Find your purpose and fuel it with passion

Purpose is who you are.

This makes defining one’s purpose important both personally and professionally. It is not just about what you are doing or how you are doing it. The bigger question is ‘why’. Some of you may have found it early in life, while some may still be in the process. No, it’s not a race to define your vision, it’s the clarity you have. This fueled with passion and perseverance is a key success driver.

I frequently host sessions on finding ‘Better me’ in our vision to build a better working world. And it starts with finding your purpose. So, let me share my journey to finding my purpose.

Childhood.

I was lucky to find my purpose early in life. I come from a joint family in Kerala. And as my father was a temple priest, my entire childhood was defined by interactions with people – in the family and the larger community. My purpose therefore, has been centred around this natural affiliation – family, relationships and communities. Professionally, this belief, of taking along a diverse network of people, has shaped me as a mentor, leader, sponsor and an Ally.

While my purpose was clear to me, I was able to interpret its professional context with the help of my first mentor, my father. He encouraged me to push myself beyond conventions, expectations and my own belief of what I could achieve. He fueled my desire to nurture my curiosity and gain experiences, while my purpose kept me rooted. 

Clarity.

While most of us can figure our passions, it’s important that we clearly articulate them. Many of my early career stints helped me to this effect.

For instance, when I was with a leading automobile manufacturer I was trained to ask ‘why’ five times before proceeding with any decision. This instilled in me a discipline to define the rational in decision making. I share this, as its important to work through the layers to define your purpose. Despite this learning, till much later in my career, I have mixed up ‘what I feel’ and ‘what I think’ when reviewing decisions. 

Continuous.

That brings me to the third point that must be factored in. That the process evolves with the person. So, keep asking yourself these five questions, as frequently as you can:

1. Who am I?
2. What do I do, and what am I good at?
3. For whom do I do what I am currently doing?
4. Do they really want what I am doing?
5. How does what I do change their life?

Challenge.

Belief is nothing but passion + perseverance. But, challenge it constantly. Once you have defined the purpose – explore how you can integrate this into more aspects of your life. When your purpose matches with the organizational vision/ purpose – that’s when you will find job satisfaction. Today my purpose is to be more present for my family and for my community. EY’s focus on transformational leadership, centred on better me, gives me a better sense of balance. Similarly, the EY vision to build a better working world resonates with me as I try to make a difference in the communities that I am a part of. And I believe my efforts to help more people find their purpose will have a butterfly effect to build a dynamic workforce of the future.