Commencement

personal development May 20, 2019
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It's commencement season. One period of life ends, another begins. How are you helping the "graduates" in your life to step into possibility and potential?

Most of us work for a living and we spend a chunk of our lives doing that work. Yet most of us don't much get advice or guidance about choosing that work with intention and integrity.

Some of us spend a lot of time "occupied" in work that neither excites nor fulfills us. How can you help the graduates you know avoid this? How can you help someone discover and develop work that nurtures and nourishes them? How can you do this yourself?

Here are a few tips I'm sharing with the graduates in my life to help them define their purpose:

  1. Define what it means to be human and happy and dedicate yourself to work that helps you become more of both.
  2. Start with who, not why. Who are you? Who do you want to become? Who are the fellow travelers that you need to connect with to help you get from where you are to where you want to be? 
  3. What are your values? What are your talents? Where do you belong? Meaningful work is found at the intersection of those three things.
  4. Passion, purpose, and prosperity come through meaningful work and are not inherent in it. Any endeavor that you commit to achieving excellence in provides the opportunity to forge meaning and build identity.
  5. Start with the end in mind. At some point, life ends. In that moment, what do you want to see when you look back at yours?

Not every graduate is wearing a cap and gown this commencement season. Some are retiring or contemplating new careers or "second acts" or "side hustles." Choosing the work that you're meant to do now is a decision that you can make at any time. You could do so right now and on purpose.


Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at C reative on Purpose

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