A Brief Guide to Crafting Your Purpose

Four videos addressing our current crisis of meaning

We are living through a crisis of purpose. That conviction, and my own questions about living a life of meaning—a flourishing life—led me to publish The HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose last year.

For On Purpose readers, I wanted to introduce four videos laying out the basic concepts in the book. these were recorded for a Christian organization so contain brief elements of faith, but encapsulate the basic concepts in a way I think relevant to anyone.

First, and most basically, I believe most of us hold three fundamental myths about purpose, and learning to break down those myths (that purpose is found, that it’s a single thing, and that it is stable over time) will free us to experience a greater tapestry of meaning at work and in our personal lives.

Second, once we realize that purpose is built not found, we can focus on crafting greater meaning in our work. We can do this by crafting our jobs, making work a craft, building positive relationships, and focusing on service to others.

Third, we can deep dive on the service elements of our jobs by focusing on six key constituencies we can serve each day. I call this the 4C2P framework: customers, colleagues, capital, community, partners, and people we love.

Finally, knowing that purpose is not a single thing but the rich tapestry of meaning in which we can wrap our entire lives, there are six areas I think each of us should monitor to assure we are maximizing the purpose we experience at work and at home. I abbreviate this LABORS: love, avocations, beauty, occupation, religion or philosophy, and service.

There’s much more in the book, but my hope is these videos can help anyone (with 20 minutes to watch them!) rethink the purpose in their lives and recommit to lives of happiness, hope, and flourishing.