October 22, 2024 • 13 mins
Your purpose is the compass that guides your life to the destination you want.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Chapter 7. Your Purpose in Life
(00:03):
Quote, the meaning of life is to find your talent. The purpose of life is to share it.
End quote. Pablo Picasso.
By creating a life board, you have represented your full life. Now it's time to put it into action.
At the beginning of the book, I asked what success means to you. I'd now like to come back to that same question.
(00:27):
John Maxwell, speaker and leadership expert, has written and spoken extensively about success in life.
He argues that success is closely related to the right attitude and approach.
Maxwell has stated that many of the world's most successful leaders are persistent and persevering.
He argues that having a growth mindset and being willing to learn from mistakes is crucial to achieving success in life.
(00:53):
Additionally, Maxwell has emphasized the importance of setting clear goals and working hard to achieve them.
He also believes self-discipline and self-control are critical to staying on the path to success.
Finally, Maxwell has said that success in life is not only about achieving goals and accumulating wealth,
but also about living a meaningful life and positively impacting the world.
(01:18):
For him, true success is a combination of personal achievement and a life of service to others.
In one of his lectures, he stated that success comes when we have a why, which is our purpose.
Another author who reflected on the meaning of life was Victor Frankl.
Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist who survived the Nazi Holocaust and became one of the founders of logotherapy,
(01:43):
a psychotherapy focused on the search for meaning and purpose in life.
In 1942, he was deported along with his pregnant wife and parents to Nazi concentration camps
where he experienced extreme levels of suffering and torture.
It was during his imprisonment in the concentration camps that he developed logotherapy
based on his own experience and from observing the behavior of other prisoners.
(02:08):
After his release in 1945, Frankl returned to Vienna and began teaching and practicing logotherapy
based on finding purpose in life.
He wrote numerous books, the most famous being Man's Search for Meaning,
which became a literature classic on human resilience.
Until his passing in Vienna in 1997, Frankl spent much of his life traveling the world,
(02:32):
teaching and speaking about logotherapy, and searching for meaning in life.
Victor Frankl argued that the meaning of life lies in having a personal purpose.
He argued that human beings have the capacity to find meaning in their experiences,
even in the most difficult and painful of circumstances.
For Frankl, logotherapy focuses on helping a person discover their own meaning in life.
(02:57):
He believed that in the face of challenges, every individual can find opportunities to grow and improve,
even in extreme circumstances, such as those of concentration camps.
He argued that extreme pain and suffering can help affirms one's sense of purpose.
Fortunately, our problems are less extreme than Frankl's, yet his message remains very valid.
(03:20):
Frankl said,
Don't chase success.
Success will come when you have found the meaning of your life.
I depict the meaning of life as a tree, where the roots are your values.
These are connected to the trunk that is your purpose.
And from that purpose, your decisions spring, which are the branches of the tree.
As Roy E. Disney, Walt Disney's son said,
(03:43):
It's not hard to make decisions when you're clear about your values.
So what is my purpose?
Well, some time ago I read the story of an indigenous guide in the state of North Dakota in the USA.
At that state, there is a park called Bear Butte, where there is a mountain sacred to the indigenous people.
This guide takes tourists to the summit, where they perform an Indian ceremony.
(04:08):
One day, one of the tourists asked the indigenous guide,
Don't you get tired of making this journey every day?
The indigenous guide replied,
No, because I'm helping these visitors reach the summit.
When I read this story, I thought my purpose was something similar,
to inspire others to reach the pinnacle,
which I understood as reaching their full potential in life and happiness.
(04:32):
I began the book with the story of Ulysses and his 10-year journey back to Ithaca, his home.
I told you that the important thing is not the destination, but the journey.
Life happens to us from the point of departure to the point of arrival.
The point of arrival is our purpose.
Your goal is to reach the destination harbor.
(04:53):
And during the journey, you'll run into obstacles, problems, and opportunities along the way, and have to make choices.
Those decisions will bring you closer to that destination.
In his poem Ithaca, the Greek poet Constantine Kavafi said,
When you begin your journey to Ithaca, pray that the road will be long, full of adventures, full of knowledge.
(05:16):
Another author who is among my favorites, although he is only known from one book, is Marcus Aurelius.
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor ruled from 161 to 188 AD.
He is known for his stoic philosophy and his book, Meditations.
During his reign, he fought against invasions by the Germanic peoples and faced an epidemic in Rome.
(05:39):
He is considered one of the five good emperors in the history of Rome.
In Meditations, he expresses his thoughts and reflections on stoic philosophy, ethics, and personal conduct.
It comprises twelve books in which topics such as virtue, acceptance of death, the impermanence of things,
conscience, and the importance of self-control are discussed.
(06:03):
In the book, the emperor uses metaphors and examples from everyday life to convey his ideas and values,
and to argue against ambition, envy, and wasting time on trivial matters.
One of the central ideas of Meditations is that people should aspire to perfection as individuals,
and live as courageously, justly, and honestly as possible.
(06:25):
Regarding the problems that life presents to us, Marcus Aurelius said,
the obstacles in the way are the way.
In other words, it is the obstacles you encounter in your life that form your character.
Your choices shape the kind of person you are and will be.
The metaphor for life that I really like is that of a sailboat pilot.
(06:46):
The pilot must get from one point to another, and will have to take advantage of the winds,
sometimes going in his favor and sometimes against him.
You will also have to deal with the situation at sea if there are storms and waves,
and rely on your knowledge to get you to the destination as soon as possible and safely.
You are the pilot and must reach your destination.
(07:08):
You must overcome the obstacles and take advantage of what life offers you.
Act decisively, be flexible, adapt, and learn in the process.
Another excellent book is titled, How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen.
Christensen was a professor and consultant at Harvard Business School.
He was an expert in innovation in business management and for his theory of disruptive innovation.
(07:34):
One of his books, How Will You Measure Your Life? is a practical guide to living a fulfilling life.
In it, the author draws on his own experience in his academic career and personal life,
sharing his reflections on how to set realistic goals, make strategic decisions,
change direction if necessary, and find happiness and balance in life.
(07:57):
Christensen argues that more is needed to be successful professionally to measure a successful life.
It is also essential to have good interpersonal relationships, solid ethics, and behavior consistent with our values.
Ultimately, Christensen encourages us to measure our lives based on our priorities and values.
Shortly before he died, Christensen gave a TED talk in Boston summarizing the most important things in his life.
(08:24):
He said the most important thing was knowing he had helped many people.
The question for you is, what is your life's purpose?
Reflection 17, My Purpose in Life.
Go to page 52 of the PDF workbook and ask yourself these questions.
What legacy do I want to leave after I leave the world?
How will I contribute to the lives of others?
(08:47):
How am I going to use this valuable time I have?
Another book that had a deep impact on me is The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, written by Bronny Ware.
The author is an Australian writer and lecturer who worked as a palliative care nurse for many years.
During her work, Bronny encountered many people who were at the end of their lives and that inspired her to write this book.
(09:12):
It shares teachings about life and death based on the experiences and testimonies of the people the author accompanied until their final moments.
From her reflections, Bronny identified the five most common regrets people have at the end of their life.
Her goal is for us to learn from those regrets and avoid them.
According to Bronny, the five complaints of the dying are, I wish I had had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
(09:40):
Be authentic instead of living to please others or to fulfill what is expected of you.
I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
Don't sacrifice things like loving and enjoying life for work.
I wish I had had the courage to express my true feelings.
I wish I had been directly about your problems instead of piling up frustration and resentment.
(10:02):
I wish I had kept in touch with my friends.
Making the effort to maintain deep relationships over the course of your life resolves conflicts with the people you love.
I wish I had allowed myself to be happier.
Appreciate how good you are.
One of the stories in the book that struck me the most was that of a busy executive at a large company who traveled all the time.
(10:26):
He retired for many years and accumulated a lot of money, but at the cost of spending little time with his wife and family.
His wife was looking forward to his retirement to enjoy the last years of their lives together.
She imagined traveling together, spending more time with family and enjoying life.
Retirement was the opportunity to get all that back.
(10:48):
When the executive was about to retire, he told his wife he was finishing a very important project that would take another six months.
He assured her that the months would go by quickly.
Six months later, the executive told his wife that he had started another very important project for the company and could not retire right now.
It would take him at least another year to complete.
(11:10):
What this executive didn't know was that his wife had cancer.
Before the end of the year, she passed away.
Brownie was taken care of this executive while he was near his death.
He shared his story with her. He deeply regretted that he had not retired and enjoyed the last years of his life with his wife.
In the end, he was left to die alone and was deeply sad.
(11:33):
When I read this story, I said this will not happen to me.
Irvin Yalam is a psychiatrist, writer and professor at Stanford University, California.
He is recognized for his work in existential therapy and for being one of the main exponents of so-called group therapy.
Yalam has published excellent books, such as When Nietzsche Wept, Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy and the Spinoza Problem.
(12:00):
His work in his therapeutic approach are references for psychology specialists, therapists and philosophers, since he integrates existential philosophy and psychiatry.
Irvin Yalam's existential psychotherapy is based on the idea that each individual lives in unique situations of uncertainty, from birth to death.
He points out that we must accept the conflicts and anxieties we experience as they are normal impulses.
(12:26):
Yalam mentions four existential givens that mark our lives.
Fear of death. We're all going to die at some point. Limited freedom.
Although we have some freedom to choose how we live our lives, many things are out of our control.
Subjective meaning. Each of us finds meaning in life in different ways, and that meaning can change over time.
(12:48):
Fear of loneliness. Although we may be surrounded by people, we all experience loneliness at some point.
Yalam says that the more we feel that our life is empty, the greater our terror of death.
He adds that it is very important to live without accumulating regrets for what we fail to do.
Think now, ahead of time, about what you can do to change your life for the better.
(13:13):
The things you need to remember are simple. Take care of yourself.
Worry about others. An important part of our happiness depends on what you do for others.
Accept that there are things you can't change, and focus your energies on what you can change.
Be aware of the opportunities that life presents.
Remember the no regrets rule. Don't do something you'll regret in the future.
(13:38):
Learn to say no when required. Don't forget to enjoy.
Take action.
Chapter 7. Your Purpose in Life
(00:03):
Quote, the meaning of life is to find your talent. The purpose of life is to share it.
End quote. Pablo Picasso.
By creating a life board, you have represented your full life. Now it's time to put it into action.
At the beginning of the book, I asked what success means to you. I'd now like to come back to that same question.
(00:27):
John Maxwell, speaker and leadership expert, has written and spoken extensively about success in life.
He argues that success is closely related to the right attitude and approach.
Maxwell has stated that many of the world's most successful leaders are persistent and persevering.
He argues that having a growth mindset and being willing to learn from mistakes is crucial to achieving success in life.
(00:53):
Additionally, Maxwell has emphasized the importance of setting clear goals and working hard to achieve them.
He also believes self-discipline and self-control are critical to staying on the path to success.
Finally, Maxwell has said that success in life is not only about achieving goals and accumulating wealth,
but also about living a meaningful life and positively impacting the world.
(01:18):
For him, true success is a combination of personal achievement and a life of service to others.
In one of his lectures, he stated that success comes when we have a why, which is our purpose.
Another author who reflected on the meaning of life was Victor Frankl.
Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist who survived the Nazi Holocaust and became one of the founders of logotherapy,
(01:43):
a psychotherapy focused on the search for meaning and purpose in life.
In 1942, he was deported along with his pregnant wife and parents to Nazi concentration camps
where he experienced extreme levels of suffering and torture.
It was during his imprisonment in the concentration camps that he developed logotherapy
based on his own experience and from observing the behavior of other prisoners.
(02:08):
After his release in 1945, Frankl returned to Vienna and began teaching and practicing logotherapy
based on finding purpose in life.
He wrote numerous books, the most famous being Man's Search for Meaning,
which became a literature classic on human resilience.
Until his passing in Vienna in 1997, Frankl spent much of his life traveling the world,
(02:32):
teaching and speaking about logotherapy, and searching for meaning in life.
Victor Frankl argued that the meaning of life lies in having a personal purpose.
He argued that human beings have the capacity to find meaning in their experiences,
even in the most difficult and painful of circumstances.
For Frankl, logotherapy focuses on helping a person discover their own meaning in life.
(02:57):
He believed that in the face of challenges, every individual can find opportunities to grow and improve,
even in extreme circumstances, such as those of concentration camps.
He argued that extreme pain and suffering can help affirms one's sense of purpose.
Fortunately, our problems are less extreme than Frankl's, yet his message remains very valid.
(03:20):
Frankl said,
Don't chase success.
Success will come when you have found the meaning of your life.
I depict the meaning of life as a tree, where the roots are your values.
These are connected to the trunk that is your purpose.
And from that purpose, your decisions spring, which are the branches of the tree.
As Roy E. Disney, Walt Disney's son said,
(03:43):
It's not hard to make decisions when you're clear about your values.
So what is my purpose?
Well, some time ago I read the story of an indigenous guide in the state of North Dakota in the USA.
At that state, there is a park called Bear Butte, where there is a mountain sacred to the indigenous people.
This guide takes tourists to the summit, where they perform an Indian ceremony.
(04:08):
One day, one of the tourists asked the indigenous guide,
Don't you get tired of making this journey every day?
The indigenous guide replied,
No, because I'm helping these visitors reach the summit.
When I read this story, I thought my purpose was something similar,
to inspire others to reach the pinnacle,
which I understood as reaching their full potential in life and happiness.
(04:32):
I began the book with the story of Ulysses and his 10-year journey back to Ithaca, his home.
I told you that the important thing is not the destination, but the journey.
Life happens to us from the point of departure to the point of arrival.
The point of arrival is our purpose.
Your goal is to reach the destination harbor.
(04:53):
And during the journey, you'll run into obstacles, problems, and opportunities along the way, and have to make choices.
Those decisions will bring you closer to that destination.
In his poem Ithaca, the Greek poet Constantine Kavafi said,
When you begin your journey to Ithaca, pray that the road will be long, full of adventures, full of knowledge.
(05:16):
Another author who is among my favorites, although he is only known from one book, is Marcus Aurelius.
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor ruled from 161 to 188 AD.
He is known for his stoic philosophy and his book, Meditations.
During his reign, he fought against invasions by the Germanic peoples and faced an epidemic in Rome.
(05:39):
He is considered one of the five good emperors in the history of Rome.
In Meditations, he expresses his thoughts and reflections on stoic philosophy, ethics, and personal conduct.
It comprises twelve books in which topics such as virtue, acceptance of death, the impermanence of things,
conscience, and the importance of self-control are discussed.
(06:03):
In the book, the emperor uses metaphors and examples from everyday life to convey his ideas and values,
and to argue against ambition, envy, and wasting time on trivial matters.
One of the central ideas of Meditations is that people should aspire to perfection as individuals,
and live as courageously, justly, and honestly as possible.
(06:25):
Regarding the problems that life presents to us, Marcus Aurelius said,
the obstacles in the way are the way.
In other words, it is the obstacles you encounter in your life that form your character.
Your choices shape the kind of person you are and will be.
The metaphor for life that I really like is that of a sailboat pilot.
(06:46):
The pilot must get from one point to another, and will have to take advantage of the winds,
sometimes going in his favor and sometimes against him.
You will also have to deal with the situation at sea if there are storms and waves,
and rely on your knowledge to get you to the destination as soon as possible and safely.
You are the pilot and must reach your destination.
(07:08):
You must overcome the obstacles and take advantage of what life offers you.
Act decisively, be flexible, adapt, and learn in the process.
Another excellent book is titled, How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen.
Christensen was a professor and consultant at Harvard Business School.
He was an expert in innovation in business management and for his theory of disruptive innovation.
(07:34):
One of his books, How Will You Measure Your Life? is a practical guide to living a fulfilling life.
In it, the author draws on his own experience in his academic career and personal life,
sharing his reflections on how to set realistic goals, make strategic decisions,
change direction if necessary, and find happiness and balance in life.
(07:57):
Christensen argues that more is needed to be successful professionally to measure a successful life.
It is also essential to have good interpersonal relationships, solid ethics, and behavior consistent with our values.
Ultimately, Christensen encourages us to measure our lives based on our priorities and values.
Shortly before he died, Christensen gave a TED talk in Boston summarizing the most important things in his life.
(08:24):
He said the most important thing was knowing he had helped many people.
The question for you is, what is your life's purpose?
Reflection 17, My Purpose in Life.
Go to page 52 of the PDF workbook and ask yourself these questions.
What legacy do I want to leave after I leave the world?
How will I contribute to the lives of others?
(08:47):
How am I going to use this valuable time I have?
Another book that had a deep impact on me is The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, written by Bronny Ware.
The author is an Australian writer and lecturer who worked as a palliative care nurse for many years.
During her work, Bronny encountered many people who were at the end of their lives and that inspired her to write this book.
(09:12):
It shares teachings about life and death based on the experiences and testimonies of the people the author accompanied until their final moments.
From her reflections, Bronny identified the five most common regrets people have at the end of their life.
Her goal is for us to learn from those regrets and avoid them.
According to Bronny, the five complaints of the dying are, I wish I had had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
(09:40):
Be authentic instead of living to please others or to fulfill what is expected of you.
I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
Don't sacrifice things like loving and enjoying life for work.
I wish I had had the courage to express my true feelings.
I wish I had been directly about your problems instead of piling up frustration and resentment.
(10:02):
I wish I had kept in touch with my friends.
Making the effort to maintain deep relationships over the course of your life resolves conflicts with the people you love.
I wish I had allowed myself to be happier.
Appreciate how good you are.
One of the stories in the book that struck me the most was that of a busy executive at a large company who traveled all the time.
(10:26):
He retired for many years and accumulated a lot of money, but at the cost of spending little time with his wife and family.
His wife was looking forward to his retirement to enjoy the last years of their lives together.
She imagined traveling together, spending more time with family and enjoying life.
Retirement was the opportunity to get all that back.
(10:48):
When the executive was about to retire, he told his wife he was finishing a very important project that would take another six months.
He assured her that the months would go by quickly.
Six months later, the executive told his wife that he had started another very important project for the company and could not retire right now.
It would take him at least another year to complete.
(11:10):
What this executive didn't know was that his wife had cancer.
Before the end of the year, she passed away.
Brownie was taken care of this executive while he was near his death.
He shared his story with her. He deeply regretted that he had not retired and enjoyed the last years of his life with his wife.
In the end, he was left to die alone and was deeply sad.
(11:33):
When I read this story, I said this will not happen to me.
Irvin Yalam is a psychiatrist, writer and professor at Stanford University, California.
He is recognized for his work in existential therapy and for being one of the main exponents of so-called group therapy.
Yalam has published excellent books, such as When Nietzsche Wept, Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy and the Spinoza Problem.
(12:00):
His work in his therapeutic approach are references for psychology specialists, therapists and philosophers, since he integrates existential philosophy and psychiatry.
Irvin Yalam's existential psychotherapy is based on the idea that each individual lives in unique situations of uncertainty, from birth to death.
He points out that we must accept the conflicts and anxieties we experience as they are normal impulses.
(12:26):
Yalam mentions four existential givens that mark our lives.
Fear of death. We're all going to die at some point. Limited freedom.
Although we have some freedom to choose how we live our lives, many things are out of our control.
Subjective meaning. Each of us finds meaning in life in different ways, and that meaning can change over time.
(12:48):
Fear of loneliness. Although we may be surrounded by people, we all experience loneliness at some point.
Yalam says that the more we feel that our life is empty, the greater our terror of death.
He adds that it is very important to live without accumulating regrets for what we fail to do.
Think now, ahead of time, about what you can do to change your life for the better.
(13:13):
The things you need to remember are simple. Take care of yourself.
Worry about others. An important part of our happiness depends on what you do for others.
Accept that there are things you can't change, and focus your energies on what you can change.
Be aware of the opportunities that life presents.
Remember the no regrets rule. Don't do something you'll regret in the future.
(13:38):
Learn to say no when required. Don't forget to enjoy.
Take action.
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