If we can define the 'Purpose' (why - are we doing) for our actions, writings, talks & thinking, then, Purpose will help us to set priorities, plans, energy, focus, drive, and responsibility. A Purpose will make us feel that we are working to achieve something bigger than just actions or talking. If you strongly believe the purpose, you don't feel tired or working hard or discouraged or unhappy. Once you have strong grit and will towards achieving the purpose, that purpose-driven mindset makes you wake up at 5 AM without an alarm and let you work till 5 AM the next day. Finally, you will feel - fulfilling that purpose is as important as 'breathing'.
I defined and calibrated my purpose in life several times based on situations & conditions. Example, When I was an engineering student, my purpose was to support my family financially by getting a job, as simple as that, given financial situations in my family, I need to support my mom. I always selected my goals, learnings, plans, friends, projects, and subjects aligned with my purpose, which was to get a job. I always checked my self am-i-job-ready by attending mock interviews, communication classes, and professional courses. Sometimes I avoided bigger ambitions like doing Masters (MTech) or MBA because I strongly believe in my purpose and I strongly feel my purpose was relevant for that stage. March 13th, 2006 when I got a job in Wipro Technologies, it was the most fulfilling day of my life, I was really happy that day, I know I was going to support my family from now on. To date, I redefined my purpose to stay relevant to the situation, challenged myself to rediscover my purpose.
Now I am 15 yrs into my Job, have two kids. Learning on how to be a role model for my kids (my son is teaching what not do too many times), I need to support my wife Nikhila to be independent, working women, I need to move up in the job, taking more responsibilities in office, learning new technologies, reading bookings, stay healthy, sleep well, eat good food - lots of goals. It's really important for me to be careful about what are my priorities, what job's or works I need to pick up, where I need pay attention, time and focus, that means, it needs a define a purpose for this stage. After working on this idea to have a purpose definition, I finally came up with a simple one. That's, Be Happy. I know several people said the same on the internet, their purpose of life is to Be Happy, but, How do we find Happiness in everything we touch, feel, work, think & talk.
Applying Filters:
It drills down to what choices we are marking on day to day basis, Are we saying "No" if that's not relevant to us, what are the things I evaluate (Values) & what guiding rules (Principles) I follow for the tasks I committed.
The finding purpose for various stages or actions or thinkings, several times help me to self-discover my limits and helps me to define new learning goals. I did a lot of mistakes in this journey and I am sure I will be doing in future, but I simply followed & will follow my principle of being honest with myself to accept, retrospect my choices & actions to make things better... take full responsibility for the results. It's not that there is a fixed algorithm or a program I run to check If I can work on something that can make me feel happy. Its a process of self-discovery. Sometimes it's my intuition vs intelligence which kicks in to tell me what's the whole point of doing something.
Here are ...(Some) Values & Principles I defined for myself:
Here are ...(Some) Values & Principles I defined for myself:
(Some) Values I defined for myself:
1) Relations
2) Learning & being challenged
3) Helping others
4) Financial Independence
(Some) Principles I defined for myself:
1) Honest
2) Trust
3) Integrity
4) Leadership
5) Avoid comfort zones & conflicts
