Why Defining Your Purpose Matters

Leverage the latest scientific thinking on living 'a life of purpose'

"Everything – a horse, a vine – is created for some duty. For what task, then, were you yourself created?"

- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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Although it’s an age-old idea, the concept of ‘a life purpose’ has only recently been the focus of serious scientific study.

The findings so far are pretty unbelievable.

People who report having a life purpose are healthier, happier, and live longer.

And, purpose isn’t just for Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King either.

Instead, a sense of purpose is something you can develop if you’re willing to define what you want your life to be about.

This article is an introduction to developing (or, refining) your purpose.

I also summarize related research and discuss why having a purpose is so impactful.

To make sure I was going “right to the source” (as the journalists say) I co-authored this article with Dr. Todd Kashdan, a Professor at George Mason University. He’s an absolute leader in studying the link between purpose and well-being.

He’s a guy who walks the talk. He’s driven by a strong sense of purpose. Outside of his day job, he shares his knowledge on the popular Substack Provoked and also wrote the highly rated book, The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively.

What is Purpose?

Let’s get into it by looking closer at how researchers like Kashdan define purpose.

I like the way he and his colleagues put it in an awesome paper they recently published:

A purpose is an organizing life aim. It’s a type of long-term commitment that’s difficult to accomplish in a short period, generally with no specific end point.

And, by the way, purpose doesn’t have to be some grandiose mission.

Sure, it’s great to connect your life to a larger cause, but having a purpose isn’t about changing society on your own.

To help explain further, below are some examples of people who are living a life of purpose. In true cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) fashion, notice how living a life of purpose has a lot to do with how you frame your life, your work, and your challenges.

When we’re talking about living with purpose, we’re talking about people like:

• The teacher who is focused on helping underprivileged children have access to quality education and opportunities for higher learning, even on the most difficult days. She knows she can’t change the system on her own, but she’s dedicated to doing her part.

• Or, the grocery store employee who has worked at the same store for 20 years. From the outside the job might seem boring, but he frames his role with a clear purpose: to make sure his elderly customers feel welcome and supported. Whether it’s carrying their groceries or having a friendly chat, he sees his work as improving their day and making the store - and by extension, his town - a more welcoming place.

• Or, the artist who sees their purpose as using art to raise awareness about important societal issues. They’re motivated by making small shifts in peoples’ thinking on complex issues. 

The Research Findings

Having a life purpose can do more for your health and happiness than perhaps any other pill, habit, or medical intervention.¹

People with a stronger life purpose tend to live longer² and show evidence of greater physiological health on metrics like resting cardiovascular activity, metabolism, and inflammation.³

And, they’re happier!

In a global study of life satisfaction with 1.7 million participants, life meaning and purpose had strong, consistent associations with subjective well-being (aka happiness). This finding held across regions and ages.⁴

This is consistent with other research which found that people with a stronger purpose reported more frequent positive emotions, a more positive view of themselves, and higher levels of ‘grit’ (aka passion or perseverance in pursuing their goals).⁵

Purpose changes your brain too. People with a strong sense of purpose show evidence of less activation in brain regions associated with conflict (like the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex), suggesting less strain during difficult decision making.⁶

Why Is Having a Purpose So Impactful?

If you know your purpose, it’s easier to know what matters and what doesn’t.

It reduces distractions, or at least helps you resist them.

It helps you focus on what matters to you, not on the “shoulds” or the messages that society gives you, or on what other people think.

Simply put, purpose helps you ignore the BS!

And, having a purpose also helps you when shit hits the fan. People with purpose have higher levels of well-being when stressed than those without a clear purpose.⁷

It’s not that people with a strong purpose face fewer stressors, it’s that they have an empowering perspective on their place in the world.

They know what they’re here to do and this helps them put their challenges in perspective.

Where Do You Stand On The Purpose Continuum?

Maybe you already have a clear purpose in your life. If so, consider yourself fortunate (and give yourself credit for living it). Lean into your purpose and don’t be ashamed for being driven in a way that some people around you may not fully understand.

Or, maybe you kind-of-sort-of have a purpose but you’ve lost touch with it. Maybe your job feels like a meaningless grind and you’ve forgotten to give yourself credit for the honourable motives behind your hard work. Maybe you’re forgetting about the small impacts you have on other people by just showing up every day and doing a decent job. Or, maybe you’re not seeing how the work you do connects to a larger goal, like fueling your relationships or other important interests outside of work.

Or, maybe you truly are disconnected from your purpose. Maybe you’ve never really considered it. That’s okay. This might be your time to re-define parts of your life - and relationships - to better connect with your purpose.

Your purpose can come from multiple sources of inspiration including:

●       proactively taking up the call to purpose

●       in response to a life event (including a traumatic event)

●       in response to learning from and being inspired by others.⁸

Regardless of where you stand on the purpose continuum, you’ll feel more in control of your time on earth once you clarify your purpose.

Things to Keep in Mind When Thinking About Your Purpose

There’s a risk that reading about the importance of purpose makes you feel crappy if you haven’t defined a clear purpose yet.

So, just so we’re on the same page, let’s clarify a few things.

I’ll emphasize this point again: You don’t need to be Wonder Woman, or Spiderman, or Oprah. Your purpose doesn’t have to be about some impossible mission.

Purpose isn’t a black-and-white concept either.

It’s a fallacy that “you either have purpose or you don’t.”

Purpose can vary in strength, scope, and how prominent it is in your day-to-day life.

And, a special word of caution if you’re a self-sacrificer. If you are, your brain might jump to the conclusion that having a purpose is about suppressing your own needs to serve others.

Don’t sweep yourself under the rug.

Even though (based on the research) it might be better to have an altruistic element to your purpose, you can’t lose yourself in pursuit of your purpose.

If your purpose is about serving others, you need to embrace the concept of healthy selfishness.

Healthy selfishness means remembering to prioritize your own needs in order to optimize the positive impact you have on others. It’s a virtuous cycle.

This is actually supported by some quirky findings in the purpose research: People with a stronger sense of purpose do more health-oriented behaviours for themselves - they have heathier eating, exercise, and sleep habits. And, believe it or not, better dental care habits too!⁹

The point: People who take care of themselves are better at taking care of others in the long-term. And, believe me, living a life of purpose is a long-term game.

Also keep in mind that the jury is out on whether it’s better to have a single purpose or several different purposes.¹⁰ There’s simplicity in focusing on one unifying purpose, but there are costs as well.

Personally, I think it’s hard to imagine not having at a minimum, two purposes: one purpose in relation to your craft and one in relation to your close relationships.

After all, even Steve Jobs spent time on relationships away from his work at Apple.

Action Items

If you feel there’s more you could do to define your purpose, start with asking yourself….

• “what do I truly value in life?” and…

• “what do I want my life to be about?”

Then, draft one or more purpose statements.

Don’t be afraid to make changes in your life, especially when it comes to subtracting things that aren’t related to your purpose.

It’s a process that takes trial and error.

You’ll refine and shift your purpose statements over time.

Remember why you’re doing this: Having a purpose – especially when times are hard – increases meaning, coherence, and, ultimately happiness. It helps you know what’s important and what’s BS.

Take the task of defining your purpose seriously, but not so seriously that it’s overwhelming.

Going forward, my job is to keep you apprised of the research that covers values, meaning, and purpose. In the coming weeks, I’ll build on the foundation presented in this article by sharing an actionable article that describes the link between values, meaning, and purpose.

Your job is to begin reflecting on what you actually care about (your values) and what you want your life to be about (your purpose).

Enjoy the rush of meaning that follows.

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For more on Dr. Todd Kashdan’s work, check out his Provoked newsletter or his books, like The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively.

1. See Life On Purpose, by Vic Stetcher

2. Cohen et al., 2016

3. Zilioli et al., 2015

4. Jebb et al 2020. Note: Jebb et al. measured “meaning” with a single item: the variable for life meaning was a single dichotomous item that asked, “Do you feel your life has an important purpose or meaning?” (“yes” = 1, “no” = 0). This measure correlated at r = .75, p < .001 with the three-item Meaning and Purpose subscale of the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (Su, Tay, & Diener, 2014).

5. Hill, Burrow, & Bronk, 2016

6. Kang et al., 2019

7. Hill et al., 2018

8. Kashdan and McKnight (2009) proposed three paths for how a person develops purpose: proactive, reactive, and social learning.

9. Hill et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2014

10. Kashdan et al. (2023) note: We hypothesize that the greater number of purposes a person has, the fewer, less intense psychological benefits. This hypothesis stems from the load-bearing capability model of stress, where attempting to devote time, energy, and money toward too many purposes lead to more strain than psychological gain (e.g., Karasek, 1979).