The three dimensions of purpose

I am of the opinion that it has to be simple to live with purpose because it is from it that our greatest source of energy and capacity to act in the world comes and, in professional terms, our greatest productive capacity. Without it, we act automatically and without direction. We start acting without creativity and without capacity to grow.

Therefore, when I think of purpose I think of the intention with which we act in our lives and how we feel when we do so. There are no better purposes than others, no equal purposes. Rather, there is our purpose and that is what we need to be aligned with.

The other day I came across an interview with a magazine seller in New York. The interviewer asked him if he felt fulfilled by what he did, to which he replied: "My purpose is to serve everyone who comes here to buy a magazine, make them smile and feel that I have contributed a little bit more to their happiness".

Purpose has to be that clear to be useful, it has to be a narrative that gives us the strength to act and it is on the basis of that clarity that I share how I see it so that everyone can be inspired to discover their own. 

So, it seems to me that the Purpose manifests itself when there is a combination of 3 dimensions. In the "concrete", in the "now" and in the "future". In my opinion, it is something you feel, it is more emotional than rational, so giving attention to emotions is essential.

Enjoying what you do in concrete terms

You think it can be a luxury to do what you like, but it's not true, it's a necessity. When you like something, you become more competent, with a greater capacity for absorption and a much greater appetite for growth. Liking something cannot be seen as a luxury or a precious thing, it has to be seen as a requirement. I am well aware that you cannot love everything you do. However, liking the globality of the things you do in concrete is a great indicator to act with purpose.

What we do makes sense to us

The sum total of our personal values and our experiences form our inner narrative and we navigate within this narrative. Basically, we tell ourselves a story about what life is and the role we play in it, so it is important to like our story and the role we play in it.

I can give my personal example: when I was a lawyer, my personal narrative was that my future was going to be sitting staring at a screen and wither. Clearly, I was unhappy and depressed, because that was not the narrative I wanted for my life. Was the advocacy to blame? No. The lesson was that I did not identify with that story, so it was time to find a different one.

Liking what you will be in the future

Ultimately, we see that we act with purpose when everything we do will lead to an appealing future. When I opened my first martial arts school, I both mopped floors and made an Excel and of course taught classes. However, all activities served my purpose, which was to have a professional academy where I could empower people through martial arts.

It didn't matter what the activities were, it mattered what they were for.

This is where it makes a difference whether you act with or without purpose because a task based on purpose becomes an achievement, whereas the opposite is just an obligation.

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So having purpose doesn't have to be an impossible goal. It has to be something that manifests itself in the little things we do and that makes us love who we are and what we might become.

It is in the permanent attempt to align these 3 dimensions that our purpose becomes manifest and it is from there that our motivation to keep on growing permanently emerges.