There's Always Time for Purpose

1. It is never too early or too late to find your purpose

As I do public speaking on finding your purpose in life and work, people often approach me afterwards. There are the worried mothers who buy my book to help their grown children find their purpose, to whom I say – it might take time. Let them trailblaze their own path (although tools do help).

Then, I have people who feel they may have missed the boat. People are already rooted in a career that gives them no joy or about to retire after years of doing something they know. They worry that it might be too late to discover their passion and create a positive impact around them. The purpose ship has never sailed.

It is not too early or too late to start looking for ways to use your talent for good. Whether you are 12 or 90, there is always time to contemplate your impact footprint in the world and your legacy. I will prove it with two inspirational stories.

2. Kids making a difference

In his incredible TED talk about starting Thankyou , Daniel Flynn speaks of his cousin Ben. When Ben was 12, he told his mum he would like to sponsor a child in a developing country. His mother said yes, but he had to find his own money for it. Ben asked – “How am I going to do this? I don’t even get an allowance.” He then started walking other people’s dogs to make money and sponsored a child. But once you feel what it is like to make a genuine difference, you often want more. So, he got his friends to walk dogs, too, created a small impact enterprise of dog walking with a social purpose, and ended up sponsoring several children and building water projects in the developing world. At 12.

It might sound like much at such a young age, but kids can be great entrepreneurs, even when putting together a lemonade stall. What they need to learn is how to act with empathy and impact. Ashoka , the umbrella organisation for social entrepreneurs in the US, works with children to develop empathy and entrepreneurship because, when combined, it creates robust business solutions to social and environmental problems.

Like Ashoka’s Amara Nwuneli, the founder of Preserve Our Roots. The young girl is a passionate and creative Nigerian-American changemaker who partnered with organisations and individuals to raise awareness of climate change and get all relevant stakeholders involved in finding lasting solutions. It's never too early to start saving the world.

Jonathan Srikanthan , who leads the Atlassian Foundation, is also the co-founder of Young Change Agents (YCA), a nationwide social enterprise helping youth from all backgrounds see problems as opportunities through social entrepreneurship. They believe “in the power of social entrepreneurship to help young people change the world.” They help the children develop their social enterprise prototypes and raise funds. Several years ago, I went to one of their events, amazed by these young entrepreneurs who, at 13 or 14, already have a passion for purpose and business cards.?

3. You are never too old to change course

On the other side of life, some might feel it is too late to change course towards a positive impact. I want to tell them the story of my father-in-law, Monty.

Monty worked in printing his whole life. But when he was close to retirement, he finally decided to do what he loved. At 60, he taught himself astronomy, bought himself several large telescopes, and started mapping the sun’s activity. Where Monty lives, light pollution is too significant to look at the night sky, so he chose the sun. After retiring, he woke up every morning at five, dragged his telescopes out, and sent his work worldwide. Every day, he was the first person to map the sun, and people in Europe and the US received his work.

But that was not enough. Monty became so passionate about this work that he started volunteering at the Sydney Observatory. For years, he went there every Sunday to show the sun to eager kids and adults with his small telescope. For his work, he was presented with an OAM (Order of Australia Medal) in 2009. Today, at 90, he is still active, albeit not as before. When I was interviewed for “This Working Life” podcast with ?? Lisa Leong , they interviewed him about his work.

It is never too late to be who you were meant to be, said George Eliot. Never too early or too late to find your Talent, Passion, and Impact (TIP Model). We all have good excuses why we don’t. Maybe it is time to give these up, and find new ways for harnessing who we are and what we know to do something for what we can about. Just because we can’t do everything, doesn’t mean we should be doing nothing.