Lucrative Wisdom

Subscribe here to get these wisdom-inspired letters once a week from Substack

Dear Daughters,

Purpose.

A topic every generation ponders. There is probably no other idea more worthy of our time and reflection. Why? Because having a purpose is the purpose of living.

One of America’s greatest writers, Mark Twain, wrote: "The two most important days in your life are?the day you are born and the day you find out why."

A contemporary of Twain who lived in 19th century Britain by the name of Thomas Carlyle said something similar: “A person without purpose is like a ship without a rudder.”

Without a rudder, we’re directionless, adrift among life’s ocean waves, unable to guide ourselves with a sturdy confidence.

Without purpose, life becomes - dare I say - trivial and petty.

With a rudder, however, life becomes transformational with the chance to beautifully unfurl like the petals of a rose. With purpose, we feel better, we think better, we do better, and we start scraping the surface of our potential. Purpose gives us energy, motivation and crystal clarity.

The very quality of our life depends on the clearness of our purpose.

Not surprisingly, having clear purpose is as rare as rare success. Few have it and money can’t buy it. Purpose tends to make it easier to be disciplined, patient and to live with moderation, too. That’s why if you don’t have it locked-in, its easier to get sucked into the vortex of instant gratifications and the addictions associated with alcohol, drugs, shopping, overeating, social media scrolling and video gaming.

So, you’re now probably wondering how the heck can one find this gem of a thing called purpose?

The ancient philosophies found in the Bhagavad Gita have something to say. They suggest that part of our purpose is to serve others - uplift, motivate, teach - and another part has to do with expanding into our full and authentic potential.

These ideas remind me of a quote from Pablo Picasso: The meaning of life is to find your gift.?The purpose of life is to give it away.

And another from Oprah Winfrey: Follow your passion. It will lead you to your purpose.

Finding purpose happens when we start working on those things that make us feel most alive, uplift others by sharing that work with them, and continually expanding into our fullest potential as we do so.

I intentionally use the word “feel” because purpose isn’t some mission statement we rationalize, it’s something we end up finding by tapping into our heart, not our head.

It’s also something that we tend to enjoy doing over long stretches of time, no matter the financial rewards, obstacles in our way or the criticisms of naysayers.

It might seem hard at first to find those things that light an unstoppable fire in your belly, but when you build up the fearlessness to block out the world’s noise and stop comparing yourself to others, you’ll close in on the real you - the you that knows what kind of work makes you feel most alive and obsessed about.

A final note on purpose: Its a journey, not an outcome. And the journey will not be easy nor straightforward.

Anytime you expand and grow, you stretch outside your comfort zone, and that’s an uncomfortable thing to do. Not painful, but uncomfortable. So being comfortably uncomfortable is something you’ll need to expect if you want to live life of purpose.

Expect, too, that your purpose morphs and adapts according to the season of your life. When you’re young, it may be seeking mastery in your craft as an actor or architect. As you get older, it may be directing films or building businesses around that same work or blending that work with raising children or dipping into a completely different line of work that best expresses you and your gifts and your life at that moment.

And finally, expect to run into several forks in the road. When this happens, just choose one and trust. Because as Steve Jobs said, "You can't?connect?the?dots looking?forward;?you can only connect?them?looking backwards."

In the end, just remember to continually follow your authentic heart. It will never fail to lead you to your purpose no matter what stage of life you find yourself in.

****

Gift this weekly newsletter to someone who's curious about practical wisdom and life success by subscribing here: https://substack.com/poojamottl

Follow me on Linkedin