Your Purpose is to Create One

Purpose is the new black in business.
Everyone is busy reframing what they do.
From what to why.
And once discovered, they turn on the storytelling machine.
And wait for attention to blossom and business to bear fruit.
But this contemporary approach is misguided.
Because purpose isn’t discovered.
It’s created.
It isn’t a carefully considered and crafted image.
It’s a bold statement.
A way of believing and behaving that grows and evolves and enhances people’s lives.
Purpose isn’t something we pull out of our brands.
It’s something we passionately build into them.
Out of our experiences and values.
It’s not something that we uncover.
It’s an essence that we discover through our choices and sacrifices.
Purpose means progress.
It’s movement towards a more ethical and meaningful way of being.
Purpose creates a new world.
One that compensates for the one we typically experience.
A world of truth, compassion and excitement.
Purpose is an aspiration.
It’s a direction that drives us.
It informs our minds and engages our hearts.
Emerson wrote, “The purpose of life is not to be happy.
It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate.
To have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
The same is true of business and our work.
Is your business helpful? Is it enjoyable?
Does it improve the lives of your customers and employees?
Are you honest, straightforward and trustworthy?
And if you think compassion is a wishy-washy concept, think again.
Compassion is the deep awareness of the suffering of another.
Coupled with the desire to relieve it.
And that’s the key to innovation.
To meaning, renewal and growth.
The future is not some place that we are going.
It’s a reality that we are creating.
For ourselves, our children, our communities, and future generations.
THAT is our real purpose.
And it’s your business to create it.