Why Do You Exist?
Creating a clear personal mission for a fulfilling life and career.
Do you have a personal mission? What gives your life meaning? Are you clear on your purpose or what drives you?
As shown in a 2019 Deloitte study, purpose-driven companies thrive. They have stronger cultures, faster growth, happier teams, and greater customer retention. Why? A clear purpose aligns and motivates everyone around an organization’s mission, from leaders to employees.
Our lives are no different. Having clarity of purpose or a personal mission is a compass, guiding decisions and boosting satisfaction in life and in our careers.
Mindful leaders have clarity of purpose and live in alignment with that purpose as much as possible.
Knowing your why adds meaning to every endeavor. It fosters presence and engagement, leading to more contentment and joy.
How did I find my why?
Our 3-year-old son was diagnosed on the autism spectrum the same year my mother was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s disease. Many families, organizations, and therapists helped us support our son through his challenges and navigate my mother’s cognitive decline.
Years of various therapies, treatments, and lifestyle changes helped our son reach what autism researchers call his optimal outcome (no longer meeting diagnostic criteria for autism), while my mother’s Alzheimer’s progression was managed as well as possible given available treatments.
Inspired by the selfless support we received, I wanted to pay this forward. This led to formalizing my personal mission to improve the lives of others. Although I already started my coaching and consulting business with altruistic motives to help my clients, my personal mission inspired me to expand impact to my community through serving on nonprofit boards and leading community initiatives.
Clarity of my personal mission has guided me in making big decisions in my life and career, and it can help you too.
How do you find your why?
Discovering life's purpose differs from finding meaning in daily life. Both are essential for fulfillment.
Let’s focus on your “big why.” This core purpose can shape your personal mission and future life and career choices. While understanding your weaknesses and blind spots are valuable, they are not essential for finding your purpose.
Reflect on your 4 P’s (personal values, passions, and powers to identify your life’s purpose):
Prioritize your personal values, core beliefs most important to you in how you live (or want to live) your life. Drew Dudley’s book, This is Day One, offers tools to define, prioritize, and operationalize your values.
Discover your passions, natural interests that excite you. Explore when you’re in a state of flow, a concept popularized by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
Identify your powers, your strengths, self-perceived and those recognized by others. Ask 5 to 7 trusted individuals for their perspective on your top 3 strengths. Focus on recurring themes.
Refine your purpose and personal mission statement:
Clarify your purpose, why you exist. Envision your impact. What legacy do you want to leave?
Create a personal mission statement that reflects your personal values (what’s important to you), your passions (what excites you), your powers (what you’re good at), and your purpose (why you exist). Jot down ideas. Take time to fine-tune it to what feels meaningful.
Evolve. As you go through stages of life or as circumstances change, so might your purpose. After the pandemic and my mother’s passing, I felt a new sense of urgency that my time on earth is limited. This led to evolving my mission to “improve the lives of others in more impactful ways” which helps me prioritize my time for maximum impact.
Reignite motivation and focus for yourself and your team by connecting to purpose frequently:
Keep your personal mission statement visible. Incorporate it into your screensaver, post it on the mirror, use it to guide decisions to stay aligned with your purpose.
Help your team clarify their mission. Does your team have a mission statement that clarifies their purpose? Help your team craft a shared mission statement aligned to the broader organizational mission or goals to facilitate better prioritization, decision-making, and morale.
Hold yourself and your team accountable. Have regular self check-ins and team discussions on whether actions align with your mission. Adjust as needed.
Clarifying your 4 P’s to craft a meaningful mission can help you feel fulfilled in your life and career. I hope you will take the next step to find or re-align with your personal mission.
To our purpose,
