(17) What I learned about my life purpose

I wanted to expand a little more on what I consider ‘authenticity’ to be.

To me it’s when you feel good about what you’re doing. Work, family, hobbies, interests – they can all lead to feelings of satisfaction. It’s often when the time is flying that you are at your most absorbed and most likely at your most authentic.

I went through an interesting process some 15 years ago, with my good friend Michael who is a Master Pratitioner of Neuro Linguistc Porgramming (NLP). We undertook a process to discover what my ‘higher purpose’ was. That is, what I felt was my reason for being here in life. I worked with Michael over several days, using a variety of means to uncover my thoughts and feelings about my purpose, and try to find a sentence that summed it up. The ‘linguistic’ part of NLP is vital as it is through our words that we make sense of our experiences and thoughts. Then, using language, hope to convey those thoughts to others. A sentence summing up all I felt about my life purpose was not easy to pin down. I knew what I wanted to say but kept replacing and moving the words until I was happy with their arrangement and meaning. Michael kept saying I would know when I had it right and he was spot on as, on the third day, I greeted him with a beaming smile. I’d got it and I knew what I was about:

“Causing potential to find light”

My sentence does not make absolute sense to other people, it wouldn’t necessarily as it was entirely personal to me, but it absolutely sums up when I feel authentic. Interestingly, I have been involved in many different jobs and roles over the years, but it’s been the ones ‘causing potential to find light’ that I have felt truly at home in. As a careers teacher I enjoyed taking my classes out of the school and off to see different environments and people, showing them what actually happens in the working world when they are tucked out of the way in school (don’t start me off!). When I worked for the Education Business Partnership I spent my days devising programmes and projects that would link companies with education & schools. As an Emotional Intelligence assessor (yes, really) I would get huge chunks of time to nothing but listen and encourage individuals to realise their passion. Even with the marketing work that I love doing at the moment I am causing a business, or a business idea, to find its marketplace.

I try to only take on work that fits in with my authentic purpose because it’s enjoyable and ‘feels right’ for me. Possibly because of that I tend to be sought out (and well paid!) for that type of work – a real win/win situation!

Do what you love

What did you do today?

Meet Tom Kelley – General Manager of the innovations company IDEO.

Today’s food for thought . . .