Empowering Journeys, Step 1. Finding Your Purpose.

Early on in life we’re asked what we want to be when we grow up.

In elementary school, I often said that I wanted to be a chef. In middle school, an artist. You may consider this LinkedIn newsletter a work of art (😂) in which case, maybe I am an artist? But otherwise, I still draw stick figures and my cooking skills can use a lot of work.

Surprisingly, the questioning didn’t stop after childhood. Now it comes with different phrases. In college: “what are you doing after you graduate?” After leaving my job: “what’s next for you?” In grad school: “do you know what you’re doing next?” Time and time again we’re asked this question as if our lives had a singular destination.

The reality is that your future is just a series of todays.

Which brings good and not-so-good news. The good news? You can redefine or reimagine your future at any point in life. The not-so-good news? It requires you to commit to your cause day after day. Because you can’t really do much with endless possibilities – they must be narrowed down. This edition of Empowering Journeys is about doing exactly that.

An attempt to answer what we want to be when we grow up and maybe, just maybe, discover that we’re asking the wrong question all along.

Full disclosure: I’m starting to job search, as I graduate from my master’s in environmental management soon. The first dozen or so editions of this newsletter will document the steps in my process, with the hope it helps others.

Why Do We Need a Purpose?

Simply put, it gives us direction. As mentioned before, when you have endless possibilities, it becomes very difficult to do anything at all. By having a purpose, you can begin to move towards point B.

Purpose is not synonymous with a career or job, though some might use a job to fuel their purpose. Instead, it’s about why you’re here on this planet. Keep in mind there is no right answer, there is simply an answer.

For some, purpose is about solving climate change or fighting inequality. For others, it’s about traveling or spending time with loved ones.

Take 10 seconds to think about your purpose. Again, there’s no right answer.

Storytime: Travel as a Purpose

Let’s say your purpose is to travel to 175 countries in the world. Turns out, it takes time to visit 175 countries. You’ll need money, visas, and time. For now, assume you have all of that figured out.

You start in Asia. You visit Japan, South Korea, and China. You think “wow I’m going to travel the rest of my life.” You move on to Europe and Africa. Again, new food, sights, and friends keep you going. You love the idea of staying in a country for only a few weeks, jumping from place to place.

Then you travel to South America. You visit my hometown of Bogotá in the Colombian Andes and absolutely love it. People dance on the streets, there’s fruit vendors everywhere, and you love seeing the mountains every morning when you wake up. You think to yourself, “there’s no other place like it.” A few weeks turn into months and years. You decide to stay.

You Are Not Bound to Your Purpose

But wait, wasn’t your purpose to travel to 175 countries? How could you be so weak that you just gave up on yourself? Why did you stop trying?

Hopefully, you realize how illogical and harmful these questions are.

Yet when it comes to our careers, we can act just as tough. We self-determine that whatever we’re currently doing, is what we’re always going to be. And that any deviation from our path will end in disaster.

But let’s take a step back.

If you would have traveled straight to Colombia without stopping in Asia, Europe and Africa, would the outcome still be the same? Maybe you would still want to travel. Maybe Colombia wouldn’t have the same appeal.

Your purpose is thus a response to where you currently are in life.

Additionally, the only way to know if travel is your purpose is to actually go to Colombia (and Asia, Europe and Africa). Our careers are the same way. It is much better to take a step in one direction than no steps at all. Sometimes you take the first few steps and it’s everything you ever dreamed of. Then you take one more and everything changes. Or maybe in the first step you immediately know you need to change directions.

By this point, I hope you can appreciate that defining a purpose isn’t about the destination but instead about the journey.

And the journey only starts when you take a step in a direction, any direction. We spend so much time thinking about what our purpose could be that we forget to actually go chase our purpose.

This story also highlights another lesson: your purpose will change. Initially, your purpose was to travel to 175 countries. Along the way dancing on the streets, fruit vendors, and seeing mountains became more important than travel itself.

The same is true in the job search. In speaking with job seekers I’ve been asked “Should I do X thing?” Assuming they had done their research I usually shrug and say “if it fits your purpose, go try it. If it goes well, it means you should keep doing it. If not, change paths.” To be clear, I don’t shrug out of indifference but out of knowing that neither one of us will know the answer. We’ll talk about how to change paths in future editions of this newsletter. But for now, the main takeaway?

It is much better to take a step in one direction than no steps at all.

Through the Levels

Each edition, I’ll share anecdotes that address the topic at hand by seniority. Note these are from personal experience and from people I've met, not set rules.

Entry Level:

Your purpose can be easily molded. Many entry level people want to find a good first job but the reality is that you won’t really know what a good job will be until you try it. You’ll find out that you like being in the office, or being remote, or having snacks during breaks, or talking to coworkers. Point is, early on in your career it’s hard to know what you like and don’t like. So be open to trying new things!

Mid Level:

You’ve made choices that have gotten you to where you are, whatever they may be. Now it seems that there’s less and less paths in front of you and that by taking one step forward it’s going to be even more difficult to change paths. You’re constantly asking yourself about greatest impact.

Senior Level:

You’ve changed purpose multiple times in life and have noticed that your career is mostly a collection of experiences and less of a straight path. Your think about enabling others to have their greatest impact because you know their impact directly affects your own.  

Leave a comment if any of these resonate!

The Challenge (15-30 min exercise)

Write down what your current purpose is. Then ask yourself why it's your purpose. Then continue to ask yourself why until you get to the root of your inspiration.

Then, imagine a parallel life with a different purpose. Ask yourself why. Get to the root. Are the two roots similar? Completely opposites?

What does that say about the purpose your chasing today?

Audience Question

Taken from one of my LinkedIn posts. “I would like to learn more about reaching out to people in target companies and how best to approach this.”

Thanks for your question. The steps are quite simple: 1) Find the team you’re interested in. 2) Search for people in that team on LinkedIn. 3) Reach out to members of that team, especially if they’re active on LinkedIn. Include recruiters on this list. 4) Send something like “Hi, my name is ___. I just applied for ___ role on your team and thought I would send a message along too. I’m most excited about _____. All the best!”

Thanks for reading.