Purpose - The importance of having it, and how to define yours

Since it's the New Year, I thought I'd start the new year off by talking about "Purpose". But why is "purpose" so important.

A friend of mine, Shannon, had a meme on her Instagram a few days ago. It read - If you do things with purpose, you show up differently. And that's the key here. How does having purpose get you to show up differently and ultimately for the better.

Dictionary definition - the reason for which something is done or created or the reason for with something exists - hint hint, that includes organizations at work, and even your job or even a specific activity.

If we know what purpose is, What's then is the opposite of purpose? If you reverse the definition, then that would be doing things for no reason or at a minimum doing things that you cannot connect back to a purpose.

To illustrate this, think about someone or even you yourself saying when asked, "How's it going?" and the reply is "Oh, I'm just so busy!" That to me is something to watch out for.

Alfred Montapert, author of "The Supreme Philosophy of Man: The Laws of Life", may have described it best in his quote

"Don't confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but doesn't make any progress."

Whether you are working toward a personal goal or working for someone else at work, just like I mentioned my podcast about your New Year's Resolution, everything starts with some purpose, some outcome you are trying to achieve.

If you are the leader and you tell someone, "Hey go into the jungle and get some wood". You won't really know what you'll get when that person comes back and I am sure that person is also confused and probably a little demotivated because they were told to go do something without being told why. But, instead, of you give someone a purpose, something like, "We need to build a fire and have it continually burning and never go out", now this person has a purpose.

A couple of great things happen at this point. First, you've unlocked Innovation because there are probably a million ways to accomplish this purpose and this person get to figure that out.

Secondly, it unlocks motivation. Now they can feel like they are really contributing and most importantly, they can connect their work to the good over the overall team.

Third, it unlocks accountability. If there is no fire or the fire goes out, that person agreed to be accountable for the purpose, so they can be held accountable. Chances are they will hold themselves accountable long before you do. But now as the leader, it is easier for you to hold them accountable for the overall purpose.

Had you told them to do into the jungle to get some wood and they bring back a freshly felled tree that won't burn and then you yell at them telling them that won't work, all you get is resentment for not providing specific instructions, being viewed as a bad leader, and someone who is now demotivated.

When someone does things with purpose, they do show up differently in many positive ways.

Overall, your life will become more fulfilling.

You will be able understand why you are here and how you can add value.

You will be able to focus more, knowing the ultimate direction you are heading.

You will be able to prioritize what is important.

You will manage your time better.

You will be more resilient, viewing setbacks are learning opportunities not failures.

When working with others with the same purpose, you will build better relationships and even find new ones giving you a better sense of comradery and team.

So when someone has a purpose, they do show up differently in many positive ways.