When Viktor Frankl survived Auschwitz, he had only one thing left: the draft of a book he had reconstructed in his mind while in the camp. That book was published under the title Man’s Search for Meaning (1946). The conclusion Frankl drew from that experience was simple but unsettling. It was not favorable circumstances that kept a person going. It was the presence of meaning in what they were experiencing.
Logotherapy was built upon this observation. The “logos” in its name is the Greek word for “meaning.” Freud explained human behavior through the desire for pleasure; Adler, through the desire for power. Frankl proposed a third concept: the will to meaning.
What Is the Will to Meaning?
Humanity’s fundamental drive is not pleasure or power, but the need to find meaning in life. A hungry person wants food—that’s true. But the same person, even when full, asks themselves, “What is all this for?” This question never goes away. When suppressed, it doesn’t disappear; it simply enters through another door.
Frankl did not define meaning as an abstract concept. Meaning is always concrete and personal. The meaning of your life doesn’t have to be the same as mine. It even changes over time within the same person. That’s why logotherapy doesn’t ask, “What is the meaning of life?” Instead, it asks, “What does this life, this moment, ask of you?”
Happiness Cannot Be Found by Chasing It
Happiness flees when you aim for it; it comes as a byproduct of something else. Frankl wrote about this repeatedly. You can’t tell yourself, “Laugh now,” to make yourself laugh—you first need something funny. Happiness is the same. The moment you chase it directly, it slips through your fingers.
Today, this idea has been turned on its head everywhere. Phrases like “Be happy,” “Fulfill yourself,” and “Become your best self” constantly make people focus on themselves. What Frankl calls “dereflection” suggests the exact opposite. Take your attention away from yourself and direct it toward an external task, a person, or a meaning. Happiness may or may not follow. But when you stop chasing it, you can breathe again.
Why Is the Existential Void Growing?
When people can no longer learn what to do from either instinct or tradition, they feel a void. In ancient times, instinct told people what to do. Then tradition took over. Today, both have weakened. What remains is a space that neither instinct nor tradition can fill.
This void manifests itself as boredom. Frankl called this “Sunday neurosis.” The hustle and bustle of the workweek distracts us. But when things come to a halt on Sunday, the inner silence becomes audible. Some people cannot fill that silence. Their lives appear full, yet inside they are empty.
When Suffering Is Inevitable
Even suffering that cannot be changed leaves a person room to adopt a certain attitude. Frankl described this as one of the categories of value. In the face of an illness, a loss, or something that cannot be recovered, a person may lose control over many things. But how one chooses to face that situation remains in their hands until the very end.
There is a nuance here. Frankl did not glorify suffering. Enduring preventable suffering is not meaningful; it is an unnecessary burden. The issue is what you do with what is inevitable. The same loss may break one person but deepen another. The difference lies not in the event itself, but in the attitude taken toward it.
How Logotherapy Appears in Coaching
Logotherapy does not make a diagnosis in coaching; rather, it accompanies the individual in finding their own meaning. It has two fundamental methods. One is Socratic dialogue. The coach does not provide the answer; instead, they ask questions that bring to light the answer the person already carries within them. A question like, “When did you feel truly alive last week?” reveals far more than most pieces of advice.
The second is paradoxical intention: instead of avoiding what one fears, one deliberately seeks it out by exaggerating the desire for it. Telling someone who can’t fall asleep to “sleep” doesn’t work. Saying, “Don’t sleep at all tonight; keep your eyes open,” relaxes the effort, and sleep often comes naturally.
A note is in order. Coaching is not therapy. Logotherapy provides a framework not for treating a clinical condition, but for working with a healthy person’s quest for meaning. If a medical condition is involved, the right step is to consult a specialist.
The Cevvela Perspective
- The will to meaning is the fundamental human drive—not pleasure or power.
- Meaning is not abstract; it is always specific to this person and this moment.
- Happiness eludes us when we pursue it; it follows when we focus on a task.
- Even in the face of inevitable suffering, the space to take a stance remains within the individual’s control.
- In coaching, logotherapy does not give advice; it asks the right question.