Your mind may require meaning. Studies show it's one of the key factors underlying happiness and motivation. So what is meaning in life and what does research say about how we might be able to find it? Some research indicates that to have meaning in your life you must have a story. You need to reflect on how things could have been and why they turned out the way they did. Seeing that things had a direction and a purpose provides meaning. Fundamentally, our brains may not be able to tell the difference between the real and the story. What's even more interesting is the truth may not matter. Feeling that you know yourself creates a strong sense of meaning in life - whether or not you actually know yourself doesn't make a difference. That may seem depressing but it also means that you can craft the stories in your life to build meaning and fulfillment. Timothy Wilson, author of Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change, has talked about how the process of "story-editing" can help us improve our lives: The "do good, be good" method ... capitalizes on the tried-and-true psychological principle that our attitudes and beliefs often follow from our behaviors, rather than precede them. As Kurt Vonnegut famously wrote, "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." People who do volunteer work, for example, often change their narratives of who they are, coming to view themselves as caring, helpful people.