Why the meaning of purpose is so important
Why we need to dig deep and truly understand the value of “Purpose”.
Purpose Justifies our Meaning
When we look at this in a work context, we can identify something that looks like this:
What do you do? I advise leaders and businesses
Why? Because I love to share knowledge so others can learn and become self-sufficient.
In this example, my “Why” is the meaning behind why I do what I do - It fulfils my Purpose; to advise leaders and businesses. If I did not take the time to truly reflect on the reason that sits behind what I do, I would merely turn up do a job share some knowledge and move on.
My purposeful action is to ensure that leaders and business owners can become self-sufficient through my knowledge sharing. This then adds another layer of depth to what I do. I no longer simply pass on the information but invest in ensuring that they know why I make decisions, why I decided on some steps over others, and how to apply “second-order thinking” by encouraging them to consider what the future steps may be and to ask themselves “what next?” and “what else might happen”.
This ensures that you have the other parties’ best interest in mind and your focus is removed from you to serve your purpose, which for me is to ensure that others learn and become self-sufficient.
Begin every stage with Purpose
I advise businesses and leaders across industries all around the world and, no matter what I am engaged for, I always start with defining “Purpose” and “Values”. Here I share my approach to enable you to form the framework that will deliver the greatest impact for you and your purpose.
My goal is to continually support people, businesses, and situations to understand the true purpose of why I have been engaged. As simple as it sounds, when I first receive the email or phone call outlining what is needed, things are seldom as they are presented. This is in part because those involved have been working from a baseline that they were given and built on from there. We have been trained to addon rather than to dig deep and start again if something isn’t right.
More often than not, we have started something from nothing and kept going based on momentum and our understanding of what was needed. This type of “first-order thinking” leads to thinking in the now so we can move on to the next task. Unfortunately, it often leads to additional issues further down the track when, once again, some pressing deadline prevents us from stopping and thinking. So, we keep adding to what already exists.
In these moments, if we were to take the opportunity to unpack the purpose of our actions and consider their alignment with needs and values, we might alter our decisions.
Strengthen from mistakes and through challenges
History enables us to learn from our experiences but if we are to evolve and strengthen from them, as opposed to coping with them, we must learn to be more than resilient.
Understanding our greater purpose and the reasons why we do what we do gives us the focus to keep surging forward despite challenging times. It gives us the ability to build solid foundations and avoid catastrophic situations. So, the next step is to ensure that we have the capacity and willingness to strengthen from each experience.
Look at what you can avoid rather than what you can control. Earlier on in this article, I referenced “first-order thinking”, focused on quick, short-term decisions. This does not leave room to consider what else may occur, on the contrary, it forces you to jump to a “quick fix” to resolve the immediate need without thinking about the long-term implications or outcomes.
If I can leave you with one overarching tip, it is to always plan ahead. Invest more time upfront to better understand what you want to achieve, how you will mitigate risk and how you can strengthen from what you have learnt to avoid having to go back and start again.
Your purpose and values define your journey.
Invest in yourself from the onset to succeed and live a life that you deserve.