I've long been a fan of Simon Sinek and watching his Golden-Circle talk at an early stage in my career transformed my approach to business.
But on a personal level is 'finding your why' actually a worthwhile goal?
That feels odd to write as I'm an ambitious, goal-orientated individual that's fixated on self-development. But new research has made me question this.
Do we truly have a purpose that we are put on this earth to fulfill, or do we define our preferences simply by what we know?
This research would suggest the latter. We, as humans, form unconscious biases from the moment we are born. Our decisions will typically follow similar patterns, leading us to have a preference for what we know.
If you had grown up somewhere else or at another time, there’s little doubt that you’d prefer something else. The things we think we need are simply the things we’re used to.
It feels safer to say that we have a true calling and that we’re looking for what connects with our passion.
But that’s not useful (because it means you spend a lot of time searching) but it’s also not true.
And if you like what you like simply because you have a pattern, that means that you might be able to like something else if you could develop new patterns.
This research is both refreshing and empowering. It makes it clear that we own our choices and we are not waiting on divine intervention to define our purpose.
In short: If we commit to loving what we do, we’re more likely to find engagement and satisfaction. And if what we do changes, we can choose to love that too.
