Find Purpose Where You Are
Today I’m writing about finding purpose where you are. Given the time of year, I thought it was a relevant topic as many of us think about giving and giving back.
Sustainable Ambition is my purpose work, and my hope is that what I share is helpful to you in finding more fulfillment and joy in life and work with more ease.
In my podcast episode of the same name, I talk about this topic and the importance of defining our own purpose rather than looking outside to find it. An important theme for me of Sustainable Ambition is taking back control of areas of our life and work that we often look externally to find the answers. This is one such area.
And while we can live our purpose outside of our work, according to McKinsey 70% of us define our purpose through our work. I don’t think this is a bad thing. There are a lot of positive benefits to defining one’s purpose at work. For example, research has shown that purpose trumps passion for success at work and is more positively related to motivation. But we can be disappointed if we rely on our companies to define our purpose for us and they fall short.
I also don’t know if it’s the right place to look. I go into this in the podcast episode. I appreciated how a McKinsey partner on their podcast shared that individuals have purpose and how organizations don’t give that to a person. He said, “The individual alone has agency in deciding what their purpose is and whether or not it aligns with the company's.”
I know that purpose can feel lofty, but in the episode, I offer a more accessible definition of purpose and provide examples that can broaden your view of what it can mean and how you can achieve it. It just might be easier than you think.
For example, what if your purpose was to:
Make every interaction one that ends up leaving people feeling better at the end of their day than how it started. Wow!
Make people laugh in each conversation that you have with them. How fun!
Help one person each day. How hard could that be?
Be a great team partner at work and be a great partner at home. What an aspiration!
Contribute creative ideas to the world. Powerful!
This is doable. And making small progress each day towards such a meaningful goal can be motivating and help us feel more positive at work, according to research by Harvard Business School Professor Teresa Amabile.
So as you close the year, think about how you can find your purpose where you are. If you want to go deeper, I offer this article on Find Your Purpose with exercises and references.
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