“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German scholar, philosopher and critic of culture
Life takes on an entirely different dimension when you understand what truly drives you.
If I had the chance to ask Sigmund Freud what motivates human behaviour, he would likely say it all stems from sex and aggression. On a basic, biological level, that might be true.
In the 1960s, neuroscientist Paul MacLean introduced the Triune Brain Model, which explains that the brain is made up of three layers:
- The reptilian brain – instinct-driven and focused on survival, aggression, and territoriality.
- The mammalian brain – responsible for emotions and needs like food, reproduction, and nurturing.
- The primate (or human) brain – our thinking centre, handling logic, planning, abstract thinking, and most importantly, the search for meaning.
Freud’s ideas align with the more primitive parts of our brain. But it’s the thinking brain — the highest part of our neurological evolution — that seeks purpose. It asks: Why am I here? What is this all for?
This is where Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, disagreed with Freud. While Freud believed our desires were rooted in pleasure and dominance, Frankl saw a deeper force at work: the pursuit of meaning.
Frankl endured unthinkable horrors in Nazi concentration camps. He was tortured, humiliated, stripped of everything — yet he found the strength to go on. What gave him that strength? It wasn’t survival instinct alone. It was purpose. He found meaning in his suffering, and that gave him the will to endure.
He once wrote, “In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.”
But Frankl also warned against glorifying pain unnecessarily. “Suffering without purpose,” he said, “is not noble — it’s masochistic.”
Thankfully, most of us aren’t facing what Frankl faced. Our task is different: to find purpose in everyday life. That purpose exists on two levels:
- On the personal (micro) level, purpose means knowing your values and living by them. When your actions reflect your beliefs, even tough situations can’t shake your self-worth or inner peace.
- On the broader (macro) level, purpose is about meaning — the bigger picture. It’s waking up with a sense of direction and knowing you’re on a path that matters to you, regardless of what others think.
Ironically, purpose — like happiness and success — isn’t something you chase directly. Frankl wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning:
“Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue.”
Want love? Love others.
Want wealth? Help others generate it.
Want joy? Spread it.
It’s deceptively simple — but deeply powerful. The more we give, with genuine enjoyment in the process, the more meaningful and fulfilling life becomes.
On a seemingly unrelated but equally powerful note, I’m reminded of a different kind of purpose — one that shaped a nation.
It was a clear, sunny day in November when President Abraham Lincoln sat quietly listening to orator Edward Everett deliver a two-hour speech at Gettysburg. Then, in just two minutes and 272 words, Lincoln gave one of the most iconic speeches in history. His Gettysburg Address didn’t just honour the fallen — it redefined America’s future.
I remember how deeply it moved me the first time I read it while studying in Illinois. Its call to uphold liberty, equality, and national unity still resonates. Those ideals — the belief that all are created equal and that some things are worth dying for — form the foundation of any enduring, just society.
Now, as I prepare to celebrate our own nation’s 67th Independence Day, I reflect on Malaysia’s journey. Our fight for freedom was not without sacrifice. On August 31, 1957, while we may not have had a Lincoln, we had Tunku Abdul Rahman, whose words carried great weight and spirit.
In his historic proclamation of independence, Tunku urged:
“With independence, let all people who consider Malaya their home cultivate the spirit of goodwill, peace and happiness towards one another. Let all the keris and weapons be articles of adornment, for we stand for peace and goodwill and we will work towards this end.”
A beautiful and timeless statement of purpose.
Salam Merdeka, Malaysia. May we always remember what drives us, as individuals and as a nation — purpose, peace, and unity.