Purpose-Driven Career: Purpose

If you want to thrive in your career, either with or without AI, you must examine deep within yourself and determine your Purpose in life. No amount of AI automation and productivity will give you a meaningful and joyful life, unless your work fulfills your purpose. The lives of people who suddenly win the lottery jackpot may not end well if they lose their purpose in life. Similarly, before you embark on an AI-driven life, learn from my POG framework for a Purpose-Driven Career for a solid foundation

Set your purpose with the why and whom do you help to get more meaning and significance in your life.

Setting your purpose will help you identify who in the world do you help, and why. Author John Maxwell wrote in his book, The Power of Significance, that “Without purpose, life is meaningless.”

“Without purpose, life is meaningless.”

John Maxwell in The Power of Significance

That is so powerful!

How many of you know what is your purpose, why you’re here on this earth, why you’re alive here today, why you’re here in your business, why you’re reading my website today?

If we don’t have a purpose, then life is meaningless.

This means for life to be meaningFUL, we need to understand our purpose, and act intentionally about it.

In the history of the universe, there is only one of you, with your exact self and experiences. You were made, and have a purpose, to do good works to help people. Your talents and resources are gifts meant to uplift those around you.

• Your life matters.
• Your 90,000 hours in your lifetime career matters.
• Your life and your career matters to helping people in the world.

How do you use your God-given talents, experiences, and Resources to fulfill your purpose in helping and uplifting others? Take some time to reflect on your talents, experiences, and resources.

• It might not necessarily be just what you do at work.
• You have experiences as a parent,
• You are gifted with music, or languages, or art, or sports, or making people feel comfortable.

After taking assessment of your talents, experiences, and resources that you have been gifted with, now you can clarify your Purpose on what to do with those abilities and resources of yours.

Who and Why Do You Help?

You’ll need to set your purpose with the Why and the Who do you help.

The WAY to get more meaning and significance in your life is by helping others with the resources that have been given to you.

Simon Sinek, who’s one of the top TED Talk speakers, writes “Start with why.” 

Along with the Why, be clear on the Who that you are helping. Note how Arthur C. Brooks asks the questions for the reason for your actions. Your actions are the the How and What that you do. Your actions are for the Who and Why.

If the Who and Why for your work and for your actions are solely for yourself, then that would lead to a lonely existence. However, if you set a greater purpose beyond yourself, then you can find more fulfillment and meaning and appreciation in your work.

• WHO you can help with your talents? Be specific: perhaps it’s people with diabetes.
• WHY do you help them?  Perhaps because you have family members who have diabetes, you have unique experiences to see the severe health complications from the disease. Your compassion and humanity leads you to want to alleviate the suffering of all people with this disease.

And fortunately for you, you have the exact academic and professional training that fits perfectly to help people with this disease and similar diseases. This will lead you to the HOW and WHAT you do to fulfill your Purpose through your occupation.

Your Why

For your WHY, it isn’t necessarily just to get a paycheck, even though that’s a good thing too.

There are thousands of ways that you can go through life to earn some income, but most of them will feel meaningless if you’re not intentionally making a difference in the lives of others through your work. There’s more to life than just a paycheck. What will your 90,000 hours of work in your lifetime mean to this world?

Think what’s the impact and influence you can have on people. Think of problems in the world that gets your blood flowing, that either makes you sad or mad. If one of those problems can be solved by your unique combination of talents and experiences, then it might be a good idea for you to set your Purpose on that problem.

Your Who

For the WHO, you need to be clear with WHO you are helping as well.

• Are you helping your boss? Are you helping your team members? Customers? Students?
• Are you helping your spouse? Are you helping your next-door neighbor?
• Are you helping your grandchildren and future generations?
• Who is it that you’re helping?

Once you can put a face and identity to the people you are helping, then it gives you a little bit more connection in terms of what you do would make a difference in someone’s life.

Regardless of whether you have skills in pipetting samples or reconciling financial records, think about who you are ultimately helping, and why. You’re not here just to please your boss at work, although that’s important too, for you to do your best work.

Think bigger and deeper about the people who you help from your work, and why it matters. This will help you form your PURPOSE.