Purpose is the Foundation
Many years ago, I partnered with a good friend to start a career counseling business. Now, we were not one of the “job in a drawer” places where someone just flips through the Rolodex and says, “here’s your perfect job!” We actually worked with our clients to help identify where they would be happiest and where they would be at their element. Where they can be fulfilled and fit in. We were trying to do something of significance, because so often we ran across people who really had no clue who they were or what they were designed to do.
Purposeless Education
Case in point. One client comes in. She has gone through college, went to medical school and became a doctor. Went through residency. At the end of residency, decided she did not want to be a doctor. Went back to school and studied psychiatry. Went through residency again. Decided she did not want to be a psychiatrist. Now, 30 years old and all that time and money spent in school and programs – all that knowledge and training – and she had no idea what she wanted to be. Sitting in my office, tears and sobbing, she felt lost and that all was lost. She had no idea where to go, what to do, how to make a difference. She had no purpose.
We All Seek Purpose
She is not alone. Too many are in the same place. Not sure where to go or what to do. Many times, they made decisions on what to do or what job to take or career to pursue based on someone else’s dream. So they trudge along in a job they can’t stand, where they can’t wait for quitting time to come around or can’t wait until they hit retirement age and do something else. But even retiring doesn’t solve the problem. They still feel lost and without direction, they are just doing it from home instead of the office. There are even studies to suggest that retiring leads to an earlier death. I emphasized the suggest because it is far from conclusive. Anyway, we are lost for most of our lives without purpose.
Benefits of Purpose
Purpose gives us positive emotions that bolster us. We feel passion to drive us. We feel emotional connection. We feel satisfaction at having an impact. We feel fulfillment at adding value to someone else. Purpose does more than provide direction, it provides meaning and significance to our lives. As a result, working to fulfill our purpose can lead to more profitability personally and corporately in part because we will have a more positive attitude. That improved attitude will allow us to view the challenges of life in a different perspective. Mountains become molehills, nothing seems insurmountable. Sacrifice seems more temporary and more worthwhile. We feel and see victory.
Do you know your purpose? Do you really feel the significance of what you are doing, how it impacts others and adds value to them? If not, know that IT IS NEVER TOO LATE to discover it. At the same time, you don’t want to wait. Some wait too late and miss the opportunity to discover and live that purpose. As Oliver Wendell Holmes said,
Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
Some day may never come and the greatest tragedy of all isn’t taking a risk and losing it all, it’s going to the end of your life on earth with that song still in your heart.
If you know your purpose, truly feel the passion that drives you, I commend you and hope that you are pursuing it on a daily basis. Let me know how I can help you.
If you don’t know your purpose, make a commitment to start TODAY to begin the journey of discovery. Don’t be afraid to seek help finding it. Trusting a professional coach can help you accelerate the process and more accurately identify your purpose. You would not be alone in this; a large number of successful corporate executives use coaches for this and other reasons. However you do it, DON’T WAIT ANOTHER DAY! Take that first step. You can do this, it’s in you. Let the song out.
Action Plan
- Sit down RIGHT NOW and do one of two things:
- If you know your purpose, list the things you need to do DAILY to live it. Schedule time on your calendar to work it and commit yourself to the process.
- If you don’t know your purpose, commit to do something TODAY to start the process of discovery. Not sure where to start or what to do, find a coach. Do it now.