The Importance of Purpose
5 min read
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
E.E. Cummings
The average person spends 80,000 hours during her or his career at work, but only 31% of employees feel engaged in their jobs.
Furthermore, people are constantly chasing hedonistic pleasures in search for a meaningful life to end up desultory and torpefied.
Purpose gives your life clarity and direction, helping us to set priorities in an endless pool of possibilities – it gives your life meaning.
What is purpose?
Have you ever tried to do a jigsaw puzzle without looking at the picture on the top of the box for reference? That picture provides us a reference for the end product we seek—a direction for action. While completing the puzzle, we find ourselves in need of reference more often than we might expect. By the same token, a purpose gives our lives the necessary meaning and direction. It is the compass that guides us on our puzzle of life.
Your purpose is your own guidance. It springs from your identity derived from your life story and is the essence of who you are.
Some people believe their inner calling is hiding under a rock and that they can find it by turning as many rocks as it takes. This is deeply misguided. In reality, purpose is something built rather than found.
As such, purpose is individua. Your purpose is no one else’s, just as another person’s purpose is not yours. Purpose is not motivated by external factors and thus can only be built through inner reflection.
The benefits and side effects of living with purpose
Purpose shifts our perspective to what really matters most in order to develop and display our true potential and grow as human beings.
When our identity is no longer in the center of our actions, we define ourselves by our purpose rather than by our style. Thus, we pivot towards a growth mindset. We are more willing to stretch, take risks and develop ourselves.
This self-efficacy gives us the clarity to prioritize and overcome the fear of not be able to do everything. It provides us with the energy, motivation and willpower to move out of entropy and take action to achieve our goals.
When we believe in ourselves, we are strong enough to come out of hiding, trust our inner voice and choose the harder but right way.
Others may not like our decisions and our newfound path, but to feel and be fully integrated, we need to bring our unique gifts to the world and that takes a toll worth it.
According to scientific studies conducted by Steve Cole and Samuel Cohen the fulfillment beyond self-gratification through living with purpose (eudaemonic living) induces diverse health benefits.
Whereas people which are living with a diminished sense of purpose are more likely to have a stroke, heart attack or a coronary artery disease, people with a greater meaning in life have less inflammation, more antivirals and antibodies, lower or more stable cortisol levels as well as lower body weight and better sleep. They have a lower risk to suffer from chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s but even depression.
Purpose is the necessity to live a meaningful life, to achieve your goals and be resilient in times of challenge and crisis.
Finding purpose
The following three freewriting exercises can aid you in discovering your purpose:
- Freewrite about what piqued your interest during different periods of your childhood and adolescence.
Do you notice a correlation between your interests and hobbies on a theme/issue basis or on a psychological basis? - Freewrite about the most challenging moments in your life (crucibles). Why were these events challenging for you? How did you solve the arising conflict through them? And how did these events shape you? What did you learn?
- Define your top five values, then examine how you spend your time. Are your appointments and obligations a reflection of these values? Do these activities engage you, or do they deplete your energy?
What truly matters to you? Can you change how you spend your time to live according to your values?
After you have completed one or all of the exercises above, put your findings into a crafted purpose statement.
Be sure to use language that conveys a meaning for you.
Live with purpose
A well-crafted purpose statement has no influence on your life, if you don’t use it for your own good.
So ask yourself how you can truly live up to your purpose. How can you combine your unique strengths and talents and your purpose and face your own life’s mission?
Most of us go to our graves with our music still inside us, unplayed.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Resources and further reading material:
- Craig, N.(2018) Leading from Purpose, New York, Nicholas Brealey Publishing
- Frates, B. (2019) The Lifestyle Medicine Handbook, Monterey, Healthy Learning
- George, B. (2015) True North, Hoboken, Jossey-Bass
- Sinek, S.(2011) Start with Why, New York, Portfolio
- Stretcher, V. (2016) Life on Purpose, New York, Harper One
- Weiss, L. (2018) How We Work, New York, Harper Wave