Most of you reading this blog will agree that there is an urge deep inside to do more in life that is fulfilling, enjoyable and uplifting. This also means that a big number of people are dissatisfied with their current state of work and life. It is also validated by research many times.

 In a nutshell, we know we can do more but don’t know WHAT to do and HOW to do it.

It’s about discovering and living your purpose. Every human being whether you agree or not has a purpose in life. Living a purposeful life is the gateway to the best version of everything for you, your work and your business.

Purpose is a light that illuminates everything you do because when you are aware of what you are meant to do, there is sharp clarity in life. Clarity is the laser which dissects and weeds out the undesirables, the distractions making you focus on what you should be doing.

Why Is It Important To Be On Purpose

When you, your work and your business are aligned with your unique purpose, life is a lot easier, happy and successful. It is proven beyond doubt, that those who enjoy their work, love it and following their purpose, live a fulsome life.  

 When you discover what is best suited for you, you know what to do and how to make an impact. It is the blueprint, that paves the road to success.

Purpose Matters For Corporates

Purpose is one magic ingredient that can zoom up the results on a company’s balance sheets, lend a whole new approach and do wonders for the health and wealth of the company.

The prestigious Harvard Business Review strongly advocates putting purpose at the core of your business strategy. “ In a global study of high growth in companies done 9 years ago,  investigating the importance of three strategies known to drive it: creating new markets, serving broader stakeholder needs, and changing the rules of the game. What we found surprised us. Although each of those approaches did boost growth at the organizations we studied, there was a fourth driver we hadn’t considered at all: PURPOSE ”.

Purpose helps wade through slowing growth and declining profitability even when the economic conditions are not supportive. The Harvard Business Review study after talking to executives of high growth companies in US, India and Europe, that registered an over 30% growth found that purpose in business played two important strategic roles: It helped companies redefine the playing field, and it allowed them to reshape the value proposition which aided their growth.

“79% of business leaders surveyed by PwC believe that an organization’s purpose is central to business success, yet 68% shared that purpose is not used as a guidepost in leadership decision making processes within their organization”, reports the Forbes magazine.

Purposeful Life Promotes Well-Being

Coming back to role of purpose-oriented work in an individual’s life, purpose not only steers your professional life but it also positively impacts one’s personal life. Neuroscience affirms that when you love and enjoy your work, it leads to more positivity and better health.

“The brain is very happy when you are focussed on what you love. You can have a decrease in negative emotions and an increase in positive emotions when you align yourself with what you believe is most important to you”, say Dr Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman at the University of Pennsylvania’s Centre for Spirituality and the Mind.

Purpose Makes Life Enjoyable

Passion and purpose are intertwined as one has to be passionate about one’s purpose. Passion is a basic to an enjoyable life. If you want to have lifelong happiness, then one has to find joy in one’s work and it stems from being passionate about it.

When we live our passion, we enjoy it and are willing to put any amount of work to make it a success. It doesn’t feel a burden as it springs from one’s heart.  Anything that flows from inside, cannot be, but pleasant and enjoyable to you. There is no other formula that guarantees a life full of success like this one.

Discovering New Passion/ Purpose

For many fortunate ones, their work is their passion and purpose. But what happens when work ceases due to age.  Many people lose their sense of purpose post retirement. It is the reason why life becomes dull, boring or sometimes depressing to many senior citizens.

In this case, a new passion can be discovered to keep you on purpose.  Best-selling author Marci Shimoff describes this story about her dentist father which makes perfect sense in finding new passion in life. Marci’s father loved what he did. He was a dentist and he retired at the age of 72. He knew that when people lose their purpose at a certain age, they very often die. So he said ‘ I better find myself something else to do, something else I love’. He analyzed that what he loved about dentistry was not the process of fillings in people’s mouths but the intricate ways of using his hands in ways that felt artistic.  So after dentistry he took up needlepoint. He became a master in it. After turning 85, and spending 13 years in his new passion, he began a 4-year long project which he did finish and it won him accolades with several awards in needlepoint throughout all of California.”

Purpose keeps us oriented to LIVE life and not drag on with life.  Every morning, you get up loaded with hope that its going to be an enjoyable day. You are going to have meaning in what you do and it will certainly bring out you can offer. After all, we always give our best shot to what we love doing.

Purpose Is A Service To Society

Being on purpose is not only excellent for yourself but it serves the society too. We live in an inter-dependent society. Anything that what we do, impacts others directly or indirectly.

Being aware of one’s role in this multi-dimensional world, means we are not just working for ourselves but are a medium of serving others. For example a tailor who loves and takes pride in his work, is on purpose to stitch beautiful garments for his customers. He is serving the society while realising his gift.

It is this purpose, which sometimes overtakes everything else, while performing one’s duties. For doctors attending to the patients during the pandemic, they put themselves at the firing line of catching the infection. Yet, they perform their duty as it is their purpose.

Being a journalist, I felt the same sense of purpose, fighting through densest fog in the wee hours of winter morning, while reporting to work. My purpose was so clear and underlined that I resisted taking off from work even when not being physically well, as there was a duty of communicating the news to the people.

It is important to identify and align yourself with your purpose as it lends meaning to life. A purposeful life has a higher potential of being happy and healthy.

If life is a journey, purpose is your anchor that steers you in the best direction, helps weather the storms that come to challenge you while nourishing and empowering you to grow, with a deep sense of satisfaction.

RICHHA

And all you have to do is to discover your purpose, is to find out what makes your heart sing, what is it that you can do without getting bored. This holds the key to one’s passion which is aligned with your purpose.

The best part is when you are searching its meaning, nature chips in to guide you in unexpected ways. I can say from personal experience that you will be surprised at how things start falling in place, when you are aligned with your purpose.

When you sail with the wind, in the sea of life it is easier to move ahead. This means when you are aligned with your nature given gifts and talents, with your purpose, your journey gets smoother compared to when you are sailing against the wind.

It needs a leap of faith though, to trust and step in the unknown as we are all conditioned to doubt and question what’s next. The beauty is that one can succeed way beyond one’s expectations when being on purpose, which is the beginning of unfolding your real story.

If you are interested in digging more into your purpose and need the feel for some guidance, drop in a mail to letsfigureoutlyf@gmail.com.

Excerpts

https://www.forbes.com/sites/caterinabulgarella/2018/09/21/purpose-driven-companies-evolve-faster-than-others/#73c7ebd255bc

https://hbr.org/2019/09/put-purpose-at-the-core-of-your-strategy