Find Your Purpose

What gets you out of bed in the morning? Why do you do what you do?

If you can answer these questions, you’re streets ahead of most people. If you can’t, you should probably take time to ponder them. In service industries, many people say that they “enjoy helping others”, or they “like to solve others’ problems”. Whilst these statements may be true, are they really a reason to get up and face the daily grind? I’d say “no”. To really get to the bottom of why you do what you do, it’s a safe bet to say the reason would be more holistic. That is, it would be a motivator for your life – not just your nine-to-five.

It took me years to realise why I do what I do. My thinking went something like this: I need peace of mind. Being organised gives me this peace of mind. It’s very important to me to know that I’ve thought ahead as much as possible; that I’ve planned what I need to plan, paid what I owe on time, booked what I need to book and scheduled time for what I need to do for the day. Every day I read (for learning, and for entertainment), journal to learn about myself, meditate, and take a morning walk to give my day momentum…you get the picture.

I get a kick out of being this organised and getting things done. It gives me a real buzz when I finish my day, tick off my list and know I've grown in some way. I get up every morning, knowing basically what I’ve set for myself to achieve, then I go about achieving it all, in bite-sized chunks...

You could basically say my purpose is progress and self-improvement.

Once I realised I was driven by this, I had to find a job which would allow me to do it. I had to work at something where I needed to be organised to succeed, where I could be a part of something bigger than me which would benefit greatly from this mindset. Knowing that my ability to organise, co-ordinate, problem-solve and simply get things done gives tangible results to the organisation I work in, is a great reward. I wouldn’t enjoy getting up every day knowing I wasn’t going to have lists to tick!

I also have an underlying strength, or base...being the love of my wife. When I have a bad day at work, I look at the photo on my desk and remember that she and I are building a relationship and a life together…a life-long, unfinishable project. This underpins everything I do – I want her to be proud of me, and I want the efforts I make in my job to enable she and I to live the life we want. Her respect motivates me to be better at my work, and to be a better me. You could say this is my long game and my lists are my short game. Importantly though, the short game fits into the picture by allowing me to achieve the little day-to-day milestones and these help me to know I’m on my way to the longer term dreams – to help build a successful business…and a contented life.

 So, find your purpose and you’re well on your way to being happy.