What Drives Your Purpose?
“How do you know if you’ve found your purpose?”
This is a question that I would like to provide some insight on for you today.
As I’ve been exploring this concept of Finding Purpose, I’ve come across advice from two people whose work I’ve been following on and off for the last few years.
[Short Disclaimer: when it comes to advice, I would say that while you might not agree with everything everyone says, I’m a firm believer in “not throwing the baby out with the bath water.” In general, the advice I share here seems solid to me. Also, please know that I use no affiliate links in this post, and have no self-interest in promoting either of these two guys, I just believe that this is useful information from reputable people that might be of value to you (or someone you know).]
So, here is some definitions of purpose that I’ve picked up from two people who are committed to helping people make the most of their lives.
First, from Steve Linder (at SRI Coaching), who has a new free video series available at: http://nlpclass.sritraining.com/. In the first video of his series, Steve explains that in order to achieve a goal, the best strategy is to have multiple strategies for getting from point A to point B. With more options and more flexibility, you’ll have less fear and can be more innovative in overcoming any obstacles that may show up along the way.
Here’s where purpose comes in. What drives you to this “point B” is having a compelling purpose, i.e., a reason: “Why is it important for you?” It should be something “to make you hold yourself to a higher standard…where it’s not an option…where you’ll be compelled to find a way to get there.” And, it’s also advisable that the purpose be “greater than yourself”, that it’s a “we” over a “me”.
Next, consider the advice from Dave Lakhani (at BoldApproach.com) who is putting together a program on how to approach the new environment we find ourselves in. His program will be called “Advance or Die”, and is about knowing how to advance the parts of your plan that are working, and, for the parts that aren’t working, how to let them die off so other things can grow in their place.
Anyway, when a listener on a recent call asked Dave about how to pick a business to grow “on the side”, Dave’s response was something like this: “Identify what will make me happy. Determine if there is a market for that. Be realistic about the amount of money you need to generate both to survive and to run your business. Then, focus on that one thing and don’t stop. Turn off all the other distractions. Pick one thing and stick with it…it should be one thing that you can focus on with the exclusion of everything else for the rest of your life because it’s so exciting and profitable for you.”
As you see, different people in different contexts have different ways of defining purpose, though you should also sense that there are certain commonalities in the sense of drive behind each.
So, what do you think? Do either of these definitions of purpose work for you? Do you know of other ways to define or know when you have found your purpose?
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For a list of all posts in this series go to: Finding Purpose (actual links will be posted as each post becomes live.)
