Two central motivations in life: happiness and meaning

Happiness and meaning are two main motivations in life. Research suggests that happiness and meaning are strongly correlated and often feed off each other.

But, an increasing body of studies shows that there are trade-offs between pursuing happiness and pursuing meaning in life. For example, in parenting; parents often report that raising children increased meaning but decreased happiness. Revolutionaries often suffer through years of violence for a larger purpose that can bring great satisfaction and meaning.