How Having a Purpose Can Save Your Life

It's the tale of two purposeful responses.

85% of respondents from one group agree they can live their purpose in day-to-day work. 85% of another group indicated they disagree they can live their purpose in day-to-day work.

The respondents who agreed comprised executives and upper management. The group who did not were frontline managers and employees.

I'm fortunate to live my purpose in my day-to-day work. Though I learned it the hard way, like this British man.

The wake-up call

It was December of 2013. The first 11 months were filled with projects and I was looking forward to a break. Then one day, after carrying my toddler and running in the rain, I felt the dreaded symptoms.

There was great discomfort in my chest, my arms felt numb, and I had shortness of breath.

Without delay, I presented myself at the hospital and a cardiac enzyme test was administered. While I waited for the test results, my mind was taken over by catastrophic thinking.

That's what it took for me to start designing work around my life instead of the other way round.

Link between purpose and health

Turns out that same year, Eric S. Kim et al. found adults over the age 50 who have a purpose in life also have a lower risk of stroke.

If you are looking to kick start the process in search of your purpose, there are endless advice out there.

Here is a good place to start.

Now, an interesting follow-up question is this:

is there anything more important than having a purpose in life?

This article was first published on this site.