Finding your 'why' and being purposeful

We all know 'what' we do for a living, but when was the last time you asked yourself 'why' you do what you do? Finding your 'why' can be the key to a much more productive and fulfilling life at work, as I've found out for myself in recent years.

Why Greed Isn’t Good

I grew up in the 1980s, when capitalism was king and Michael Douglas was proudly telling us all that “greed is good” in the 1987 movie Wall Street. I watched that movie at a formative time in my life, my jet-setting father announcing the same year that he wouldn't be returning from his overseas trip and that he didn't want the responsibility of a family any more. (This amounted to not paying child support as he was under the mistaken belief that my wealthy maternal grandfather in the UK would step in to rescue us.) At this time I was trying to decide what subjects to study for the last two years of high school and everybody wanted to know my purpose, my plan for the future. As the eldest in a suddenly single-parent family that now had a cloud of shame hanging over it, I felt my purpose was to make money - to somehow regain financial stability.

I finished my schooling and a couple of years later bought a suit with big shoulder pads. I worked hard, very hard. I'd exaggerated my computer literacy to secure my first real job and left the office at the end of the day when everybody else did, had dinner in a food hall and returned to the office when everybody else had left, to upskill myself and ensure I was ahead with my work.

My penchant for working hard never left me. I seemed hard-wired to chase the almighty dollar, and as a recruiter, I thrived in high-commission/low base environments. But I could never bring myself to wholeheartedly believe that pursuing money was meaningful, or being propelled forward by fear of lack of money was purposeful. However I was naive and impressionable - I had been told greed was good and I planned my career accordingly.

Fortunately, life teaches us many things along the way, and while I was on maternity leave I started a side-hustle that grew into a full time business. While I agonised in the early years over how to turn my LinkedIn profile business into a face-to-face consultancy (achieved in part with LinkedIn strategy sessions and taken to a whole new level more recently with B2B LinkedIn training) I re-assessed my values and how these align with what I do for a living.

An avid reader I consumed everything I could get my hands on from Simon Sinek, Hugh Mackay, Alain de Botton, Viktor Frankl, Jeff Olson, John Demartini and perhaps the most surprising of all, Tim Minchin. All of these bright minds purport that if we focus solely on ourselves, we can’t find happiness. As Frankl asserts:

" the true meaning of life is to be discovered in the world rather than within man or his own psyche... The more one forgets himself by giving to a cause to serve or another person to love - the more human he is."

Don't Ignore Your Inner Voice

If you have a nagging feeling that your work life isn't as fulfilling as it could be, please consider the ideas in this article. As I struggled with indecision in the early years of running my own then-small business I read widely, listened to countless TedX talks, and found the exercises I'm listing here the most valuable. (I would have added all the exercises within the book Designing Your Life, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans; it hadn't been published when I first wrote this newly revised and republished article.)

Try the below and shape a new future for yourself, a new purpose-filled life in which your career aligns with your values.

If you are needing expert guidance on finding your why, don't call me! I can capture all your strengths and skills in a LinkedIn profile that will win the hearts and minds of potential clients/prospective employers, and together we can shape LinkedIn content that highlights your expertise. However, coaching to help you find what you want, that is not my area of expertise...

Individuals who can help you are listed here.

Getting to Know Yourself

Defining my true core values wasn’t easy for me, I don’t think it is easy to drown out the voices of peers, parents, and societal expectations and I am not sure I could have found my path without the expert guidance of Russell Johnson.

The books Russell recommended to me were also a great help, especially John Demartini’s The Values Factor which revealed that self-discovery needn’t be an uncomfortable journey into internal unchartered territory. Instead, we can understand what is inside by looking outside for evidence of what we pay attention to. Of all the questions Demartini recommends we record our answers to, I found these the most interesting: 

• Attention - What do we most notice around us?
• Retention - What do we remember most easily?
• Intention - What do we plan to act upon first?

We can learn to understand our own inner values by consciously recording our behaviour patterns – how we spend our time, what we spend our money on, what inspires us, even our favourite books and topics of conversation. Collecting evidence of what happens internally by examining what we do externally allow us to build an accurate picture of who we are unfettered by who we think we should be.

Lots of information is like lots of breadcrumbs that can lead us to what our purpose is, if we are just brave enough to follow the trail...

A Framework For Finding Your 'Why'

Something else I found helpful was Simon Sinek's 'golden circle' model that explains how questioning is at the centre of our professional development. The outside of the circle is 'What', which represents our goals and what we want to achieve. The next layer in is 'How' – how we structure and plan in order to reach our objectives. At the very centre of the circle is 'Why'. These circles shows us that our own personal values should be at the centre of what we do, and our actions should align with our innermost beliefs. Sinek's TedX Talk, which you can find here, explains this concept in more detail, and it's well worth watching.

Finding your 'why' is what gives you insight into your character and the choices you make. By understanding what motivates you and makes you happy, you can gain the courage and understanding to realise which goals you should pursue and what you should be saying no to. In some cases, these discoveries can lead to a complete career change. However, even making small changes that align your day-to-day work with your motivators and strengths will lead to a more fulfilled life!

As comedian Tim Minchin tells us here we don't have to be too narrow in considering what our purpose is. By doing great work, playing to our strengths, listening to our inner voice and being in service to others we can achieve flow, purpose and congruence with our work and values.

'Why' Comes From 'We'

One of the most interesting things I've discovered in my path from just a LinkedIn profile writer to a LinkedIn trainer and keynote speaker, is that my personal 'why' is given deeper meaning and more fulfillment when I'm focused on what I can give, not what I can get.

I believe as humans, we are hardwired to be social. We are communal, group-orientated. Of course, we are all individuals with our own experiences, dreams and skills, however together we can achieve so much more, and gain much more satisfaction when we work collectively to benefit the group. Thinking of 'the other' benefits us as individuals, making us happier humans.

Evidence of this collective spirit is LinkedIn. This network connects people who share professional interests (or paths) with each other. Part of my work is helping people to use LinkedIn to attract clients or job opportunities - however along the way I have discovered it is a powerful tool to swap, give and gain knowledge. No longer do I have to attend countless networking events to meet people who I can build services with, instead I can spend a few minutes on LinkedIn networking and not even have to get out of my pyjamas. As a solopreneur, LinkedIn gives me the feeling that I have colleagues all over Australia, and we are all helping each other.

Using LinkedIn, when I need advice or want to outsource something to someone with a particular skill, I can type that skill into the search bar, click on 1st to see who I know, then click on 2nd to see who they know.

I meaningfully grow my network, to build collaboration, to give.

Giving and accepting help is not only a natural part of being human, it’s also what makes us fulfilled and successful. By collaborating and using our own special skills to help each other, we can cut down on work we don't enjoy and focus more on our strengths. This way, we get to spend more time on activities we are both good at, and that has meaning for us.

We all want to reach our potential and feel our life has meaning. Given the hours we spend in generating an income, it is important that you follow a career path that aligns with your beliefs and principles. You can do this by making the effort to figure out your why. This simple concept has been a massive force in shaping my own business and ultimately my life. If we all take the time to define our 'why', we will be more fulfilled as individuals and collectively we will have created a more positive and compassionate society, where we are all helping each other become the best that we can be.

Please start today... And remember if you get stuck, don't call me. Reach out to expert Russell Johnson or Australia's most fabulous career coaches here.

Karen Tisdell Careers was born in 2010 as a resume and LinkedIn profile writing consultancy, emerging from a lifelong obsession with words and a 14 year career in recruitment in which Karen was incessantly tinkering with resumes (with her candidates permission) to ensure selection for interview. In early 2016, Karen added LinkedIn Training to her offerings and presented on the topic of LinkedIn at the AICD (twice), CPA Womens, MGSM, Australian Institute of Project Management and a few agency events.

Over the years, Karen's business has niched to being focussed on LinkedIn only.

Karen Tisdell ? Sydney, Australia ? [email protected] ? 0404 083 678