The power of purpose

I’m going to kick off this inaugural newsletter with a raw message; getting personal and sharing my experience with a concept that has shaped by life.

Purpose, although I didn’t call it that 24 years ago, has been a transformational force. In 1999, I dug deep and decided that I was going to future proof how we live in a climate challenged world. I like being practical, so I was going to do this by giving people tools and skills that brought us closer to nature.

It has not always been easy, but I have chosen to create a career path that pivots around my purpose.? I have made tough choices along the way, often leaving relationships, money, and opportunities on the table. Hell, I even moved countries in my 30’s in order to live my purpose; leaving my first husband, a house, a business and my family and friends behind. A big part of that decision was that my life in the US was not impactful enough. I knew I could do more.

So, let me ask you...

Are you willing to make bold decisions and transform your professional life with purpose? ?

So what is purpose anyway?

Purpose is life defining.? Knowing and living your purpose can be transformational, turning your passion into your life’s mission. ?If cultivated, it has the power to become your personal brand, and provide a platform to share the story of why you are driven to make impact.

It's not what you do, it's why you do it.

We work too many hours for a job just to be a paycheck. Since graduating university, I have not had a job for a paycheck.

I’ve had the opportunity to work for some great organisations . All of them chosen for their clear mission that was aligned to my own purpose, allowing me to scale my personal impact through my work.? I’ve turned down lots of opportunities over the years and have left organisations where I learned their mission was not authentic.

Unilever

Working for Unilever (2014-2021) was a defining moment on my purpose journey; we weren’t only making soup and soap, I was a part of a purpose factory for leadership.

Under Paul Polman’s vision ‘to make sustainable living commonplace’ and Lenna Nair’s direction, HR provided fantastic tools to help everyone uncover their purpose and then they showed them how to use it, making it possible to lead with purpose no matter your work level.

Unilever did this because they knew that people with purpose thrive and that having an organisational purpose drives business performance. During my time there, I learned that communicating your purpose with clarity can exponentially increase your impact. You can’t keep it to yourself.

Linking personal purpose to your role and your life.

You have to do the hard work. It all starts with knowing why you are here, defining your purpose in a clear purpose statement. Mine is on my bedroom wall, I read it every morning before my feet touch the floor. ?Activating it requires that you tell others and use it to create boundaries for your work, asking yourself, does this organisation, role, project enable me to live my purpose? Then you must make tough decisions, using your purpose to guide your career, personal and family decisions.

If you want to have a truly purpose led career, schedule a chat. https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/AcZssZ17bAnW7Cg72r1SM7R3Fr4qx5lJbeW28MJ8s88=