On Purpose: So, what is your purpose?

Do you have a purpose statement? Have you ever written one? Or do you have one memorized?

Maybe you have put together a personal statement before or have been part of a process with your team or workgroup. Do you remember it? It does cause some awkwardness in meetings when you bring up the subject and no one knows what the organisational purpose statement is. It easily becomes a placeholder on a website if you are not careful. Or is it just a waste of time to make one?

I used to call this part of the series ‘Actions’. Now I ask for your purpose in your current setting. Or, does your setting no longer fit your purpose? Purpose is an action statement, not a placeholder for good intentions. Purpose describes your activity.

Unfortunately, people either go way too basic and generalized, making it something that can be fulfilled with no pragmatic application. Or it is way too large and detailed, making it a list of desires you cannot remember. The purpose, your purpose, has to apply, has to sum up your place in real-time, and it has to stick in your memory. If you think of this series, or this process, as a tool being sharpened,

1. Your values are foundational and general;
2. Your mission is general and goes with you everywhere;
3. Your vision sets the path ahead;
4. Your purpose is actionable in your setting.

We sometimes move those pieces to the story into a different order, depending on where we need to concentrate or what we need to work on, but the outcome is the same. Understanding purpose in place in time.

Are you looking for more questions to ask on determining your purpose? Take a look at my blogpost from the ‘Purpose. Joy. Care.‘ series here: Are you staying on purpose?

So, think about how your purpose is working out today. Watch the video below, talk about how it applies to you, and then keep the conversation going!