To read is to gain exposure but the main part of learning is putting the lessons gained to context and having an application for them.
I recently joined a book club run by a mentor, friend and someone I look up to by the name Newton Siele. It’s interesting how in the line of service you can meet people who become influential in the path your life takes. That’s not part of the story today though. So in the book club we are currently reading the book “Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team.” It’s a timely book especially in the current dispensation that everyone is talking about finding your purpose, following your passion and being centered on it. For me it’s both a journey to learn and to get know how well I can support those around me.
In the introductory chapter the book delves into a primer outlining the basics of an earlier title by Simon Sinek, “Start With Why.” In the book the basic concept is around the Golden Circle that provides for the three levels in which we operate: superficial (What we do), intermediate (How we do it) and core (Why we do what we do the way we do it). This sounds philosophical I know and it is. I believe it is important to determine all these but as most quick fix stars will always do, you’ve been told that to achieve the ultimate level of success and fulfillment you desire you have to and must find your purpose.
Well I am here to tell you it’s important but not a life and death situation. Additionally, it’s not a cookie you go to the supermarket and buy. It needs work, takes time and may not be as outright when circumstances are as blurred as they are with a global pandemic.
The book outlines that for one to find their purpose, it’s important to make a conscious decision that you are out to find it then gather stories from your past, share them with a partner, identify common/related themes and draft a why statement which you can better refine. As simple as it sounds, it can be done but not that straightforward because by being human our priorities, preferences and perspectives on life change as we live. Some of these are due to circumstances, others exposure and some we even don’t understand but they happen.
I am writing this to tell you that it’s not obvious that you’ll find your purpose just outright as you want to but you can do it. When we talk about your purpose being linked to what you do i.e. your career, I want to tell you that it can be far from it. At times your career just helps you fulfill your obligation of providing for your loving family. It’s because you care enough for them that you have to do the job and make it thrive. This can be your why in this case attached to a motivation (salary to cater for your family’s needs).
I have just concluded a Ryculture meeting this evening and these came up in our discussion and I realized that it’s important to determine our why in the context we operate in and attach it to a motivation or reward. You may be at a job you dislike or with people who are toxic but unless you give out your power you can always thrive and change the outcome. You can influence yourself and your team looking at the immediate “Why” behind being at the job, the reward and the alternative.
We can do better, let’s get going and thrive together. Find your why for the moment and make the best of it where you are because you can.