The Manager 146 - Building your life purpose
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The Manager - Edition 146 - Building your life purpose
Hey,
I hope you’re doing safe and well and all is good. Apologies for missing last week’s newsletter, and for this one being a few hours later than usual. I’ve moved house!
It was pretty pain free in the grand scheme of things. I took a week off work to move in, clear the garden and sort things out. The house is 40 years old and the previous owner, Tony, lived here with his family since it was built.
His wife died last year, and it all became too much for him to manage. At 80 years old he also didn’t do a great job of clearing his stuff out. One skip later and the garden, sheds and loft are now empty. He did leave some paintings and photos. One of which is a photo of the queen. She has taken up various hanging positions in the house and shed - you can follow her antics on Instagram.
Living a life with purpose
Purpose seems to be everything and with good reason. When we have a purpose we feel connected to something, we have drive, and we have a sense that we’re living a more fulfilled life. Not only that but we’re also healthier and live longer when we have a strong purpose.
According to Stacey M. Schaefer and Dr. Richard J. Davidson purpose is the key to health and longevity:
“Purpose in life predicts both health and longevity, suggesting that the ability to find meaning from life’s experiences, especially when confronting life’s challenges, may be a mechanism underlying resilience. Having purpose in life may motivate reframing stressful situations to deal with them more productively, thereby facilitating recovery from stress and drama.” (Schaefer et al., 2013)
Pretty powerful stuff indeed. But it doesn’t stop there:
“People are more likely to be mobile when they get older, less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, and even less likely to die if they have higher levels of purpose in life. It appears to be a protective or resilience factor.” (Schaefer et al., 2013)
But how do we discover our purpose? Well, here are a few ideas from me about this whole purpose thing:
Purpose does not have to come from your job.
But, when you work it out, you spend about 220 days of the year at work. So, it pays to probably find some sort of job that makes you feel like you have a purpose.
I believe purpose is created, not discovered. I meet too many people sat waiting to discover their purpose in life.
The reality is purpose is unlikely to smack you in the face and tell you it’s there. I believe you need to create it by trying and doing as many things as you feel compelled to - at which point you’ll probably find something that you know is right.
Your purpose can change and shift as you do.
We all go through many seasons in life and our purpose may change and shift with them.
Experimentation with new ideas, activities and roles is essential.
I have three boys and my goal is to expose them to as many activities and hobbies and sports as possible until they find the one that plays to who they are.
We’ll never know whether we have an affinity towards something until we try it.
Read widely.
It goes without saying that the more we read, the more we become exposed to new ideas, and this can lead to experimentation.
Purpose does not have to be in work - but if we sit and watch TV all evening the chances are we will never build or identify our purpose. Hobbies are therefore important.
Our purpose does not have to be world domination, curing a major disease or solving world poverty.
It can be as simple as doing the right thing for our community, building a family, writing, being a good neighbour.
I think we often try to reach for things outside of us, when the reality is the simple and free things in life are good indicators of how to live with purpose.
Get out in nature and listen.
Bird songs have a calming effect, woodland after rainfall has biologically good effects on humans, forest bathing is a Japanese way to heal, walking is very good for us and when we’re in nature we can often live in the moment and ideas will flood into us.
Meditation is helpful. Quieten the mind and create space for new things.
Don’t give up when our chosen job, hobby, experiment or activity gets hard.
The road to mastery means doing the work, even when it’s hard.
Living a life with purpose does not mean it will be easy. In fact if it’s super easy the chances are you’re capable and worthy of doing more.
Living a life with purpose can be hard work.
And finally, if you’re a manager and you lack purpose - then so will your team.
Why does the company exist?
Why are you building products or services?
Why are you doing what you do?
How can you manage and lead with purpose?
Is this role really for you?
And with that - here are a few links keeping me busy and interested.
Interesting Articles
How to talk to your manager about burnout - If you’re a manager and you’re getting to know your people (which you should be) and you’re conducting regular 1:2:1’s (which you should be) and you’re spending time working with them (which you should be), you will be able to spot burnout and it won’t be such a hard conversation for your direct to have.
“The act of creation causes imagination, not the other way around. …… The secret of the world is that it is a very malleable place, we must be sure that people learn this, and never forget the order: Learning is naturally the consequence of doing” - The most precious resource we have is agency.
Burning out? A career change could save your life….
If you’re on furlough - be careful - holiday pay does not accrue according to a tribunal hearing
7 in 10 business are going to struggle to hire people. This is good news for those looking for jobs….right? I guess we need to understand WHY they are finding it hard to hire people. Skills? Supply?
As you know - I do an annual review every year - I’m going to try this one in December - 100 post it notes
Until next week - take care.
Rob..
References
Schaefer, S.M., Boyland, J.M., Reekum, Lapate, R.C., Norris, C., Ryff, C.D. and Davidson, R.J. (2013). Purpose In Life Predicts Better Emotional Recovery From Negative Stimuli. online () Works. Available at: https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-psychology/828/ Accessed 12 Jul. 2021 ().
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Rob..