Purpose is something that I’ve grappled with for a long time.

And not just for myself. As an employer, I’ve seen team members grappling with the question themselves, ‘What’s my purpose? What should I be doing?’

After all, we work in marketing and it’s easy to feel like making Facebook ads isn’t your calling.

Author Daniel Pink sums it up for me when he says, ‘There’s a purpose to every day (and that’s with a lowercase ‘p’)’.

For me, it’s about ‘What do I want to achieve today?’

Otherwise, we’re playing in the scary capital’ ‘P’ Purpose pond and that can be a lot.

My purpose breakthrough came from working with an amazing performance coach, Matt Griggs. His advice is simple and incredible. Your purpose is to be happy.

Without getting all Buddha-y about it, happy people don’t do shitty things. If everyone was happy, there wouldn’t be homelessness or starving children.

So it’s this simple: everyone’s purpose is to do what makes them happy that is you doing a great service in the world.

What makes me happy changes from minute to minute, but I am guided by what lights me up.

After so many years working in hospitality, I understand the nobility of service. Weaving that into your purpose is a sure fire winner.

When you’re digging deep and realizing your purpose, it’s also helpful to imagine what it will feel like every step of the way, not just when you get there.

Be realistic about what’s involved and ask yourself if you’re willing to do it. We talk about this in the Super Vision episode of Straight Forward here.

What do you want your purpose to be? And what do you want to become?