Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl's Principles for Discovering Meaning in Life and Work

People

Preface

Soon after the initial release of Prisoners of Our Thoughts in 2004, a massive earthquake under the Indian Ocean triggered one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, known around the world as the Asian Tsunami. This tsunami killed 230,000 people and left 500,000 people homeless. Indonesia’s Aceh province was closest to the epicenter of the quake and was hardest hit by the monster waves.

By chance, Prisoners of Our Thoughts found its way into the hands of representatives from the Jakarta-based professional services firm Dunamis Organization Services. The company developed a Volunteers’ Readiness Program to prepare individuals for what they would encounter while assisting in Aceh. The goal was to teach the volunteers how to respond quickly and effectively to the vast devastation and suffering they would encounter in the field. They also needed to know how to deal with their own psychological reactions. The program, which used Prisoners of Our Thoughts as a training resource, was employed by other organizations, including local government bodies and such nongovernmental organizations as UNESCO and UNICEF. All seven core principles described in this book were viewed as essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes required by the volunteer aid workers participating in the readiness program.

In ways we cannot adequately express, this application of the principles in Prisoners of Our Thoughts made the book’s publication worthwhile—and yes, meaningful—to us. This was not an illustration of the principles in action that Alex had envisioned when he first conceptualized and wrote the book. Far from it! But since its original publication, we have learned that its application potential is unlimited, extending far beyond the realm of work and the workplace.

Not Just for Disasters

Prisoners of Our Thoughts has applications much closer to the lives of most of us. Are you toiling in a job you don’t like? Or perhaps you feel the job is okay, but you are not fulfilled by the work? More broadly, do you wonder if there is more to life than what you are experiencing? Have you felt that bad things just happen to you, that your life is out of your control, and there is nothing you can do about it? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. It is natural to ask such fundamental questions about the way we live and work. This book, written with you in mind, deals with the human quest for meaning. It is grounded in the philosophy and approach of the world-renowned psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, author of the best-selling Man’s Search for Meaning, which was named one of the ten most influential books in America by the Library of Congress. Frankl’s many ideas about the search for meaning, illustrated by his own experiences and those of his clients/patients, have influenced millions around the world.

Frankl, a survivor of Nazi concentration camps during World War II, is most well known for his belief that no matter what challenges you face in life, you always have the ultimate freedom to choose your attitude and your response to what is happening to you. As a prisoner, many things were taken from Frankl: his wife and family, his identity (replaced with a number), his clothing, his health, and his freedom to come and go. Yet he realized that no matter what was happening around and to him, he still retained the capacity to choose his attitude and, by extension, his response. Frankl knew that he was responsible for finding meaning in his circumstances and, importantly, for not becoming a prisoner of his thoughts. In essence, choosing not to be a passive victim of his circumstances, he practiced an active approach to finding meaning. Similarly, all of us have the ability to respond to the challenges that come our way by exercising our capacity to find meaning. Fundamentally, Frankl believed that there is meaning in every moment of our lives—up to our very last breath—and that it is our personal responsibility to find it. He also underscored that we do not have to suffer in order to find or experience meaning.

Frankl is the founder of Logotherapy, a meaning-centered, humanistic approach to psychotherapy, which incorporates many insights including the freedom to choose one’s attitude. We have reviewed Frankl’s vast array of books, articles, speeches, and related works and have distilled his teachings into what we believe are the seven most important core principles to help you on your quest for meaning. The freedom to choose your attitude is just one of the seven principles that we share in this book. We have also provided a conceptual foundation as well as practical guidance for examining your own questions about meaning.

Our specific goal through this book is to bring meaning to work and the workplace. Because we define work very broadly, the message applies to a wide audience: to paid workers as well as to volunteers; to people employed in all sectors and industries; to individuals beginning a job search or a new career; to those in transition; and to retirees. Because the book demonstrates Frankl’s principles at work in a general context, these core principles can be applied to life outside the workplace. Examples, stories, exercises, questions, challenges, and other practical tools help guide you in applying Frankl’s ideas to finding your own path to meaning at work and in your personal life.

Alex’s Perspective on Viktor Frankl

Frankl’s influence on my work and personal life goes back almost fifty years. I spent many of these years studying his groundbreaking work in existential analysis, Logotherapy, and the search for meaning, and I have applied his principles in multiple work environments and situations. As a mental health professional, I have relied on the power of Frankl’s ideas for years. My reliance has evolved and expanded over time as I have tested elements of his philosophy and approach in a wide variety of organizational settings. Working with individuals experiencing existential dilemmas at work and/or in their personal lives, I naturally have reflected on my own life journey and have frequently relied on and benefited from Frankl’s wisdom.

Dr. Alex Pattakos with Dr. Viktor Frankl in his study, Vienna, Austria, August 1996

Viktor Frankl practiced what he preached, living and working with meaning throughout his life. This is not always easy to do, as I know from personal experience. There is a saying in the academic world that we don’t know what we don’t know until we try to teach it. The same thing can be said about writing a book. And yet in many respects, writing a book is the easy part. The really hard part, I must confess, comes when we try to do what we write about. I can only try to follow Frankl’s lead. It was in a meeting with Frankl at his home in Vienna, Austria, in 1996 when I first proposed the idea of writing a book that would apply his core principles and approach explicitly to work and the workplace. He was more than encouraging—in his typical passionate style, he leaned across his desk, grabbed my arm, and said, Alex, yours is the book that needs to be written. His words burned into the core of my being, and I was determined from that moment to make this book idea a reality.

I realize now more than ever the good fortune and benefit I have had of metaphorically standing on the shoulders of Viktor Frankl, one of the greatest thinkers of modern times. Through his own story of finding a reason to live despite the horrendous circumstances of Nazi concentration camps, Frankl left a legacy that can help everyone, no matter what their situation, find deeper, richer meaning in their lives. It is my intention and hope that Prisoners of Our Thoughts builds upon Frankl’s legacy of meaning in life and work, supporting his transformational legacy so it is never forgotten.

Welcome to the Third Edition

Today’s fast-changing, increasingly complex, and uncertain world has amplified the interest in the search for meaning in life, work, and society. It is time to extend the life-affirming and inspirational messages from the first and second editions in this third edition. A key change in this edition is the addition of my partner, spouse, and muse, Elaine Dundon, as coauthor. Given her unique background in business, innovation, meaning, philosophy, and metaphysics, Elaine brings an interesting dynamic to this third edition.

Elaine’s Perspective on Viktor Frankl

Frankl’s influence on my work and personal life can be traced back to my adolescent years when I first read Man’s Search for Meaning. Since then, I have revisited this seminal book for insights on how to deal with and find meaning in the challenging circumstances I’ve faced in my personal and work situations. Often I realized that I was a prisoner, not in the literal sense of being behind steel bars and barbed wire, but in the figurative sense of entrapping myself with limiting beliefs—not just about my own circumstances and abilities but also about how I held others as prisoners of my thoughts on how they might continue to behave. Fortuitously, I met Alex Pattakos and subsequently learned of his interest in the areas of Logotherapy, existential analysis, and the search for meaning in life and work. Together, our odyssey has taken us around the world, where we have had the great fortune to meet so many people interested in sharing their views and insights on meaning and, specifically, on how Frankl’s wisdom has helped them overcome challenging situations. It has been an honor and a privilege to advance Frankl’s work and, of course, to share the journey with my husband, partner, and sage, Alex.

In this revised and expanded third edition we offer original and updated stories, fresh applications and exercises, and four new chapters (Meaning at the Core: Life, Meaning at the Core: Work, Meaning at the Core: Society, and Viktor Frankl’s Legacy Continues). We encourage you to live this book by reviewing the concepts and examples, practicing the exercises, and adopting the principles in your daily work and life. Only in this way will the book be more than just another book in your library. Only in this way will Frankl’s voluminous body of work have the impact it deserves. Only in this way will this book help you truly find deeper meaning in your life and work.

Alex Pattakos, PhD

Elaine Dundon, MBA

1

Life Doesn’t Just Happen to Us

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked.

In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.¹ (V. Frankl)

It seems that I (Alex) have known Viktor Frankl most of my life. It was in the late 1960s when I first became acquainted with his work and read his classic book Man’s Search for Meaning. While on active duty with the U.S. Army, I received formal training at Brooke Army Hospital, now called Brooke Army Medical Center, at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, as a social work/psychology specialist. In addition to the opportunity to work side by side with some of the best mental health professionals in the field, this unique learning experience fueled my passion for studying various schools of thought and practice in psychiatry and psychology. Frankl’s work in particular had great resonance for me at that time, and it eventually became an integral part of both my personal and professional life.

Over the years, I have had many opportunities to apply Frankl’s teachings in my own life and work. In effect, I have field-tested the validity and reliability of his key principles and techniques, often in comparison with competing schools of thought and in situations that tested the limits of my personal resilience. It didn’t take me long to realize the efficacy of his philosophy and approach, and I became a de facto practitioner of Logotherapy long before the idea for this book surfaced in my mind. Many decisive times in my life, including situations that involved work, could easily be described as turbulent and challenging. Such formidable, lifedefining moments, although they often lasted much longer than a moment, required a great deal of soul-searching for answers. I remember how truly out of balance—and yes, even lost—I felt at those critical times. I had learned many years ago from Thomas Moore, psychotherapist and author of the best-selling book Care of the Soul, that our most soulful times are when we are out of balance rather than when we are in balance. It was especially during these meaning-centered moments, when I was out of balance, that I found myself putting Frankl’s philosophy and approach into practice.

I was particularly out of balance in my early twenties, after graduating from college. I was contemplating going to law school after my military service. My father, an engineer, envisioned that someday I would work for him as an attorney specializing in contract law. With his help and at his urging, I took a job with a large engineering and construction firm in New Jersey. However, I did not see myself as a corporate lawyer. Fueled by my active duty with the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era, I was interested in law only as it could be used as an instrument for social policy and social change. This perspective did not bode well for my relationship with my father or my employer.

Although I felt trapped, Frankl’s work reminded me that it was my own responsibility how I chose to react to the situation. I knew I had to maintain a positive, resilient attitude and that this experience—a kind of existential dilemma—was actually giving me an opportunity to clarify and confirm my values around the kind of work I wanted to do and not do. This meant leaving my relatively secure place of employment and, harder still, standing up to and engaging in many heated arguments with my father so that I could declare the path that I wanted to pursue. From this personal and stressful experience, however, I learned that it was worth the risk and effort! How I faced this difficult situation increased my personal resilience for handling other challenges I have encountered throughout my life.

One may say that instincts are transmitted through the genes, and values are transmitted through traditions, but that meanings, being unique, are a matter of personal discovery.² (V. Frankl)

I (Elaine) too have faced many situations when I felt out of balance or, in some cases, that I was in balance but the rest of the world was not. One day, years ago, at the age of twelve, when I was babysitting for the woman across the street from our home, she turned to me and said, That’s quite an ordeal your mother is facing. The look on my face must have registered confusion, for she responded, Oh no. You don’t know. She was correct, I did not know. I did not know that my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and the prognosis was not good. Survival was rare back then without the medical treatments and psychological support that we are blessed with today. My parents had decided not to tell any of their children in an effort, I suppose, to protect us from the bad news. In hindsight, I realized that they also may have not known how to react and needed time to deal with their own fears. However, their decision not to discuss the illness simply served to amplify my fear and sense of loneliness, for there was no one to talk to about the situation.

Somehow, we all got through the storm. My mother survived another fourteen years due to her positive attitude, knowing that she needed to stay alive to guide her four children. She practiced Frankl’s principles, most notably those of de-reflection (shifting her focus away from her illness onto things that mattered more—i.e., her children) and of self-detachment (looking at herself from a distance with a sense of perspective, including maintaining her sense of humor). I remember her reading Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning while sick in bed. I recall saying to her one day, with tears in my eyes, I don’t want you to die. She held my hand and said, jokingly, But imagine if no one ever died. Imagine if five-hundred-year-olds, or even thousand-year-olds, were walking around the earth. It would be a very strange world! In her own kind way, my mother was teaching me about the journey of life. Her courage, love, and wisdom did indeed guide me to put life’s challenges in perspective and to find the meaning in any situation, however