WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?
Focused Efforts Yield Growth
Prior to our current shutdown, I was lucky to have spent time with my family in Nebraska, which included attending my grandfather’s 90th birthday celebration. The celebration was attended by hundreds of people spanning numerous generations, with enough food to feed a small army.
Before breaking bread and cutting one of the three cakes, the local Pastor delivered a beautiful toast acknowledging the importance of the occasion and highlighting what makes my grandfather (Bob) so special: his unwavering sense of purpose.
The Pastor noted: “for nearly half a century he has watched Bob approach each day with meaning. Bob’s actions and words inspire others and create a movement in which people follow.”
Reflecting on these heartwarming words, it made me think: “he’s definitely on to something!” This is particularly true in our personal & work-related hurdles we now face. Indeed, we are notoriously bad communicators and often lack any sense of purpose in what we set out to do.
Two things dawned on me after hearing those words and living in our world today:
We need to have meaning in our everyday work tasks, including purpose behind each interaction;
We should rethink how we use certain methods of communication, such as email.
WHY?
We constantly feel stressed and complain as if we never have enough time. A major component of that, however, is the way we communicate via email: perpetual strings of unintentional words that distract us from what needs to be done. Instead, we should focus more on having purposeful interactions and ask:
What do we want to accomplish from this interaction?
How will we reach that objective? &
What are each individual’s action items to hit our target?
If we put down our phones to actually listen and incorporate this kind of purpose into our daily lives, we will increase our overall happiness and feel better connected to others. This will allow us to work less and have time for MORE. More family. More moments. More thoughts. More laughs. More REAL connections. And more importantly, more birthday cakes- like Grandpa Bob.