What does it mean that responsibility for the meaning of your life?

Example: You have spent years building a career that others admire — the title, the salary, the trajectory. But on a quiet evening you feel hollow, because the meaning was inherited, not constructed. You borrowed your parents' definition of success, your industry's definition of impact, your culture's definition of a life well-lived. None of it is yours. The moment you recognize this, you face a choice: continue performing someone else's meaning, or accept the weight of constructing your own.

Try this: Write down the three things you most often say 'give your life meaning.' For each one, trace the origin: Did you choose this, or did you absorb it from family, culture, or social pressure? For any item that was absorbed rather than chosen, write a single paragraph articulating why you would choose it now — or why you would not. The goal is not to discard inherited meaning but to take ownership of it through deliberate affirmation or deliberate release.