The Fortitude Chronicle: A Weekly Digest of Athletic Determination

Monday Momentum

For the Relentless Mind

Why Your Achievements Leave You Feeling Empty

A Navy SEAL once spoke about the moment he realized his Distinguished Service Cross meant nothing. Standing in his childhood bedroom, surrounded by commendations and photographs from deployments, he felt hollow. "I thought these medals would define me," he said. "Instead, they just reminded me of how empty I felt when the mission ended." His revelation captures a fundamental truth about human fulfillment: Purpose gets you to the summit; meaning determines whether you find peace there.

The Architecture of Purpose vs. Meaning

Purpose operates like a GPS system—it provides direction toward specific coordinates. It's the driving force behind goals: launching a startup, completing a marathon, earning a promotion. Purpose is inherently transactional—it promises that reaching Point B will satisfy the yearning that began at Point A.

Meaning, however, functions like a compass—it orients you toward true north regardless of your current location. Meaning is the why beneath the what, the thread connecting disparate experiences into a coherent narrative. While purpose asks "What am I trying to achieve?" meaning asks "Who am I becoming through this process?"

The Critical Distinction: Purpose can be fulfilled and thus exhausted; meaning is renewable and inexhaustible.

The Hedonic Treadmill: Why Achievements Fade

Psychologist Philip Brickman's research on the "hedonic treadmill" reveals why purpose-driven achievements feel hollow:

• Lottery winners return to baseline happiness within 18 months

• CEOs report identical life satisfaction before and after major promotions

• Olympic gold medalists often experience post-victory depression

The Neurochemical Reality: Dopamine—the molecule of pursuit—spikes in anticipation of rewards but crashes upon achievement. Your brain literally generates more pleasure from chasing goals than catching them. This explains why entrepreneurs often feel most alive during the struggle, not the IPO.

Identity: The Stories We Tell vs. The Trophies We Collect

Consider two entrepreneurs who both build $10 million companies:

Entrepreneur A measures identity through metrics: valuation, employee count, market share. When the business plateaus, existential crisis follows.

Entrepreneur B derives identity from meaning: solving problems, empowering teams, creating value. Market fluctuations become data points, not verdicts on self-worth.

The difference? Entrepreneur A's identity lives in the trophy case; Entrepreneur B's identity lives in the story they're writing.

Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio's research reveals that our sense of self emerges from narrative coherence—how we weave experiences into meaning—not from accumulated achievements. The brain's default mode network, active during self-reflection, processes stories and relationships, not scorecards.

The Meaning-Making Framework

Viktor Frankl, surviving Auschwitz, discovered that meaning can be found in any circumstance through three pathways:

1. Creative values: What you give to the world

2. Experiential values: What you take from the world

3. Attitudinal values: The stance you take toward unavoidable suffering

Modern Translation:

• Creative: The startup founder whose meaning comes from building tools that solve real problems

• Experiential: The traveler who finds meaning in deep cultural connections, not passport stamps

• Attitudinal: The cancer patient who chooses to mentor others, transforming personal suffering into collective wisdom

The Growth Paradox: Striving Beyond Achievement

The most fulfilled people maintain a fascinating paradox: they're simultaneously ambitious and detached. They chase excellence relentlessly while holding outcomes lightly.

The Elite Athlete Example: Serena Williams didn't stop training after her 20th Grand Slam. Her meaning transcended titles—it lived in the mastery process, the platform for advocacy, the inspiration provided to others. The trophies were byproducts, not destinations.

The Dangerous Alternative: When growth becomes purely achievement-focused, it breeds:

• Arrival Fallacy: "I'll be happy when I get X"

• Comparative Suffering: Measuring worth against others' achievements

• Success Depression: The emptiness that follows reaching "enough"

Sustainable Motivation: The Regenerative Engine

Meaning-driven individuals possess what psychologists call "intrinsic motivation"—they're energized by the work itself, not just its rewards. This creates a regenerative cycle:

• Achievement → Temporary satisfaction → Motivation decay

• Meaning → Ongoing fulfillment → Sustained energy → Deeper engagement

The Integration Protocol

How do you cultivate meaning while maintaining ambition?

1. Values Archaeology: Identify what matters beyond metrics. What would you do if success were guaranteed?

2. Process Worship: Fall in love with daily practices, not distant outcomes.

3. Legacy Lens: Ask not "What will I achieve?" but "Who will I become?"

4. Story Stewardship: Actively craft the narrative connecting your experiences.

The Final Paradox

The most counterintuitive truth about meaning versus purpose: Those who seek meaning often achieve more than those who chase achievement. Why? Because meaning provides sustainable fuel for the long game, while purpose-driven motivation burns hot but brief.

In the end, achievements are postcards from the journey. Meaning is the journey itself.

Choose meaning, and purpose will follow. Choose purpose alone, and you'll always be chasing the next summit, never enjoying the view.

Two Quotes

1. “Fire tests gold; adversity tests strong men. The true man is revealed in difficult times—not by avoiding hardship, but by allowing it to forge him.” – Seneca

2. “I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become. The alchemy of suffering transmutes victimhood into sovereignty.” – Carl Jung

Three Tweets

To Building Fortitude.

 Best Regards,

Colin Jonov, Founder & CEO Athletic Fortitude