Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly, but so often folks live life without thinking about their purpose. We believe that thinking about your purpose and trying to identify what it might be is one of the most impactful things you can do to level up your life, career, and general level of happiness and fulfillment. Having a sense of what your why is will help you become a better decision maker which inevitably will improve your life. Below, you’ll find some interesting discussions, stories and perspectives around find your purpose.
Christian Biedrzycki
I found my purpose by surviving things that should have broken me and realizing that none of it was wasted. Growing up with instability, going through a DCS case, watching addiction tear my family apart, and later fighting my own battles with substance use—all of that forced me to understand people on a deeper level. Read More>>
Nikki Leonard
I find my purpose in service to others. A sense of service is baked into the job in the military. When I was leaving the Navy, I knew that I would need to fill that void somehow. Fostering rescue dogs and supporting rescue efforts through my nonprofit, Pup Profile, gives me purpose every day. Read More>>
Napualani Hall
Purpose isn’t something you chase – its something you embody. I didn’t find my purpose in one dramatic moment… it unfolded through a series of initiations, breakdowns, and quiet inner callings that I couldn’t ignore anymore. I grew up as a competitive gymnast, raised by a teen single mom, and the gym became my structure, my escape, and my identity. Read More>>
Andreas Troeger
I didn’t find it. I built it—out of broken parts, sidetracks, and refusal. I grew up in working-class Munich during the ‘60s and ‘70s. My mother made hat molds, my father worked as a precision mechanic for a local camera company—so our house was littered with film and photo gear. Read More>>
Fiona Murden
Through trial and error. I always had a passion for understanding people, from a really young age I’d watch people and read their emotions. I suppose you could say that’s the part of me that’s Irish, from my grandmother. The Irish have an uncanny way of knowing what other people are thinking and feeling. Read More>>
Kathryn DeClaire
My purpose was something that I wrestled with throughout my teenage and early adult years. Trying to find my purpose within but fulfilling my purpose did not come until it was met with helping others. Getting out of my own mental loops and feeling sorry for myself, I started my own work within but looked outward to see how I could help others. Read More>>
Edgar Ndjatou
I found my purpose at the intersection of advocacy, human connection, and the workplace. Early in my career as an employment attorney, I saw firsthand how much a person’s job affects their sense of dignity, identity, and security. Read More>>
Neal Engstrom
Great question – I prefer the word mission to purpose! Here’s how I figured out my life mission. After I graduated from college I spent a year teaching English in Japan, and then had adventures traveling throughout Asia for several months. I saw ancient temples in Kamakura, the gigantic Great Wall of China, towering skyscrapers in Hong Kong, and the glittering Taj Mahal in India. Read More>>
Nadia Stewart
I found my purpose through many twists and turns. I thought each was the end game, but in hindsight they were the breadcrumbs that would lead me here. In the broadest sense, I love the feeling of being a leader, creating, communicating, innovating. Read More>>
Jayne Mattingly
My personal exploration of Body Grief came as an evolution. As I received multiple chronic illness diagnoses, underwent surgeries that decimated the body I once knew, and was put on a new path not of my own choosing to navigate the world in a disabled body, I chose to become curious. Read More>>
Umami Bee
I quite literally went out on foot and found my purpose. I’ve always been a creative—always been a creator—but it wasn’t until I shut out the rest of the world and its distractions that I would realize I was destined to be an artist. This all came from a six-month tech cleanse I did during the pandemic. Read More>>
David Haddad
Purpose. Commitment, resilience, and courage. These are all interwoven together. Purpose comes from desire and passion combined with desperation. In my early years of developing restaurants and luxury hospitality (1983-1995), I had the good fortune of learning the strategies of building systems, scaling to multiple properties in various locations. Read More>>
Shelby Perry
Honestly… it wasn’t some big, “aha” moment. It was a series of jolts, moments that shook me, pushed me, and didn’t let me stay the same. I lost my eye snowboarding 4.5 years ago. In that instant, my life as I knew it stopped. Everything I thought I was, everything I had planned… gone. Read More>>
Natasha Atkins, MSW, MA
Honestly, I believe my purpose is divinely inspired. I’ve always felt called to help children feel psychologically safe, in their schools, homes, and communities, and to equip the adults around them with tools to help kids navigate the turbulence of adolescence and grow into healthy, grounded adults. My own childhood and adolescence were challenging. Read More>>
Steve Gregory
That’s an interesting question. I’ve been motivated by music, and guitar playing for a long time. I was driven to get better and learn more from a young age. I loved listening and trying to figure things out on the instrument. I’m not sure if I’d call it a purpose, but it was certainly a focus. Read More>>
Forrest Michals
As a child, I suffered from a severe speech impediment. I was also smaller than average, slightly overweight, and rather awkward. As a result of this, I always felt isolated and alone. But when I was 12, I had a rapid growth spurt that left me somewhat larger than most of my classmates. Read More>>
Susan Weidener
I left journalism at fifty-six. My career at a major national newspaper had been rewarding, but what to do next? Writing and teaching were my only professional skills. One day, I scrolled through the internet after typing the words “women’s writing retreat.” A retreat in a small town outside Lexington, Kentucky, caught my attention. It mentioned memoir writing. Read More>>
Jason Flame
Honestly, I didn’t “find” my purpose all at once. It wasn’t a single lightning-bolt moment. It was more like a series of doors that God kept opening, and I just kept walking through them — sometimes confidently, sometimes with no clue what was on the other side. I’ve always known I loved helping people grow. Read More>>
Marisa Carrillo
I became a mom at 17, and that moment changed my life forever. My daughter was born with Down Syndrome, and from the very beginning, she taught me what strength, patience, and unconditional love truly look like. Those early years weren’t easy. I was in an abusive relationship and often felt trapped, not just physically, but emotionally. Read More>>
Jennifer Izaguirre
Great Question! To me, finding one’s purpose is about discovering what gives your life meaning and direction, exploring your passions and finding your strengths. I have had many purposes in my life. I have had the purpose of being a supportive military wife. I have had the purpose of being the best mom I could be. Read More>>
Palina Pantyushina De Chavez
I believe that every time we come to this world for a new human experience, we bring a **bunch of new purposes** with us. When we start a new life path as children, we don’t remember anything from previous existences, so we are like a clean, white sheet of paper—with infinite chances to rediscover our souls by finding these purposes. Read More>>
Pascal Phoa
A few years ago, I heard about the term ‘ikigai’ from a family friend who went to Japan and told me about it. Through them, I learned about how your purpose could be defined by four things: what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for. Read More>>
Allison Bettes
I found my purpose by changing who I was living and working for. When you do things because you are comparing yourself to others, imposter syndrome is sure to follow (in many aspects of life, not just being an author). Read More>>
Shenese Johnson
I found my purpose by accident. I went abroad to Jamaica where I was born. I often buy Ice Cream from a shop nearby my home, sadly the Ice cream I was after was never available. After 3 attempts to purchase it; I thought to myself I will go home back to the UK and make it myself and the rest is history Read More>>
Jess Zierer
I didn’t find it in a straight line – and I think that’s the best part of my story. I went to grad school for music, thinking I’d teach at the college level. But years after intense study, I was completely burnt out. To pursue that path, I would have needed a PhD, and I just couldn’t keep going. Read More>>
Joe Ren
As a designer and artist, I’m drawn to the tension between appearance and reality, especially in a world overwhelmed by digital noise. Over time, I realized that my creative work wasn’t just about making images; it was about investigating the gap between what we see and what is actually true. Read More>>
Suzanne McGaughey
When I was a young child, I grew up in a lot of dysfunction. My father passed away when I was only 7 years old, his passing really hit me hard. I wasn’t very good at expressing myself verbally, so I started writing as young as nine years old. I wrote a poem at school that was published in the local newspaper. Read More>>
Tiera Hawkins
I found my purpose by paying attention to the seeds that were planted in me long before I understood what purpose truly meant. Growing up in poverty, I always had a deep desire for something greater — not just for myself, but for my family and my community. My godmother exposed me to a different way of living, and it opened my eyes to possibility. Read More>>
Suzanne Longstreet
As a child, I was vibrant, imaginative, and full of joy. I believed I could do anything. That changed when I was eight years old and learned that life could be painful and unpredictable. In that moment, I decided it was safer to stay quiet and blend in. I became the “good girl,” the helper, the one who made sure everyone else was okay. Read More>>
Marko Ali
I’ve always been creatively inclined, but I can vividly recall one moment that really pulled me into purpose. Back in 2018, when I was 16, I went to a concert that completely changed me. While standing in GA, I had what I can only describe as a real revelation from God. Read More>>
Renee Braune
My purpose was not something I simply discovered one day. It was something I had to fight for, through pain that nearly destroyed me. I experienced childhood sexual abuse, something that took away my sense of safety and trust before I even understood what those words meant. Read More>>
Jamie Lewis
Truthfully when I was going through my divorce and first time in my adult life- I was single, mom of two boys and had very little confidence. I needed to ‘pretend’ I was completely okay and fine- that came from my clothing. Showing up everyday for myself ready, and along with true forms of therapy it worked! While I. Read More>>
