Why Purpose and Meaning matter more than ever

Are you be asking yourself how long you can continue to do work that feels meaningless for a company that is at odds with your values and beliefs? If this is how you are feeling, you are not alone. In the last 20 years the drive to find purpose and meaning has gained significant momentum, influencing the thinking of customers, businesses and investors and employees.

COVID-19 has accelerated the momentum further. In this article I have distilled latest research and thinking Purpose and Intention. More importantly the practical steps you can take to lead a more meaningful, purpose led, happier life

How Covid 19 pushed the purpose agenda

During the Covid crisis companies and individuals united around a shared purpose of surviving the crisis and finding new ways of working. It forced us to examine the relationship between companies, government, society and the public.? The disruption provided businesses with a an opportunity to transform and redefine their organisations for the future, with purpose acting as a guide for planning and decision making. ?

Purpose is now reflected in the UK Corporate governance code, US Business roundtable, key themes at Davos and increasing numbers of companies are becoming ‘purpose-led’ – most recently BP and RBS.

In a recent PwC study , 86% of employees said they wanted to work for a company that shared their values. In PWC’s 2023 Trust Survey of more than 2,000 employees, 53% said it is very important that their purpose and values be aligned with their employers’.

At the same time many individuals questioned their purpose in life and sort a more meaningful existence. This in part triggered the great resignation.

Nearly two-thirds of US-based employees reported in 2021 that COVID-19 has caused them to reflect on their purpose in life.

The great resignation

An increasing number of people continue to quit their jobs, looking for a sense of purpose. According to a recent McKinsey survey nearly two-thirds of US-based employees reported in 2021 that COVID-19 has caused them to reflect on their purpose in life.

This is no surprise to me.? I have been researching and writing about Purpose and Intention for the last ten years. ?My main area of interest the impact of Purpose and Meaning at work.

Employees are increasingly placing importance on meaningful work aligned to personal values.? For some it has become THE deciding factor when choosing a job, or the right company to work for.? The may in part be explained by the impact of the Covid crisis, but it can also be attributed to the evolution of human consciousness.

Human consciousness is evolving fast

Stages of evolution are defined by our cognition, values and self-identity.

Research illustrates how human consciousness develop through recognisable stages. Each stage?revealing a markedly different understanding of the world. Stages of evolution are defined by our cognition (what we are aware of), values (what we consider most important), and self-identity (what we identify with). Researchers believe that the most recent level of human evolution is focussed on purpose and meaning. This is influencing what individuals seek in life, and how organisations are operating.

What is purpose?

Purpose is an overarching sense of what matters in your life, driven by your values.?

Its what gives life meaning. Having a sense of purpose acts as your north star in life, helping you to recognise when you are off track and adjust accordingly. For many, purpose is an intention to serve or benefit others or a cause, driven by their core values.

What is meaning? What makes work meaningful?

Meaningful work is work that adds value, is of significance, or is important.

We attach meaning to things that are of value, significance, or importance to us. Studies into meaningful work started in 1970s.? What one individual defines as meaningful work can be very different to another person, even if you hold similar jobs in the same organisation. Its very personal, arising from core values, beliefs, and experiences in life.? Meaningful work is therefore work that we feel adds value, is of significance, or is important.

Intention Matters

The starting point for my work on purpose was intention.? It still is.?

Intention is the active ingredient that makes things happen.? Intentions turn thoughts and dreams into reality.

How this happens is a matter of great debate.?

Some believe that when we set a clear intention an external force greater than ourselves will deliver what we ask for.? This may or may not be true, but I prefer a neuroscience-based explanation

When our mind sets intentions, they are scrutinised by our brains salience network (SN). The SN is involved in determining the importance and identifying perceived conflicts, problems, and discrepancies. If the incoming intention looks good to the SN, various cognitive processes are triggered, which prime us to notice things and take action when the time is right leading to the outcomes we desire. ?

It does not matter which explanation you choose to believe; intention is key.

I believe that purpose is your highest intention, but to save confusion, in this article I refer to them separately.

Which comes first – the purpose or the intention?

The relationship between Intentions and Purpose is one I have been investigating for many years now.

In 2019 Intention Matters was published.? My aim in writing it was to raise awareness of the importance of paying attention to our intentions. Four years later despite the huge increase in volume research into the role that intention plays in our life, it still wasn’t a subject that many people pay enough attention to. ???A Google search today combining the search results for Purpose and Intention 12.2 million search results. 89% of the search results relate to “purpose”, only 11% relate to “intention”. This is crazy! It should be the other way round!

Why?

Without intention, purpose is just a word, an abstract idea, an idea at most.

After readings dozens of research studies I concluded that purpose counts for nothing if it isn’t coupled with intention.? Gaining clarity on your purpose in life is the first barrier most people face, and many never overcome.?

There is a distinct lack of concise, evidence informed guidance on how to align your life with your purpose and core intentions. This is where my work comes in.

I love reading research, but I love making the complex simple even more. My Purpose with a capital P to help people and organisations to gain clarity on their purpose, and work with intention.? My life feels more meaningful when I am developing others, making the power of intention available to all in practical and pragmatic ways.

The IDEA model

In Intention Matters I introduced the IDEA model.

The IDEA model describes the four stages that turn an intention into reality.? As your purpose is the highest form of intention, the same principles apply when seeking to align your life to your purpose.

The first stage, which is probably the hardest is identifying what you want. Next you work to distil and refine it so it aligns with your beliefs and values and feels realistic. You then embody and embed it into your life, avoiding over planning and over striving.? Lastly, but most importantly, you remain vigilant, taking action when opportunities emerge.

Here are my latest thoughts on how to turn an intention into reality.

?1. Identify what matters to you most when everything is stripped away

The first step is to seek clarity on what is important in your life.? According to researcher and author Britt? Andreatta some people have purpose “with a small p” others have purpose “with a capital P”. ??

• Purpose with a small p might revolve around helping or supporting those closest to you or self-development. Examples might include raising your children well, caring for those around you, developing yourself so you have greater choices in life or can have greater impact. It might also include focussing on being happy or being healthy, or making a difference to the lives of others. ?
• Purpose with a capital P might involve being of service to a wider cause, at a local or global level.? Examples might include contributing in a small or major way to improving the environment, helping animals, educating or developing humans, researching medical cures – the list is endless.

Having money or generating more money is rarely a purpose in life. It’s the ease of life that money can bring and the choices it gives you.

When clients tell me they want to be rich, own a big house, drive a flash car or become famous its rarely what they really want.

Its not their purpose in life.? By exploring what is driving their desire to be rich or owning a big house asking “what is driving this desire”? “What’s beneath this” over and over we eventually identify their real driver in life.

It does not matter weather your purpose has a small p or a capital P, its about being clear about what really matters to you at this moment in time.? Purpose can change over time or remain a constant in your life till the day you die. I recently revisited the purpose and intention statements I had helped clients to create over the last four years. Interestingly, 68% of my clients are driven by purpose with a small p with only 32% driven by purpose with a capital P.? The majority of latter are either senior managers or Gen Z professionals in their twenties.

2. Set and refine your Intention

Clarity of purpose will automatically trigger an intention to achieve your purpose in life. Identifying your purpose follows the same process as identifying your core intentions in life. For an intention to work four ingredients are necessary: DSD, Clarity, Belief and Commitment to act.

In step one of the IDEA model, you Identify what you want.

An intention has to be something you want at a deep and heartfelt level.? I describe it as “a Deep, sincere, desire” (DSD). Passing fancies and fads lack the necessary desire to make the intention effective.

In step two of the IDEA model, you distil and refine your intention. You need both clarity and alignment with your beliefs.

Your brain is your humble servant and will follow your instructions to the letter. Junk in leads to junk out. Gaining clarity by being clear and specific about what you want will enable your brain to do its best work.

Intentions need to be aligned with your beliefs about the world you live in. If you believe that anything is possible, this will make your intention feel achievable. If you believe that nothing good ever happens to you, this can lead to a lack of belief that your intention is achievable.?

If the latter is the case for you there are many techniques that you can use to overcome unhelpful mindsets you have.? Alternatively, you could downscale your intention to something that feels achievable. Once achieved, you can set the bar a little higher and so on until you reach your intention.

At this stage of the process, you don’t need a plan of how to you will get there, you just need a strong enough desire to make it happen. The ‘how’ will emerge later.

3. Commitment is key

In step 3 of the IDEA model, we embody and embed the intention into our lives. We make a commitment to act. If step one and two have been completed correctly, intentions automatically trigger a commitment to act.? This ongoing commitment operates primarily at a subconscious level keeping you on track and action planning in the background to make things happen.

Its important to avoid over planning. ?At school and at work we are encouraged and rewarded for setting ourselves SMART goals .

When setting intentions avoid the temptation to set SMART objectives and step by step plans. ?This may feel counter intuitive but trust me.?

Why? There are an infinite number of possibilities available to you that will turn your intentions into reality. Its impossible to be fully aware of ALL your options. ?Setting a SMART goal may blind you to the multitude of possibilities that will emerge and lead you towards your purpose.? Rest assured that your subconscious brain is action planning for you in the background. If you feel compelled to plan, try to keep your plans as open and flexible as possible.

4. Take action

The mistake many people make is doing nothing. Some people believe that identifying their purpose and setting an intention is enough. It will neatly be delivered into their lap.? Wrong!? Step 4 of the IDEA model is about taking action when opportunities emerge. You need to remain vigilant for any and all opportunities that emerge and take action when it feels right to do so. This can be a fine balancing act at times – balancing the need to push yourself forward in pursuit of your purpose without pushing yourself too hard. Theres a big difference between healthy striving that brings out the best in you and unhealthy over striving that stresses you out, inhibits your brain function and restricts your options.

The neuroscience of turning intention into reality

Using the brain-based explanation of how intentions work, here is a simplified description of what happens when you set an intention.

1. Set an intention. For the intention to be effective it should be something you want at a deep level, a heartfelt desire.
2. Your salience network (SN) will then check for salience.? Your SN will check all the information stored in your brain to check its really import and to identify potential conflicts that may arise, or problems it will cause, or things in your life it may be at odds with.? Amongst other things it will check

• Do you really want it?
• Is it in alignment with your beliefs about the world?
• Is it in alignment with your values – the things you hold dear?
• Do you think its possible? – if you want something but your subconscious says its impossible or unlikely, your intention wont work

If the SN detects a problem your brain will let you know.? It will send you a thought telling you it wont work or trigger a sensation.? The latter is often referred to as ‘gut instinct ’. If you are not good at picking up these subtle warnings, Mindfulness training can help.

3. If the SN tells the brain its ok to proceed various cognitive processes are triggered in the brain. These include:

• A commitment to act. - Research into intention setting concludes that intentions trigger a commitment to act that is registered by the brain, spurring the brain into action.?
• Action planning – most of which occurs at a subconscious level we are unaware of.? We may choose to consciously action plan too but be careful not to over plan! Intentions can take shape in strange and unexpected ways so its best not to blinker the brain to unexpected opportunities and options.
• Motor representations - According to Intention researcher Elizabeth Pacherie (2006 ),?motor representations are action representations in the brain that determine the movements to be performed in order to make things happen

4.??Thoughts, behaviors, and actions then cultivate in the outcomes we desire.?

Outcomes may be immediate or may take time to come to fruition.

Purpose, meaning and Intentions.

The following diagram provides a summary.

Our values, beliefs, experiences and passions shape our purpose. Intentions act as our inner GPS, aligning our life with our desired purpose. Intentions do this by checking with the salience network in the brain, and if it feels aligned, triggers multiple cognitive processes to make things happen now and in the future. The cognitive proceses shape our thoughts, behaviou and action, leading to the outcomes we desire. This gives us a sense of meaning in life.

I'm Juliet Adams: A Learning and Development expert, Coach, Author and Speaker I use neuro and behavioural science to enhance performance & unlock potential. I provide leadership coaching and personalised development for busy professionals, and consultancy and training design for organisations. I have been researching, writing about, and coaching on Purpose, Meaning and Intention for over 5 years, helping people identify what really matters and make it happen. I am the Author of Intention Matters .

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