If you were to look up the definition of the word “Purpose,” you’ll notice that it falls short of having any real purpose. 

It will tell you that purpose is the reason for which something exists, which is true — but that would be like defining the color blue by saying that it is blue. It leaves us hanging.

We need to know what the reason is — not just that one exists.

And that starts by identifying the sources from which we get our sense of purpose from in the first place, of which I’ve found there are four.

1: SELF

I’d say most people think that they themselves are who comes up with the purpose for which they were created, but here’s a few problems with that.

FIRST: If you identified that which impacts your ability to live a good life by yourself, you’d likely end up with missing or incorrect parts.

We can prove that right now by the fact that you don’t have a detailed list of all of the professional, financial and personal purposes for which you were created to care for.  

SECOND: Do you really think that your ideas about life and purpose are your own?

We were all born into existing standards and criteria for all of the parts of our professional, financial, and personal purposes.

And we’re all constantly swimming in these standards because of the next source of purpose: Culture!

2: CULTURE

If you come up with your purpose use culture alone — meaning you tap into sources like news, gossip, TV, social media, and common cultural conversations,

and that’s where you get your standards of care for your life and your purpose,

it will be deeply flawed, because our culture is shaped more by advertising and marketing than by dignity and discernment.

3: TRIBE

Now, if you design and discover your purpose within a real tribe—like this one here,

a group of people committed to protecting and progressing both the current and future situation of each member,

then you’d be creating your list of purposes with the benefit and insight of other ambitious people who take themselves seriously—both in their own lives and in the lives of others.

Life is bigger than what any one person can wrap their head around alone. You need different angles and perspectives to get it all handled.

With a tribe, your purpose will continuously get stronger, more complete, and more likely to be fulfilled—because now you can see your life through the lenses of those around you,

who are also pursuing an ability to use their passions to harmoniously fulfill the financial, professional and personal purposes they were created for.

4: SPIRITUALITY

Now, the fourth and final—depending on your spiritual orientation—would be God, the universe, or nothingness. AKA – Spirituality.  

I’ll use God because that fits into my belief system, and I’ve found it to be the most complete and effective when it comes to living a good life. 

So for me, if I identified that which impacts my ability to live a good life and identified the standards of which they must meet through scripture, prayerful meditation, and tribe,

then I can settle in knowing that my purpose is not mine, but God’s,

and with that, I know that I’m now operating with His power rather than just mine. 

Now. Before we move onto the…

…next tactic of calculating the amount of money required to fulfill our purposes, I want to warn you.

At first it will feel very cold and calculated,

but once I connect that part to our spirituality,

I think you’ll find it incredibly compelling.