A Deep Dive into the Meaning of Purpose
We usually perceive purpose as a goal, an intention, and quite often one founded on a belief: “my purpose is to become famous: being famous will make me happy”.
If, however, we take a close look inside the lonely and profoundly miserable lives of countless ‘famously’ happy celebrities we may change our mind.
It’s true that purpose can be a fixed intention to achieve a long-term goal. But to what end? And to just one end?
In fact, purpose is closely related to goals, because it’s what influences them. Our purpose is the reason behind what we aim to achieve.
Interestingly, purpose has nothing to do with motivation and everything to do with meaning. It should be understood more as an experience than as an intent or end result.
If you think about it, a sense of purpose fosters goals that could potentially change lives in the world, like launching a social services charity, researching a rare disease, or unteaching racism. It can be both personally meaningful and make a positive mark on the world.
One certainty about our sense of purpose is that it will change over the course of our lifetime. As we try to understand our identity as teens, settle into the responsibilities of adulthood, or make switch to retirement, our sense of purpose will, most likely, naturally fluctuate.
Like ‘success’ or ‘happiness’, purpose is not a destination, but a journey and a process.
This means that our purpose can be accessible at any age, if we’re willing to explore what truly matters to us, what can bring us greater life satisfaction and what kind of person we are going to be when we act with purpose.
Perhaps, if we’re open to review and renew our sense of purpose, as we navigate our milestones and transitions in life, we can look forward to more meaningful and fulfilled lives.
Can Purpose Help Us in Hard Times?
We are still under the threat of the pandemic. Could now be the right time to talk about purpose?
Undeniably, there’s never been a better time to think about purpose.
Viktor Frankl, the modern father of purpose, was a Jewish physician who became the concentration camp doctor in three camps as a prisoner, having already lost his family. Throughout his horrid experience, Frankl never ceased to observe the bleak world around him.
He observed that the people who were surviving were the ones who were transcending, who maintained a purpose in their lives— people who, even with new prisoners coming in, would say, “Here’s my food. You’re going to need it.” And those people very often ended up surviving and growing after these camp experiences. They experienced what we might call “post-traumatic growth.”
The lesson is that there is value in revisiting our pandemic experience. Buddhists maintain that suffering produces growth.
We may not live in a concentration camp, but there certainly is no guarantee of a peaceful future, no certainty of a life without daunting challenge.
So, how can we grow from the Covid experience?
Which strengths do we have that we didn’t know we had? How many new paths to what really matters most in our lives can we find? What matters most?
And wouldn’t the answers to these questions be, in essence, the foundation of our new purpose?
How to Cultivate Purpose
Finding our purpose often involves personal reflection. This means taking time to look inward, as we imagine our desired future. It means finding meaning in the experiences we’ve already had, while assessing our values, skills, and hopes for ourselves and the world.
Here are some practices recommended by purpose researchers that may help you find your purpose in life:
The Magic Wand
Think about the world around you and visualise what you would change if you had a magic wand and could change anything. Then ask yourself, why you chose what you did and consider concrete steps you might take to move the world a little closer to that ideal.
Best Possible Self
Imagine your future self —10 or 20 years from now — and think about what your life would be like if everything went as well as possible. Then ask yourself these questions: What are you doing? What is important to you? What do you really care about, and why? Focusing on an ideal self can increase optimism for the future, which researchers believe is tied to purpose.
Clarify your values
If it’s hard to figure out what matters most to you, affirming your values can help. Ranking the importance of different values can help you find clarity about your purpose.
Recognise your strengths
To get a handle on your specific skills, try the VIA Character Strengths Survey. See what it reveals about you. Or seek feedback with people who know you. Sometimes an outsider’s opinion can help clarify your personal strengths or help figure out how best to apply them.
Volunteer
Having a broad range of meaningful experiences can point you in the right direction. Volunteering expands that experience, improving your well-being and helping the world at the same time. It also brings you closer to people with similar values, who may inspire or point you toward opportunities for making a difference that you hadn’t thought of before.
Cultivate positive emotions
Gratitude and awe help us care about others, build relationships, and feel connected to something greater than ourselves, which is why they’re tied to fostering purpose.
Finding purpose in life is neither easy nor difficult. But for anyone who wants to live a life of meaning and fulfilment, it’s an imperative.
What about you?
What is your purpose?
How does it make you feel?
How has your purpose changed across your lifetime?
We’d Like to Learn from You
If you would like to share your thoughts about the idea of purpose, or its presence in your life, we’d love to hear from you.
Feel free to drop us a line at: info@emotionsreframed.com
