Really awesome to see more research like this. I actually took the same approach in my master's thesis several years ago, and collected 1000+ responses from across the country on sources of meaning in life. I then used natural language processing and machine learning methods like topic modeling to compute a map on the meaning of life, and presented a poster at the World Congress on Positive Psychology: https://i.imgur.com/AFDCYuJ.jpg?1 If anyone is interested, the website is still online here, but a little neglected (I'm building a new one right now): https://www.whatkeepsusgoing.com The SSL certification is outdated, but it's secure, I promise. :) Answering the questions unlocks a bunch of interactive tools to explore the data yourself.
If you want to be happy[1] you might want to eliminate the idea of meaning from your life.
Any kind of meaning, as in the idea that there is some goal to work towards -- not just a sense or feeling of such -- will eventually and probably often get in the way of a conflicting want[2], namely to be happy. Say you like to play some game. You do it for intrinsic reasons, because you like doing it while you are doing it. Then you ask the person who taught you this game "What is the meaning of this game? What am I supposed to accomplish?" If the person says "There is no purpose to this game", then you are free. You are free to enjoy the game for itself, because there is no place to go, be or become. But if that person says "Oh, it's very important! You are supposed to learn about things which will be vital for you at some later point!", then that game has meaningMeaning which will conflict from enjoying the game and the moment for itself, instead introducing competing concerns like "am I playing this game well enough? How can I get better? Am I progressing at a fast enough pace?" Do note though that wanting to become better and play well is not in conflict with happiness, or delicious nihilism. It just gets in the way when you start to compromise your happiness in favour of becoming better at the game, or something else.
True freedom is when nothing you can do or make has any meaning. The only impact it has is the joy it brings you in the given moment, which is immediately there and doesn't require any justification for its existence or relevance. It's just there.
I hope to be able to eliminate the idea of meaning from my life.
[1] Experience a lot of good feelings on a regular basis. And it doesn't have to be the overjoyous, jovial kind.
[2] "Meaning" is just a sense of purpose which is tied to doing something which you predict will bring you happiness in the future. But since it is about happiness in the future, it is not happiness per se.
