I think of purpose as the most tumultuous of the 3Ps, mostly because purpose can nudge the ego towards visions of grandeur, versus the way we like to make an impact on other people's lives. Purpose in application, can be thought of as the use of our super powers to contribute to our passion.
How do I find my PURPOSE?
At Slow Living Solutions, our clients use our proprietary envisioning model to define their purpose as part of the broader vision they have for themselves and their lives. We take a holistic approach to understanding where, what, and who we derive inspiration from and how that influences our own core values. We cross reference these with our super powers and our passions to ultimately map the multiple ways that we can contribute to the lives of others and the various facets of our identity.
It's important to recognize that our contributions to this world are built up in the small tasks and interactions that we have with others every day. So often our egos can get hung up on the hero's journey narrative structure that culminates in a grandiose act of bravery or courage, when in truth this grandiose act of bravery is best practiced as showing up authentically as ourselves each and every day.
If we are not willing to grow comfortable getting to know ourselves and letting others know us, we miss out on building genuine connection where our purpose can thrive. Knowing ourselves can also help us to distinguish between what our purpose is and what our people-pleasing tendencies are. Our human tendency to want to help others can conflate these two things. Here is the greatest differentiator: purpose is how we seek internal validation. We find fulfillment and pleasure in our purpose and the benefits that it provides others on the basis of what we intrinsically know delivers value.
On the other hand, people-pleasing is entirely an act of seeking external validation - where the value and worthiness we seek are contingent on people and circumstances outside of ourselves and our control. In turn, what is considered of value by others that we deliver may not be aligned with our own values systems. This undermines our authenticity and throws us out of alignment with all of our Ps: passion, power, and purpose. Continuing to seek an understanding of ourselves is an act of self care that allows us to live, love, and experience life more fully and intentionally.
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