The power of purpose

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An intern asked me a question recently (rephrased here), over lunch - "I am so confused with my options. Which team do you think I must join?"

I silently chuckled at that question. I saw in her, myself, nearly a decade back, asking a similar question. And I wish I got the answer that I gave her - "It doesn't really matter". Of course, she didn't seem quite convinced by that answer. 

She eventually did, after I was able to spend a good 15 mins, telling what she should rather focus her energies and time on. Of course, like several of us, she will be influenced by her experiences, her peers and the people she meets and that will either steer towards or away from the advice I gave her.

And this is what I told her -

On an average, we all work towards excellence. Nobody aims for mediocrity. We want to know as we much as we can about all "good" things in the world and how to achieve them - job promotions, higher paychecks, high-flying lifestyles, fame, attention and recognition. What we don't understand is that most of them are really tangible, short-term benefits. In the long run, what matters is did you find that one thing you love and were you able to achieve it?

Briefly put - "Did you find your purpose in life?"

School and college are some of the best times to explore that question because you have all that time away from relationships, job stress, family obligations. For some, it is immediately clear.  For some others, it takes about few years. For the rest (a fairly large proportion of people), it takes an incredibly long time - during this process you have two choices:

- Give up and settle

- Don't settle and keep looking

The problem we face on an everyday basis is this - you are always working for immediate, short-term, tangible benefits. (And the question the intern posed falls in this bucket). How many times have we faced a choice between the short term and the long term? We almost always favor the former with a quick justification of "just this once". And before you realize, you have been doing this too many times (not just once).

The question(s) she must rather ask is/are - "How can I grow? Where are the learning opportunities and how can I seize them? What are some specific things I must try out? Is this what I like to do with my time? Is this what I love? Is this what I want to become?" Unfortunately, there are no clear answers to such questions. You learn, evolve and move on from one experience to another; checking each item on your infinite list of things to do towards finding your purpose. The lesson being, to try out as many things you can, to be open-minded, to stop judging, and to constantly question the purpose behind everything. 

This is the most important (and also the most difficult) thing you will ever learn - To keep your head above all trivialities in life and be focussed on finding, committing and achieving your purpose. Every time you face a choice, you ask yourself - "Is this inline with my purpose in life?"