Finding Your Purpose
Christine Whelan
Christine Whelan
Purpose = using your strengths to live in keeping with your values and positively impact the lives of others
**Purpose mindset **- identifying personal values and how you can make a difference in the world
No. 1 question = “What is my purpose?”
Cost of not having a purpose - existing not thriving
Purpose is not won and done, it evolves with you over time
Purpose are not Goals
Purpose is WHY it matters, Goals are HOW you achieve
Goals are stepping stones to purpose
ABC of purpose
Agency - Choice, purpose is a choice
Live all aspects of your life with purpose mindset
Jobcrafting - redesign your job into career or calling - Rethink / beyond what is, what it could be
Time spent - don’t focus on the negatives / procrastinate,
Make connections - relationships
Find meaning, find the calling e.g. “Building a Cathedral”
Biology - Purpose increases activities in chromosomes
Telomeres are endcaps of chromosomes and protects our DNA
Telomeres shorten when cells divide, until they can no longer divide successfully and the cell dies
Meditation increases purpose and this increases telomere length, allowing cell longevity
Helps increase health and life
Context - experiences in our lives
Experiences define our lives, defines beliefs
Beliefs influence purpose
Resilience - capacity to recover from life’s stresses
How we interpret past and how we approach life’s problems determine our resilience, interpretation is framed by sense of purpose
Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankel, “a sense of purpose distinguished those who survived”
“A man with a WHY and endure any HOW”
Your purpose is not to be happy
Three levels of happiness
1 - Feeling and emotions, joy, pleasure
2 - Contentment and life satisfaction
3 - Flourishing and true potential
Hedonic happiness can leave you empty - Hedonic treadmill
Eudaimonic happiness - meaningful flourishing from life well lived, living a life of virtue
Delayed gratification
Need a balance between the two to be truely happy
Happiness comes from the pursuit of goals in keeping with your purpose
Money CAN buy happiness, if used right
Financial rewards work for technical tasks, however not always as useful for cognitive / creative tasks
Need to have intrinsic motivator, hence “work”
Self efficacy, belief you can accomplish something / sense of satisfaction from job well done
**Let go of your “shoulds” **
You should, I should etc.
Should come from friends, family and society and cultural background
Reframe “shoulds” as values - e.g. should exercise more = value for better health / staying in shape
Allows more personal control, choice leads to self efficacy
Align actions to live with values - feels more purposeful
Identify strengths and skills that you enjoy, use this to define your purpose
Service is gift of sharing ourselves
Have abundance mindset, success for all is possible
Embrace we, not me
Impact on life of others
Happiness, we won’t find it when only searching for our own, but if we care about other’s happiness, it will ultimately help us find our own
Committed to purpose
Small steps to achieve
List 3 values, 3 skills, 3 impact groups (people) Use this to create PURPOSE STATEMENT
- Because I value…
- I will use my gifts for…
- To positively impact on…
OR
Tombstone epitaph
Summary of what matters to you most
Your life’s purpose
Is this who I want to be and am I living this life right now?
Must be things you WANT to do, not SHOULD do
Clarity of self is stepping stone on path to purposeful living
Understand your fears, so they do not interfere with your purpose
Avoid the “Yeah, but…” and self doubts
Accept the fears, so they are not blockers
These are what we are, so embrace the authenticity of yourself
Live our lives less through the lens of defence, but rather the here and now
Purpose in Action
Attitude of gratitude
- Create a list of daily acknowledgements - little things that count
- Thank you note to X for making you you, your skills and how you will use
- Letter of gratitude to mentor or family member - tell where you hope to go
- Keep gratitude journal - write about topics that will create happier future
Battle between urgent things and important things
Prioritise based on values, don’t just go with the flow
Procrastination is dangerous and delays can jeopardise your achievement of purpose
What would you do if money was not a barrier?
Image credit: Audible