Finding Your Purpose in Sustainability
This is a biggie.
Finding your purpose is something that implies a lot of self-reflection, and I reckon most people wouldn't know where to start with that one.
Also, why would you want to define your purpose?
Of course, you are a magnificent human being, as such you have infinite inherent value. I mean, you are a miracle, you know?
The probability of you being born is one in 400 quadrillion.
I'm not exaggerating. You can read the calcs for yourself HERE.
Even if I'm not religious, I believe there is a superior order of some sort. And why would it have bothered to make ME happen?
There must be a reason why we are here, you and I.
That's where purpose comes into the picture.
Most of us have been influenced in some way by our parents or other people close to us when choosing what to do "when we grow up".
Or perhaps we have followed our friends and chosen their same path.
Or our culture conditioned us - I have experienced this myself, having discarded art as a career from the start because where I come from it's common belief that "artists end up sleeping under bridges".
And what we choose to do as a job is often intertwined with the big questions:
What am I doing here?
What is the purpose of my life?
Without going too philosophical, chances are that you are reading this because you believe that sustainability is the way forward. It's part of your value set.
But is it your true purpose? And are you living this purpose day-in-day-out?
If you aren't so sure, let me help you out here.
The model below was created by coach Sarah Rozenhuler and I just added a picture at the centre to make you reflect upon who really benefits from your purpose, whether that's the one you inherited from your family, the one you say you are embodying, etc.
How to use this model:
Start at the bottom with your inherited purpose, then move to constructed purpose, then lived purpose and only at the end think about your true purpose.
The final step would be to reflect upon what you need to do to make your true purpose realise in your life.
As always, journalling each step will help you reflect a little deeper.
This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/