All who wander are not lost

What do you want from life?

Conventional wisdom says the ingredients of a good life are basic happiness and a deep sense of purpose .

For many of my coaching clients, that’s not enough.

Recently, researchers have proposed another essential ingredient that is also required by many for a good life: Psychological richness. This quality can be defined as:

“having new, interesting experiences that promote curiosity or transform how you think. People with psychologically rich lives experience more intense emotions—positive and negative—and are more open to novelty and uncertainty. They might choose to live abroad, seek awe in nature, or explore complex intellectual problems. In contrast, the researchers suggest, happy or meaningful lives can be more routine, and possibly even boring.”

You may be in your 40s and still wondering ‘what you want to be when you grow up.’ You may ‘have it all’ but still have this nagging feeling that it’s not enough. And you may fear this is a personality defect.

Hear this: You’re fine. You have a basic human need. It’s not a flaw. For you, the destination is the journey.

I’m a searcher. Many of my coaching clients are searchers. Maybe that’s what landed them in the world-changing business to begin with. Scratching the itch does come at a price. You probably still need the other ingredients – basic happiness and purpose. And there may be trade-offs between stability and the freedom to explore the mystery — what in the coaching world is called a polarity.

For you, just like love and oxygen, psychological richness is a fundamental need. All who wander are not lost. You are not lost.