We have a tendency to value activity, particularly objective-driven, outcome-focused individuals that just love a project and ticking things off a list!

A meeting last week made me think more deeply about purpose and why it matters. From the panel debate, it was clear that purpose meant something different to each individual and that it changed as life changed. Each person had a reason for the life that they lived, and it centred on how they served their clients.

So maybe purpose is not easy to define and remains something to seek rather than do, but there are tangibles to hold onto.

➡️ You will do more of what you love. Being enamoured with the work you do, making the absolute best use of the skills that you have, seeing others grow and maybe contributing to a greater whole is so much better than “just doing a job."

➡️ Work will be more enjoyable. Understanding what you really value and are great at brings a higher degree of satisfaction to the task and the outcome. The idea of contributing to your personal purpose will fire up most people.

➡️ You will make better choices. Choices can be limited by opportunity, and sometimes “just doing a job” is absolutely the right choice. Being intentional with our choices and knowing why we are making them will help us avoid second-guessing ourselves in the future.

➡️ You will do better with your clients. Businesses need to change to survive, but they very often do not do this with purpose. Successful change management requires a purpose to aim for, to discard what is unnecessary, and to keep focused when the hard yards become necessary.

So personal purpose might not be easy to understand and will change, but to politely and determinedly ask “to what purpose” might be something that we need to do more of.