Acting on purpose

My week started with the funeral of my friend John. If you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know that he was a kind and generous man. More than that though, over the course of the day I met many people who had wonderful stories of him, of his sense of mischief, of the pleasure he took in travel and adventure and of his insatiable appetite for learning. He truly was a man who could be said to have lived the breadth as well as the length of his (tragically short) life.

It was Socrates who said that “the unexamined life is not worth living” and John certainly examined his life. Many of the mourners spoke of John’s search for meaning and purpose in his own life and helping others in their own quest. I’ve written extensively on the importance of living by one’s values and yet John’s death was still a call to arms for me. To go beyond values and rethink my “purpose”.

Purpose – noun “the reason for which something exists or is done, made,used, etc”. (Dictionary.com)

I’ve taken a look at Project Libero, the work I’m engaged in – coaching, some facilitation and a dash of mentoring – and what the purpose of that work is. So far so good but let’s look a little closer (as I did after some probing questions from @approachmarket and @stirthesource – thanks ladies)

  1. The website needs an overhaul and I’ve spoken to a great digital artist about sorting out a proper logo to anchor my vision in clearer, more compelling images for you all. (I think you’re going to really like what he’s doing with it).
  2. I’ve been alluding to it on twitter and with friends but I can confirm that I have actually started writing the book. I’ve written a chapter thus far, it will definitely need some editing but it’s underway. Wish me luck!
  3. I want to work more in the area of people’s health and wellbeing so I’ll be expanding that part of the business. Which is actually much more what I had in mind when I started the business and much closer to my original “purpose”. How easy it is to get sidetracked eh?

So that’s the 3 point plan, but hey, this isn’t all about me, this is about you too. What’s your purpose? What do you want to do? What vision do you have for your life? Oh and remind me again, when will you be making a start on it?

As ever, you can find me here, or @projectlibero or over at www.projectlibero.com if you want to know more.

9 thoughts on “Acting on purpose

  1. David Goddin (@ChangeContinuum) Reply

    Thought provoking post Jon. The definition of “Purpose” highlights to me the need to separate to some degree those distracting preferences from what some might call “core purpose”. As a husband/father my “core purpose” is clear – it’s a Maslow thing! But is it different as a business owner? Can I have different core purposes? I don’t believe so but then that lets preference rather than purpose creep back into the equation….

    If I find an answer I’ll let you know! Perhaps this is where “the unexamined life is not worth living” comes into the equation.

    • Project Libero - coaching, musing and exploring Reply

      Hi David, glad to hear it got you thinking. I find the NLP Logical Levels useful at this juncture. There are normally 5 with the highest being Identity. However, the optional 6th is Spirit / Purpose. That allows the rational split you talk about but I should imagine that your “spirit” is similar in business or at home. It’s all a question of congruence I guess. I’ve known many people who have one set of beliefs / values for work and another for home but when you look in detail the positive intentions are similar but expressed differently in the different contexts.

      Certainly one for examination and debate. Let me know how you get on.

  2. lizziedrinks Reply

    Interesting stuff. I think the sense of purpose for me is a bit woolly atm and needs working on. The telephone interview on friday did at least clarify that that was what I didn’t want as my purpose!

  3. Eddy Reply

    best of luck with ‘the’ book Jon. I look forward to it already.

    A comment on the NLP logical levels… I have found it useful recently to have a flexible perspective. Often portrayed with one element over the other in list form and sometimes presented in a hierarchical triangle, its ‘logical’ that the metaphor, perhaps implicitly encouraged, extends into language such as ‘higher’ or ‘highest’ level and moving ‘up’ or ‘down’ the levels. Some might consider the Purpose or Spirit aspect at your physical core and the other elements in ‘onion skin type layers of concentric spheres expanding outward from there.

    Just a thought and which ever way you consider it now, a very useful model.

    Please do keep encouraging my exploration Jon. Thank you

    • Project Libero - coaching, musing and exploring Reply

      Hi Eddy, thanks for the encouragement yourself.

      I have remapped the logical levels several times. Also aligned with other models such as Coach to Awakener etc. I think I shared it with you as Levels Matrix. I’m thinking I might go back and add the onion model to that.

      As you know I’m also beginning to explore the mood scale in 3D with the help of a very talented digital animator so watch this space for new developments.

  4. Pingback: Purposeful Fun « People Performance Potential

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