This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedantam.

In all our lives, there are moments when the ground starts to shake beneath us,

when our world becomes destabilized and everything changes.

Sometimes, this untethered feeling comes after we lose a job or end a relationship.

Sometimes it comes on us more gradually, with a slow realization that the life we've built

isn't fulfilling us in the way we thought it would.

These moments can feel disorienting, upsetting, but they can also allow us to see things in new ways.

Today, we continue our Happiness 2.0 series with a look at something simple but essential

that we all need in our lives.

Purpose is an ancient concept.

We, as a species, have been grappling with this concept forever.

How cultivating a sense of purpose can help us weather life's biggest storms,

this week, on Hidden Brain.

Cornell University psychologist Anthony Barrow has spent much of his career studying

what it means to have a sense of purpose.

He has examined how we can cultivate purpose and how having a sense of purpose can transform our lives.

Tony Barrow, welcome to Hidden Brain.

Thank you for having me.

Tony, I want to play your short clip from the 1967 movie The Graduate.

In this scene, a young Dustin Hoffman plays Benjamin Braddock.

He's a fresh out of college, lounging in his parents' pool when his dad confronts him.

Ben, what are you doing?

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