Start With Why

July 11, 2017

Categories: Mission

This blog post is Part 3 in a 14-part blog series on discovering and living your mission. (If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.) The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “He who has a ‘why’ to live can bear almost any ‘how.’” I think there’s something to this idea. Life is full of difficulties and hardships. As human beings, we need a compelling “why” to feel energized when we wake up each morning.

The question of “why” gets at the first part of the equation of discovering and living your mission: What is your purpose?

I encourage people to focus more on purpose than passion. A lot of people get caught up in finding their passion, but I think this is a mistake that can lead people off course from discovering and living their mission.

Here’s why: Passion involves discovering what you love to do, and it can be a powerful motivator. And yes, there are stories about people pursuing the tasks they enjoy with a singular focus, and it works out. But passion can be tricky. For every success story about someone pursuing their passion, there is another story about passion taking someone off-track. Passion doesn’t always lead to meaningful work over the long haul. Passion is powerful, but unpredictable. Like rocket fuel, passion can take you to the moon, or backfire and explode in your face.

Purpose is more measured. It may not bring as much immediate pleasure or enjoyment, but it is more consistent. Purpose can provide a consistent source of meaning and happiness over time. If passion is like rocket fuel, purpose is more like diesel gasoline. It’s trustworthy, reliable, and doesn’t break down easily.

Purpose is also more other-focused. Passion is often self-focused. What do I love to do? What activities do I enjoy doing? What tasks bring me the most pleasure? These are the questions of passion, and they are focused on the self. Purpose asks a different set of questions. What big problem in the world do I long to solve? What need tugs at my heart and won’t let go? What injustice in the world do I long to correct?

Because purpose is other-focused, it is a more reliable source of meaning than passion. Meaning in life often involves a connection with something other than ourselves. It’s about connecting our life to some greater task or ongoing mission. It’s about connecting with other like-minded folks working in the same direction. It’s about connecting with God or whatever we consider sacred.

When working toward discovering your mission in life, start with “why”. Focus on finding your purpose, which is other-focused and a reliable source of meaning in life. Don’t worry too much about finding your passion, which is more self-focused, and might bring you short-term pleasure at the cost of long-term meaning.

Click here to read Part 4: The Why Block

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  1. Mark Hightower July 12, 2017 at 9:05 am - Reply

    Thank you for this timely post. I am going to camp out on it for a while since I have been trying to find out what my passions are and keep getting stuck. I need to find out what my purpose is on this earth.

  2. Joshua Hook July 12, 2017 at 9:54 am - Reply

    Cool! In the next several posts, I’ll get into some more practical ideas to help find your purpose.

  3. The Why Block - Joshua Hook July 16, 2017 at 2:42 pm - Reply

    […] series on discovering and living your mission. (If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.) In the previous blog post, we talked about the importance of finding your “why”, and identifying a core purpose that can […]

  4. Explore the How - Joshua Hook July 18, 2017 at 9:59 am - Reply

    […] living your mission. (If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.) Now that we have spent some time exploring the “why” and our purpose in life, we are going to shift gears and talk about the “how.” In other words, […]

  5. […] life, you have to know your “why.” Life is difficult, and full of ups and downs. Whatever your goal is, there will be pain, struggle, […]

  6. […] provides the energy for change. It’s your “why.” Why do you want to lose weight and get in shape? What do you want at the end of it all? What do you […]

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