What is purpose?

“Purpose is your reason for being, your reason for getting up in the morning” (Leider, p.1). It is “the reason you were placed on this planet” (Warren, p. 17).

“Purpose is that deepest dimension within us — our central core or essence — where we have a profound sense of who we are, where we came from and where we’re going. Purpose is the quality we choose to shape our lives around…Purpose defines our contribution to life” (Leider, p.1).

Generally speaking, purpose is one’s own unique mission of service to God, a higher power, a compelling cause, or a specific service to others. It arises from our talents, our inclinations, our life experiences, and our sense of what we want to commit to as the purpose of our life.

The need for purpose

Purpose is inextricably linked to meaning, and the quest to understand the meaning of life is hardly new. “Why am I on this earth?” has been THE question humans have asked since time began. And even though the world’s most renowned philosophers and major spiritual traditions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) have all proposed the answer, those of us living in this 21^st century continue to ask, “Why am I here?”

It is commitment to something larger than ourselves that gives our lives meaning. In identifying that greater force to which we will commit our energies and actions, we also identify our purpose. Until we identify this purpose, our lives are not whole or satisfied. Deep satisfaction with life eludes us until we begin the quest for purpose and live in accordance with that purpose.

Richard Leider, in The Power of Purpose, expressed it most succinctly by quoting Victor Frankl: 

“For too long, we have been dreaming a dream from which we are now waking up: the dream that if you just improve the socio-economic status of people, everything will be okay—people will become happy. The truth is that as the struggle for survival has subsided, the question has emerged, survival for what. Ever more people have the means to live, but no meaning to live for” (p. 34).

Discovering your purpose

Although those who write about purpose approach the task from their own unique world view and use vocabulary suited to their own philosophies, they outline the same steps we all must take in the search for purpose:

1. Ellen Langer publishes new book on 'Purpose and Health' If we could turn back the clock psychologically, could we also turn it back physically? For more than thirty years, award-winning social psychologist Ellen Langer has studied this provocative question, and now has a conclusive answer: opening our minds to what’s possible, instead of clinging to accepted notions about what’s not, can lead to better health at any age. Langer's latest book Counterclockwise shows how we can actively challenge these ingrained behaviors by making subtle changes in our everyday lives. Scientifically riveting and practically empowering, Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility (Ballantine Books, 2009) holds enormously exciting implications for our general health—including vision, old age, cancer, weight, and heart health—as well as for our fundamental happiness.

   See Summer 2008 Itineraries article by Ellen Langer, "Mindfulness and Mindlessness."

   An attitude of surrender to a power or cause greater than one’s self is prerequisite to finding purpose. Without this attitude, fear, greed, anger, or other negative emotions masquerade as true purpose. Purpose is related to providing a service to something that transcends one’s self, not to alleviating one’s own negative feelings.

2. Do a self-assessment. Learn about your talents, abilities, and inclinations. What do you find joy in doing?  The ways to accomplish this task vary—prayer, introspection, meditation, standardized tests—but learning about talent and the activities that bring joy is at the core of discovering purpose. If it does not make use of our talents and is not something we enjoy doing, it is not our life’s purpose.

3. Spend time in solitude and integrate what you have discovered about your talents, inclinations, and joy into a purpose statement—a statement of what you can do for the world. Warren called this identifying your ministry.

4. State what you think is your mission to the world. Pick something.
         Consider everything in steps one, two, and three. Then, do your best. Your answer may not be perfect—or even accurate—but you must begin the search somewhere. This is the place, and your best answer is all you have.

5. Act on your purpose statement.  Do something. Waiting to act until you are sure will not be helpful. When we act with intention, the Universe (or God) responds by opening doors that lead to the next step. Most authors call this synchronicity, and it leads to amazing places and events.

6. Know that the search for purpose is a continuous process. Purpose is different at different stages of life. This struggle for self-knowledge will continue throughout life, because, as long as we live, there is a purpose in our lives.