense of purpose, our time often gets spent unintentionally.

What does this have to do with PKM? Everything.

How to Live a Life of Intention & Meaning

Personal knowledge management (or PKM) is defined as:

The information that flows into and out of your PKM system directs your daily activities.

If we’re not intentional about the information we consume, we likely find it leads to a feeling of frustration (or boredom, as Victor Frankl talked about over 75 years ago).

Social media algorithms are optimized for engagement, not for helping us take action on what matters. If we’re not intentional about the information we consume, it just leads to FOMO and a general sense of overwhelm because there is just too much information for you to try and keep up with it all.

We overconsume, jumping from one thing to the next, searching for the next hit of dopamine (which social networks are happy to provide). The end result is that we feel stuck doing things that we don’t want to do, that lack meaning, and that are unfulfilling.

This is The Default Life.

So, how do we flip this and actually live a life of intention? By getting clear on our vision and our values.

This is the Identity level of my PKM Stack framework, and it's the key to living an intentional life instead of a default one:

It's basically a compass that points you in the right direction. And when you have it, it provides the motivation you need to consistently take action on the things that matter and clarity to cut the things that don't.

I call this layer Identity because it’s really about what you consider to be true and how you think about life. This layer is comprised of your vision and values for who you want to be and what you want your life to look like. I actually have a piece of this I call my LifeTheme, which is basically a one-sentence summary of what I want my life to be about. As an example, here’s my LifeTheme:

“I help people find their why, multiply their time & talent, and leave a bigger dent in the universe.”

That’s my why, the reason behind what I do. And it’s inspired by Victor Frankl, who once said the meaning of his life was to help others find the meaning of theirs.

Once you get clear on your vision and your values (the Identity level of The PKM Stack), it will transform your relationship with all of the information in your PKM system:

• Your Actions will align with your vision and your values
• You’ll find an increase in both the quantity and quality of your Ideas
• You’ll have a filter for the Information you consume, and you’ll naturally gravitate toward what’s useful

This is the key to living a life of intention and meaning. You get to decide what it is, but you have to put in the work.

What’s YOUR Why?

Most people know what they do. Many people know how they do it.

But few people take the time to really get clear on their why.

I encourage you to find your why, to let it bring you the motivation to take action on the things that matter and the clarity to cut the things that don’t.

And if you could use a little help, I’ve actually got a free 5-day LifeTheme email course. Just click here to get started, and each day (for five days), you’ll get an email and detailed action steps to help you dial this in for yourself.

😎 Something Cool: Strange New Worlds plugin​

When I first came to Obsidian, I wanted to 1) be able to link to blocks in a note, and 2) see how many links to that block existed throughout my entire vault.

That wasn’t possible. Over time, I found that “atomic notes” (small individual notes that contained a complete idea) were actually incredibly powerful. But it would still be nice to see inline how many references a linked note had and what those references were.

That’s where Strange New Worlds comes in. This plugin adds a counter next to each link, showing you how many times you’ve made the same link in your vault. You can then hover over the number and see where all of the other notes are that have that link.

To be honest, when I first tried this plugin (a LONG time ago), it had some issues with performance and accuracy in the reference counting system. But version 2.2 was released this week, so I gave it another look, and WOW, it has come a long way! Per the release notes, the developer (TfT Hacker) has been working on optimizing the code for the last 6 months, and it shows. Performance is incredible compared to when I first kicked the tires on this plugin.

So, if you like linking your notes together, you should probably give this plugin a shot.

📚 Book Notes: Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

I firmly believe everyone should read Man’s Search for Meaning at least once in their lives. Just be warned: it won’t be easy. It paints a picture of the worst (and best) of humanity in vivid detail. It really is an eye-opening book.

But don’t just read it to understand what happened. Read it to understand what to do next. As outlined in this newsletter, I believe there are a lot of lessons logotherapy can teach us about infusing meaning and purpose into our day-to-day lives.

One of the most powerful and life-changing books I’ve ever read. And if you want to download my mind map book notes for this incredible book, click here.

— Mike