What's more important....To know your Purpose? Or to live purposefully?
The pursuit of your 'why' or Purpose takes many people on a journey of self development that can actually be counter productive to what they set out to find in the first place. There’s a lot of talk out there, on social media and in other courses about knowing or finding your purpose. By this we mean, having a Purpose Statement. It gets pitched as the solution to all the problems we are facing and that by having this one statement to guide us. You buy a $95 course that shows you how to form a purpose statement and then life is amazing! If only it were that easy!
Not much get's said about 'living purposefully'. What does it mean to live Purposefully? How does it differ to knowing your Purpose? Which is more important?
Throughout our client's journey we do take them step by step through how to create their Purpose Statement BUT by virtue of the deeper content they learn there is a strong push around what it means to live purposefully and how to do it. Why? Because of the fulfilment & happiness it brings.
Think of it like this. Knowing your purpose statement is just the icing on top of the cake. “living on purpose” is the middle chunky part of the cake it’s got rich melted chocolate in it and it’s filled with cream it’s the meat in the sandwich. It’s where the substance and fullness comes from.
Based on this it’s possible to know your purpose but not really be living it….Also it’s possible to be living on purpose and not really have a purpose statement.
Which do you think is more important?
Of course it’s more important to live on purpose. It’s where true sustained fulfilment comes from. We’ve seen that many people get hung up on trying to formulate a purpose statement before anything…..When it doesn’t come – they get a thing called Purpose Anxiety…..worry that it’s eluding them, that they’ll never find it..
We don’t want that for our clients. So we focus most of their energy into living purposefully. In the process opening them up and providing all of the solutions they need to overcome the barriers that have stopped them enjoying their lives, careers, relationships and health. Then, as an added extra it is much easier to construct a Purpose Statement because they are living it and experiencing it already! And, no-one is getting anxiety about finding it hard to come up with a Purpose Statement.
So what does it mean to live on purpose…..How do we do that?
Here’s what we think it means.
It means knowing the best version of you, designing a plan for all parts of your life where this best version is showing up and then consciously bringing this plan to life in a way that serves others.
The best version of you is undoubtedly when you are
using and sharing your gifts (your natural talents)
aligning with your values (what’s important to you) and
immersed in your passions (what you love doing)
Combining these is the answer because when you’re doing these things you will feel fulfilled, energised and in flow.
Think of it like this
If bringing your best self = (Gifts +Values +Passions)service to others AND
Bringing your best self = living on purpose then
Living on Purpose = (Gifts +Values +Passions)service to others
When you combine your Gifts, Passions and Values and bring them to life in the Service of or benefit of others, you are living on Purpose.
We’ve found framing like this has had a profound impact on our clients.
So, next time you read or hear about having to 'Find your Purpose' in order to be successful, perhaps think instead about simply "living on purpose" using the info we've laid out in this article.
Cheers Ben & Josh
