What is the Path from Purpose to Task?

I have found that people usually fall in to two types when it comes to their sense of purpose, those who are focused on the meaning and objective of things — i.e. the “Why” — and those who are more comfortable with mastering the method — i.e. the “How” of things.

So few of us are comfortable with both at the same time.

I believe the reason that we find it hard to master both the “Why” and the “How” at the same time is that we are not spending enough time linking one to the other.

Let me share an example about my own purpose and goals in order to illustrate that.

Purpose

I consider knowledge to be one of my most cherished values, hence acquiring and spreading knowledge is my “Why” or my purpose, and the posts that I write are the tasks or the “How” that I use to fulfill that purpose. What I need to bear in mind though is that these posts are not the only way i can live my values and fulfill my purpose, they are just one of the many possible ways, and in order to find out whether it is the best possible way, I need to take the time to explore all the possible alternatives and decide on the ones that align with my skillset and my other values and goals. Perhaps I could teach? or start a podcast? There are many other possibilities…

The importance of this exploration is in the clarity and hope it brings, I know that I will find fulfillment following a path that leads to knowledge, but if the path I’m using is too hard, i will not lose hope or question my purpose, instead I will just wonder whether there is a better way to do it.

Task

Similarly, you can think of another example at the other end of the spectrum. Suppose someone is quite skilled at writing and receives enough praise for whatever they write to make them confident that they are great at it. They may still not find the motivation to write, they might struggle to get inspired, and the reason for that is that they may not have explored what their writing is meant to accomplish. Is it meant to express? To educate? To entertain? Perhaps even all three!

Exploring the meaning of a skill or talent that we have, and trying to understand what purpose it can fulfill, can provide the missing sense of motivation that we are striving for. It can help us feel inspired and get us through the difficult obstacles we are bound to face when trying to use them to accomplish anything.

The Missing Link

You see, purpose can be inspiring but it lacks enough clarity for action, while tasks are clear and simple but they don’t offer the motivation to do them.

The right way to look at it, is to link the purpose to the task…

This layer between our sense of purpose and our stated tasks is the least discussed even though it is probably the biggest reason we either succeed or fail at what we are trying to do.

In the business world they’ll often call it “strategy”, they’ll define it as the “What” that translates the “Why” into “How”. I don’t necessarily disagree, but I do find this term misleading, let me tell you why..

Describing it as the “strategy” makes it sound like we’ve got everything figured out and we just have to go ahead and execute, but in reality, this is the part of our path that is the hardest to explore, it is not set in stone either, it might work or it might not and then you need to somehow fix it or try something else.

Your values are relatively stable although they might evolve over time, your skills and abilities — although hopefully growing — are still more or less predictable, but the question of “What” can never be satisfactorily answered

What is the best way to live my values?

What am I meant to do with my skills and talents?

The only way is to keep searching and experimenting, and then holding yourself accountable by evaluating whether your “What” has finally made your “Why” and your “How” click!

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