09 Jan Finding Your Purpose In The Intersection

Posted at 17:20h in Insights by

“Find your purpose.” That is a phrase we often hear, but have little idea how to navigate. We are told from parents, mentors, and professors to find our purpose in life and do what we love. The problem is that many of us can’t seem to identify our purpose with just that common phrase.

 

There is no substance to execute on.

 

Another issue is that many of us are not living out our purpose. Instead, we may be in a monotonous area of work, where we sort of just show up and go through the motions. Maybe we’re there because we don’t know what to do instead. But that’s not an ideal way to live forever.

 

Give yourself some grace if you are saying to yourself, “That sounds like me.”

 

There is no right or wrong time. Most of us don’t know our purpose at some point in our lives, so take a breather, gather perspective, and let’s create a strategy together on how to find our purpose.

 

First off, finding your purpose is a difficult and risky choice if done wrong. We may think we are heading down the path of purpose, only to discover that this path is not right for us. Instead of the purpose being enjoyable and prosperous, it can turn out being counterproductive and even painful. Heading down the wrong path can not only hinder us.

 

So we need to be intentional about identifying our purpose.

 

Through reflecting at my life thus far, I have discovered that there is an intersection where our purpose can be found. The catch is that only at this epicenter can it be discovered. All three variables must be in tact, with not one entity failing or missing even the slightest bit.

 

This intersection is where passion, talent, and morality meet. That is the only spot where purpose can be found.

 

How do I know this? Well, I lived through it myself.

 

When I pursued one or two aspects of the intersection, but not the third, every single time it turned out to be a mishap. But finally, when I learned that all three must be pursued equally, I found true purpose.

 

These are the three pillars that must be filled simultaneously to find our purpose.

 

Passion. Talent. Morality.

 

Let’s walk through some equations to make this come to life.

 

1.Passion + Talent – Morality = The Excited Criminal

  • This person is talented, has a passion, but has carried it out in an unethical or immoral way. Purpose is unachievable if immoral.
    • Example is a drug dealer. Could be great at what he/she does (selling drugs is the talent), enjoys doing it (passion), but the act is not allowed.

 

2.Passion + Morality – Talent = The Wannabe Actor

  • This person has a fiery passion and is moral in his/her work. But the reality is that this person may just not be that talented at what he/she is striving for. As a result, purpose will not be found with a lack of talent. These people need to be honest about what they are good and not so good at.
    • Example is an actor or athlete that has big dreams and aspirations, is moral, but does not have the talent to keep up with the competition. Failure will be found every time without talent.

 

3.Talent + Morality – Passion = The Monotone Businessman

  • This person is wildly talented, very moral at his/her work, but simply doesn’t have a burning desire or passion, despite the talent. Purpose can’t be prospered without passion.
    • Example is a businessman who may be a wiz at numbers, is ethical and moral at what he does, but just does not enjoy crunching numbers, and to put it frankly, is quite miserable doing it despite the talent.

 

I never used to know my purpose, until I tapped into this intersection.

 

In high school and parts of college, I was always missing either the passion, talent, or morality. Sometimes I was missing one. Sometimes two. And at other points, I was missing the boat on all three. In every instance came a lack of purpose. What came even more was confusion, self-doubt, and hopelessness.

 

Discovering how to execute this intersection has been a monumental change for me.

 

The above are just examples, so please don’t take the occupations literally.

But the bottom line is that even if one of the entities is lacking, true purpose is nearly unachievable.

 

Now I want to share how I found my purpose.

This is the only equation that has worked for me…the recipe to purpose.

 

4.Passion + Talent + Morality = Purpose Found

  • I have found what I love to do, I do it with good intentions and morals, and I feel like I am relatively talented at it.
  • Passion (Helping People) + Talent (Writing & Speaking) + Morality = Writer/Speaker

 

Once you have this blueprint down, there are additional steps needed to be taken action upon:

 

1.Figure out how specifically you want to carry out your passion.

  • For me, I had to ask myself, “Well, if I want to help people, what do I want to help them on and how do I do that?” I later identified that I want to help people grow personally, mentally, and spiritually. I will do this by reaching them through public talks and giving them tools and insights through writing books, blogs, and short stories.

 

2.Identify what you need to do to transition your talents from thoughts to actions.

  • For me, the talent actions were writing my first book, writing blogs, and getting speaking gigs. Why? To accomplish the goal of helping people improve personally, mentally, and spiritually. I needed to do something with the talent.

 

I needed to activate the passion by executing the talent.

 

3.Continue to act morally, ethically, and selflessly.

 

4.Create a strategy for how you will put your work into action, how you will scale it, and how you will monetize it (if that’s a goal).

 

I know it’s easy to get in our own heads and fear the future of our purpose. But I challenge you to take out a pen and paper, write down a list of your top 10 talents and top 10 passions. Then come up with three equations on what your purpose can be.

 

Passions shouldn’t be too difficult to identify. Don’t overthink it. What do you enjoy doing? Anything goes, well…anything that is moral of course.

 

For talents, I think this is where some of us get tripped up. We think we might be good at something but we tell ourselves we’re not because there is always someone better than us.

 

True. Absolutely true.

But why does that have to be a bad thing?

 

You and I are never going to be the best one at anything. Never the best lawyer, or scientist, or model, or pastor, or writer, or cashier, or athlete.

 

But let’s change the way we think.

Do you know why this is actually good news that we’re never going to be the best?

 

Because that means there are hundreds, if not thousands, if not millions of opportunities in our purpose niche to thrive.

 

If we think we are the best, then that only leaves one spot. Because the word “best” can only be obtained by one being.

 

So let’s admit that we’re actually not the best.

Just because we’re not the best, doesn’t mean we aren’t wonderfully talented.

 

And remember that purpose doesn’t happen overnight. This takes consistency, hard work, and patience. Finding your purpose is a journey, and also a byproduct of trial and error.

 

It may take one person 10 weeks, and another 10 years.

 

Additionally, I challenge you to be brutally honest with yourself about if you are living morally well day in and day out. If not, start improving by admitting it, and ask trusted family or friends for accountability. Because this is ⅓ of the puzzle. It’s simple, but not everyone does it.

 

Oh, and one more thing…don’t think about the money as you make those equations. If you are truly talented, truly passionate, and truly moral, it will come once you begin executing on your strategies.

 

Let’s begin by taking action, while having a mind of patience.

It’s time to find your purpose in the intersection of passion, talent and morality.

 

Shoot me a DM or Tweet @greg_vogt8 with what your purpose intersection equation looks like…I’d love to see it!