I saw a Viktor Frankl video this morning on the meaning of life. Dr. Frankl was a neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor. It’s a short video and to the point. Aim high to achieve results, and the drive to find meaning in work and life is one of our highest drives.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says that to experience Flow, we must have tasks that make us reach just beyond our grasp. Tasks that are too easy don’t increase our skill levels, and we find them boring. They don’t help us grow. Ones that are too hard discourage us from trying because we’ll have more failures than successes. Tasks beyond our reach stretch us and make us better than we are. Dan Pink calls them Goldilocks tasks. Being better than we are is good, right? And it makes us feel good as well.

As we become better at what we do, we’ll become happier and more productive, and our value will increase. Self-worth and our value to the world around us will go up. As more managers and businesses adopt these ideas and prioritize Goldilocks tasks, our workplaces will become sources of meaning, not just a way to pay the bills.