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