The Two Sides To Purpose

When most people think about finding purpose in their life, they think of it through the lens of the difference they want to make in the world. Their purpose is the people, causes, and initiatives they feel called to support and contribute to. As the founder of a nonprofit called the For Purpose Foundation, I think a lot about purpose and think it actually needs a bit of rebrand because “making a difference” is only half of the equation.

Abraham Maslow is known for describing ‘purpose’ as the combination of two things: Using your gifts and talents in service of the world, and becoming all that you can be. Maslow popularized his “Hierarchy Of Needs” where at the very top you achieve ‘self-actualization’. The idea is that when you’re self-actualized, you’ve reached your fullest potential and are maximizing your ability to contribute to the world.

The point I’m making is that you cannot live out your life’s purpose without self-actualizing, and you cannot self-actualize without directing your efforts tin ways that make a difference. The two are interwoven and require each other. In other words, it’s critical to find ways to continuously self-improve in order to live out your purpose.

As an extension of this, Maslow disagrees with the idea of ‘finding’ your purpose. He believes that we all have the same purpose: To use our gifts and talents in service of the world and to become all that we can be. He argues that our purpose doesn’t need to be discovered because it’s something universal that we all share.

However, the way our purpose is expressed is varied, not only between people but also within the same person in different phases of life. To live out our purpose we each are charged to find the unique ways we feel called to use our gifts and talents to better the world. And the beautiful part about it is, that thing can change! We have different expressions of how we make a difference that we  encounter as we live out different seasons of life.

This means that the greatest contribution you can make, the best way to use your gifts and talents in service of the world can be all of these things: Raising a child, starting a nonprofit, mentoring someone younger in your work, writing a book to share your life lessons, and sharing kindness.

So rather than putting pressure on finding what your one purpose is in the world, embrace that your life has different missions - different momentary expressions of your purpose that most represent how you can make a difference right now in the present moment.

And I believe that it’s by by continuing to evolve how you’re contributing, and evolve as a person, that you tap into what we’re all after in life - A deep sense of meaning and fulfillment.