17 May 2022
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
Mark Twain
Discovering your purpose can be really powerful. So what is purpose and why does it matter?
We are all driven by and toward something, which looks different for each of us and purpose is individual and personal.
A definition of purpose emerges from the work of the many theorists and researchers that have explored this construct and can be described as “your personal set of life aims that guides your behaviour, pulls you into the future, and gives meaning to life”.
Like happiness, purpose is not a destination, but a journey and a practice. The fourth pillar in Korn Ferry’s personal energy and wellbeing framework is purpose.
Research shows, that people who have a strong purpose are better positioned to navigate complexity and achieve success in an uncertain world. purpose driven employees are more resilient and are better at managing complexity, tolerating ambiguity, and coping with stress more effectively.
According to research, having a strong sense of purpose leads to:
Greater work engagement and organizational commitment.
Higher cognitive function, improving action planning and decision making.
Lower mortality risk by 43% than those with weaker purposes (Cohen, 2016).
No matter how big or small, our purpose is and it will always be central to who we are - our unique talents, what we value, and what we care about.
So how do we find our purpose and align it to the organisational purpose to make work meaningful?
Below is a great article to help you (or the people you lead) discover your purpose and how to make the connection to work and bring meaning to your work.