How to find your purpose
David Hieatt on how purpose drives the work that you do
Find your love.
For me, the most important brands in the world make you feel something. They do that because they have something they want to change. And as customers, we want to be part of that change.
These companies feel human. The founders tell us how the world could be. They bare their soul to us.
These companies have a reason to exist over and above just making a profit: They have a purpose.
Yes, we admire the product they make. But the thing we love the most about them is the change they are making.
We love purpose-driven brands.
Sane people quit.
Starting a business is hard. You’ll work like a crazy thing and have to sustain that over a long period of time. Poor pay. Terrible hours. Tons of stress. Any normal, rational person would quit. And that’s what happens. When things get tough, and there will be a point when they do, sane people quit.
But purpose-driven entrepreneurs are different. They fall in love with the change they are making, so have to find a way to make it work. Their love stops them quitting. Love makes them persevere.
Love blinkers them to all the worry and stress. And it’s their purpose that fuels that love.
Draw three circles.
Here’s an exercise to help find your purpose. First, draw three circles.
In the first circle write what you love doing; in the second circle write your skill; and in the third one write what the zeitgeist is.
My Love: Does it matter to you? Have you shown an interest in it from an early age?
My Skill: What is it I am good at? And will this startup use my skills fully?
The Zeitgeist*: What have you seen before all the others?
*A trend is the latest fashion, but it may just fade away. A zeitgeist is a shift that will stay shifted.
Where these three circles overlap is where you’re most alive. If I were you, I would start a company that lives in this intersection too. Because the chances of success are greater there. The chances of it making real change are greater. And the chance of it being more fun are greater there too.
David Hieatt is not a theorist. He has built brands from nothing with next to nothing just by understanding a few basic rules. After leaving Saatchi and Saatchi, he built howies into one of the most influential active sports brands in recent years. After selling it to Timberland, he co-founded The Do Lectures, which takes place each year in West Wales. More recently he started Hiut Denim Co in his home town of Cardigan. A town that used to have Britain’s biggest jeans factory. Hiut Denim’s purpose is to get 400 people their jobs back.
Extract from Do Purpose: Why brands with a purpose do better and matter more. by david hieatt. Copyright © 2014 by David Hieatt. Published by The Do Book Co.
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