Purpose of Life
five years ago
at the age of 25 i graduated from
university
i had two comlada degrees in my hand had
studied in five countries of this world
pursued
six internships on four continents and
spoke five languages
and yet when standing there in my
playground
and receiving this ultimate reward for
my hard work
i fed rather now where was the special
sense of fulfillment
i had been longing for
and this feeling of numbness didn’t go
away as i entered the workspace
my view was clouded i felt disoriented
and lost at times
so i did what i was used to i just
jumped at the next goal
and without even thinking about it i
knew i wanted to work my way up from
assistant to manager
and though i liked my job it was
interesting and i learned a lot
i still did not feel this welfare
back in university it had all seemed so
simple
hard work and good grades would
translate into a satisfactory job
a successful career and ultimately
fulfillment
but now i was just standing there and
thinking to myself that’s it
i just work my way up until i retire
and then one day it hit me
for years i’d been running from goal to
goal from achievement to achievement
without ever pausing and thinking about
the why
i got plenty of goals whatever i set my
mind to
i did it and succeeded checked the box
i really was the checkbox queen
but did i ever question the deeper
meaning behind the pursuits of these
goals
their relevance and importance
and would they eventually complete
i started to look for advice and came
across
simon sinek you probably
all know him because his ted talk start
with right
is one of the most watched in history
his argument as a leader if you want to
inspire people to take action
you need to communicate your why
people don’t buy what you do they buy
why you do it
his golden circle says you first need to
look at the y
then at the hou and then i do what
now i had to admit to myself
i’d always started with the what pursuit
these two coming out of the place
then i looked into how study very hard
and only now was i looking at the why
but if i wanted to continue to motivate
myself
i needed to be clear about my worry and
in my
why only not that of friends society
or family
now why do you think this ted talk is
one of the most watched in history
there are probably many reasons but
surely one of them is
that people want to know their why we
want to know our purpose
because it gives us guidance and
orientation in life
and having a purpose is good
studies prove that people with a purpose
a deeper meaning and sense of direction
remains stronger and healthier as they
grow older
and have a lower risk of death
other studies suggest that
the purpose makes you happier and
increases
your creativity and productivity at work
now why is it then i wonder that when i
reached out to people as part of my
self-discovery journey
and asked them about their why more
often than not
they could not tell me why they were
doing what they were doing and what they
wanted to do with their life
in fact quite a few even seemed
irritated and angry
when they realized they could not give
me an
answer to my question and there’s an
interesting study in that regard that
shows
that of participants of different ages
those at the age of 60 are most likely
to say your life has a purpose
sixty now that leaves me with the
personal impression
that people have a hard time finding
their why but do they ever look for it
because just like anything in life
really
when it comes to your partnership
friendship or job
you have an impact on the outcome you
can create those opportunities that may
lead
to the lawful success that you’re
looking for
we just need to permit ourselves to be
in charge of our life
and of finding our calling
now there might be a few people in the
crowd now that would tell me sir
you know what i always wanted to travel
the world i wanted to go down under
that’s how i will find my purpose
now let me tell you i don’t think you
will find your purpose
picking apples on an australian farm
nor do i think you need to quit your job
and
leave your city you can find it
right here right now if you just dare to
be vulnerable
and honest with yourself
now people always told me your passion
leads you to your purpose
the things that come easy that you
really enjoy doing
and while that might be the case
for me it was rather the really
difficult moments the challenging and
hurtful ones that i would want to forget
about
it could be the moment when your partner
passes away after many years of sickness
when you lose your job for which you
have worked for such a long time
or you’re just tremendously sad
because a friend has disappointed you
now why this is not the ultimate
conclusion or hard truth this is just me
trying to make sense of my experiences
so allow me to tell you my story
when i entered the workspace as a young
ambitious woman full of energy
and ideas to put into practice i faced
so many challenges and setbacks related
to my gender
and it was frustrating to realize that
competence and performance
do not always translate into the success
or the recognition that we believe we
deserve
and i remember that aha moment that
looking back
is when i found my purpose
i was driving in the car with some of my
colleagues
and one of my main colleagues
confidently pitched an idea
that took me some courage but i did the
same just so one of my female colleagues
could tell me sir that’s good but please
don’t be so bossy this time
at first i was confused
then i was sad but soon my sadness
turned into anger
because i realized how much potential is
wasted in our society
because it imposes artificial barriers
on the confidence of women because if we
want to unleash our potential
we need to be our authentic self
yet too many women hold themselves back
because they feel they don’t fit in the
environment that you operate in
now these experiences have taught me how
strongly i feel about
bringing about change in business and
society
and how much i care about helping the
women following me
to overcome similar obstacles and help
them
become the confident and resilient woman
they all are
early on in their career
and what better way is there than
writing down
my story and experiences
that’s why i co-wrote the book unleash
today
to share my stories and turn my pain
into the healing for others
and frankly writing down my stories
helped me to make sense of my
experiences
and i can only recommend this to all of
you to do the same
now what constitutes a meaningful goal
and purpose is deeply personal
and finding your purpose can take years
it is a self-discovery journey that can
even take a lifetime
it can also change over time and it
doesn’t matter
if you do not always feel like the
puzzle pieces
fit together perfectly what is important
though
is that you dare is that you
dare to put yourself out there to go out
of your comfort zone
and to expose yourself to risk
is that you dare to embrace those
difficult
those frightening and fearful moments
because they will teach you about your
values and your boundaries
and may ultimately lead you to your
purpose
and having a purpose is beautiful it’s
like a
compass that guides you and
assists you in setting goals and plans
and allows you eventually to unleash
your potential
so don’t go the easy vote
now i still run from goal to goal
from achievement to achievement but i
pause
and think about the why i still want
that successful career
just quit my job i moved to china
embraced the new professional challenge
and i’m learning my sixth language
although i shall admit
i cannot take that box just yet
but all of my goals are linked to my
purpose
and i’m deeply personal to me
i carefully considered why i wanted to
move here why i started a new job
and why i’m learning a sex language
and starting with why finally
makes me feel fulfilled
thank you