The Path to Finding Purpose in Your Work

An individual's capacity for production is driven by their skills and physical condition. When one hears the terms physical condition in a work setting, one could easily mistake the muscular stature required for manual labor with general wellbeing. A prerequisite is to feel good, function well, and display enough emotional contempt to follow directions and work well with others to perform under any conditions. An emotionally stable and physically fit person is an able body with the potential to produce; however, one must then assess what magnitude they can produce and their earning potential.

The amount of money one earns is driven by their output relative to their work demand. Therefore, if a job doesn't require specific skills or advanced education, it is likely to pay less as an employer has a greater selection of workers. Lacking specialized expertise, examples of unskilled jobs include server, janitor, receptionist, transport driver, and security guard, to name a few. This matters because studies have shown that 90,000 hours of one's life will be spent working, equating to roughly one-third of the average life span. So when you are in your teenage years and begin developing passions and hobbies such as playing sports or developing an interest in a specific school subject. One may wonder what their path will be upon graduation, you may not know what you want to do for a career, but do you know what kind of life you want to live?

Some people opt for travel or the military, others go to college, and if you are good enough at a sport that can pay your way to college, others start working immediately, find a job they like and learn while working in the field. There are infinite life paths. Whether or not you are conscious of all of the paths mentioned, what they all have in common is that they allow the individual to develop personally, resulting in the acquisition of skills. Leveraging one's skillset is the path to finding a job, and continuing to learn in that field, whether through education or experience, is how to advance continuously. This trajectory is relatively easy to follow as it's easier to follow directions when you know where you are going! So one must ask themself, what do you want to achieve??

Goal setting will dictate behavior; the more significant the goals, the more each decision matters. One can have weekly and monthly goals. Possessing yearly plans will allow them to remain focused, but life turns into a marathon instead of a sprint of trying to stay ahead when you have 10, 20, or 50-year-old goals. A lifetime goal is an achievement that can never truly be measured while pursuing it, but as time passes, if one follows the path they laid out for themselves, success will inevitably ensue! This approach to life is not about a goal but yet a personal mission. The job of the individual does not define this mission. However, career advancement, the respect of their peers, building or leading an organization, and strong family life, reflect that their career is aligned with their mission, creating a sense of purpose.

What one does for a living is not a matter of earning potential or status but how it aligns with their values. Does their job allow them to showcase their skills, is their growth potential, and most importantly, do they enjoy doing it? Life begins to lack meaning when one is going through the motions and unsatisfied with how one spends their time. When we lose a sense of purpose, we lose ourselves, and our health deteriorates both physically and mentally, and there is a crippling chain reaction. For example, if the average person works eight hours in the day, from the second they get to work, they cannot wait to leave; the natural tendency is to seek an escape. Whether it be through movies or sports, hanging out with friends, to alcohol consumption, while these behaviors are acceptable, if they are not managed correctly, they can create a downward spiral in other aspects of life such as confidence, relationships, sleeping, and eating habits.

There is no denying that many Americans are unhappy at work, and our consumption is out of control; two-thirds of our population is overweight or obese, illustrating the overconsumption of food. "Produce more than you consume" is an elementary principle I live by as it allows me to prioritize my work output and physical fitness. My physical condition drives my capacity to produce, whether writing a blog, shooting a podcast, developing a sales strategy, or building a training system. If I consume too much, I am mindful that my behavior does not support my mission. Or I need to exercise or consume something of substance. Perhaps extreme at times, but these actions support my mission.?

Being purpose-driven eliminates spontaneity as decision-making becomes far more of a binary process, rationalizing whether what I am doing is pushing forward or backward from every purchase, piece of food consumed, and meeting I have. The scope of my decision-making process and the discipline I exhibit is not something I would even suggest because each person has different values and goals. But we find that each individual's goals hold great magnitude relative to their desires, given their life circumstances.?

My lifestyle is not replicable, nor is yours, and that is the beauty of it, but anyone can adopt this philosophical approach to life, which is my win/loss framework. The nature of one's decision-making is predicated on what they are trying to achieve. So, first, you look at that singular desired outcome from a macro lens, then work backward. With this construct, you break it down to the most micro detail. W.I.N. stands for what's important now, a constant feedback loop of self-evaluation and keeping score in measuring if you are winning and losing the day relative to what you are trying to achieve.