Purpose is usually described as something you find, as if it were waiting
somewhere fully formed. That framing produces a lot of searching and very little
progress. It is more accurate — and much more useful — to treat purpose as
something you accumulate evidence for.
Look for the overlap, not the answer
Three questions, asked about real weeks rather than in the abstract:
- What energises you? Not what you enjoy consuming. What leaves you with
more energy than you started with.
- What is useful to other people? Purpose that involves nobody else tends to
thin out quickly.
- What are you willing to be bad at for a while? Tolerance for the awkward
early stage is a strong signal of genuine interest.
The overlap is not a job title. It is a direction, and directions are enough to
act on.
Run the week, then read it
For two weeks, keep a two-line log each evening: what gave energy, what drained
it. Most people expect to learn about topics and instead learn about conditions
— that they come alive in small groups, or when teaching, or when a problem has
a visible end.
Conditions transfer across many roles. That is what makes them more valuable
than a single answer.
Commit in seasons
Rather than a life decision, choose a three-month direction and take it
seriously. At the end, keep, adjust, or drop it. Purpose built this way is
resilient, because it is made of things you have actually tested rather than a
story you talked yourself into.
The people who seem to have found their purpose have usually just been running
this loop for longer — noticing, testing, and letting the pattern accumulate.
