It was spring 2014. I was 26 years old and, by many standards, I was probably living a pretty good life. I’d already experienced several career successes and even surpassed my own goals a few times, could create my own schedule, had all of the autonomy in the world, and no real stress at work. It was just my husband and I and our cat, cue amazing road trips and fun travel adventures. I had the summers off, read backyard pool days with my girlfriends and a killer tan. And we were debt free, no real pressure for me to earn more, climb the career ladder, etc. I’m going to risk sounding like an entitled, millennial brat here…I should have been perfectly content. But, shocker, I wasn’t.
I desperately needed a sense of purpose in my life.
Here are the questions I kept asking myself every…single…day:
- What’s my purpose?
- Am I making a difference?
- What do I have to show for my day? week? month?
- Does the organization for which I work even know I’m here?
- Why do I get up and go to work every day?
If you can relate to any of what I’ve just said above it is because we value purpose over a paycheck. Time and time again, studies have shown that earning a good wage simply isn’t enough. We NEED to have a sense of PURPOSE.
You have a unique purpose. You have something special to offer the world around you.
We will only experience true and sustainable career fulfillment when our work aligns with our unique purpose.
So, how do you go about discovering this purpose?
Steps to discovering and articulating your purpose:
- Know Yourself – Think about what makes you unique, what strengths you possess, and what you truly value.
- Gather Stories – Use the questions below to gather stories and list out meaningful moments and interactions.
- Share them with someone – Don’t skip this step! You need an active listener who can help you through this process.
- Identify themes – your active listening partner will help you drill down, find themes and expand your options.
- Write your purpose statement – Write your statement that is structured like this:
“To __________ by/so that ________________.”
Trying to nail down your purpose by yourself is difficult. Having an unbiased, active listener who can help you is important in this process! I help students and young professionals uncover their purpose by drilling down and then identifying themes. This purpose statement then becomes the guiding statement for your next career move.
Write your answers to these five questions:
- When have you felt unstoppable, like you could accomplish anything?
- Think of a day when you thought to yourself, “I would do this for free.” What were you doing? Why was it important?
- Who in your life has helped make you the person you are today? Name the people and what you admire most about each.
- What pivotal moments have you had in your life, moments when you realized nothing would ever be the same?
- What have you accomplished that you are really proud of? Name several if you’d like.
Once you’ve worked through the questions, I’d love to chat through it with you for free! Let’s chat about your purpose and career direction!
Book a free session with me here!
Congratulations on your first step to finding truly fulfilling work, defining your purpose! This purpose statement should be used to evaluate each opportunity that comes your way. Will that opportunity, position, promotion, etc. allow you to make the impact you were created to make in the way that you were made to do it? If the opportunity passes your “purpose” test, the next step is to determine if it aligns with your work values. Stay tuned for information on step 2!
How can I help?
As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students and young professionals one-on-one and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to achieve them! The path to success is not straightforward. My mission is to help you experience true career fulfillment through proactive coaching and career planning.