Have you found your 'Spark'?

I recently had the huge honour of speaking at the One Young World Conference in The Hague. It was truly inspiring to see so many amazing young people come together from all around the world to build lasting connections and drive positive change.

To write my speech, I looked back at my own youth. I really wanted to connect with what would have helped me when I was the same age as my OYW audience.

So I asked myself: what’s the one thing I would tell my younger self? What would I say to her to help her overcome life’s challenges and failures? What advice would I give to ensure she wakes up each day feeling passionate about the job she does?

The answer was simple: I would tell my younger self about the importance of igniting the Human Spark – to build a better me, a better business and ultimately, a better world.

This is something I speak about often. Why? Because it defines my purpose in life: helping others to find their Spark is my own personal Spark!

To find the Spark, we have to know what it is

But what is this "Spark" anyway? To me, the Spark is the thing that makes you jump out of bed in the morning – even if it’s Monday! It’s that feeling of being energised and ready to face anything that life throws at us.

The Spark is what compels us to be a force for good, so we can positively transform the world – in big or small ways.

Take Alex, the taxi driver: a few weeks ago, I jumped into his cab. But Alex was no ordinary driver. He immediately whipped out some puppets, so they could ‘talk’ me through the ‘safety procedures’ of our journey, (seat belt on, doors closed at all times…). Alex made a small moment fun, engaging and unique – because he really cares about his job and the safety of his customers.

That’s what I call the Spark!

By uniting our Spark, we can build a better business – and create a better world.

I truly believe that when we use our individual Spark to unite behind one common purpose, we can build a better business and be a positive force for good.

The Dove Self Esteem Project is a great example of this.

Earlier this year, NHS figures revealed that almost 400,000 children and young people aged 18 and under are in contact with the health service for mental health problems.

With two sons of my own, and many young people working in our business, I know all too well that social media has a lot to answer for in regard to this crisis.

Which is why the Dove Self Esteem Project challenges the way we think about beauty. For me, it’s about lessening the anxiety surrounding our physical appearance – and instead, feeling truly confident in our own skin because of who we are as a complete person.

As part of the project, I visited a London school to speak to students about the impact of social media on their self-image. I was shocked and saddened to hear that children as young as 11 feel pressured to look a certain way – and as a result, often suffer from crippling low self-esteem.

By working with psychologists specialising in this issue, the project aims to help educate young people about the make-up, lighting, styling, airbrushing and image manipulation that goes into many of the pictures they’re exposed to on a daily basis.

To date, the project has worked with 24 million people. So, little by little, one person at a time, Dove is uniting behind a common cause – to build a better business and contribute to a better world. Dove is a brand with true Spark!

But what about you? Have you found your Spark?

Helping others to find their Spark is the thing that I can do to make a difference. That's the thing that truly drives me – that's the thing that gets me leaping out of bed, even on Mondays.

So if you don't feel that you have found your personal Spark yet, here are the three things I said to the One Young World audience to help them identify theirs.

1. Find your purpose

If you don’t know, ask 10 close friends and family members, what are you best at and when are you happiest?

For more detailed advice on how to find your purpose click here.

2. Find a cause that you believe in

Once you’ve found something you’re passionate about, do your research. Find out more about any causes or problems that chime with your purpose – then figure out what you can do about it.

3. Find like-minded people

Join an association, choose an employer who shares your cause, find others to collaborate with so that together, you can contribute to a more positive world.

It’s really easy to think that we’re too busy with our own daily life. That someone else will be the one to stand up and put themselves out there. But if we all did that, change would never happen.

I'd love to hear what your Spark is. Please do share and leave comments – tag a friend who's searching for their true purpose, or tell me about someone who has inspired you to find yours.

(By the way, I gave another example of someone who had found her Spark recently when I wrote about the incredible bravery and leadership of Mallika Jagad who led me, my husband and my Unilever colleagues to safety during the Mumbai terror attacks.)

Please join me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.