Why You Should Find A Purpose
“What matters is to find a purpose, to see what it really is that God wills that I shall do; the crucial thing is to find a truth which is truth for me, to find the idea for which I am willing to live and die.” — Søren Kierkegaard
Friedrich Nietzsche once said that, “If we have our own why in life, we shall get along with almost any how.” Given that he suffered major health-problems for the most of his life, it makes sense that he came to this conclusion — through his own experience with suffering.
Although Nietzsche’s life ended in a tragic way, losing most of his mental faculties and then slowly went on to die, he was able to produce an exceptional body of work. He had a strong why to his existence; and he was able to endure the suffering through the purpose of his work.
I’ve always found the notion of purpose to be a bit elusive. In a sense, it was what Nietzsche’s ‘why’ was describing. I also believe that Paulo Coelho’s ‘Personal Legend’ does the same.
“To realize one’s Personal Legend is a person’s only real obligation.” — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
To complicate things even further, descriptions like ‘a dream’, ‘one’s destiny’, and ‘a meaningful goal’, are all, in a sense, describing the same underlying phenomenon; a purpose.
But what exactly is it? To avoid any confusion from now on, we’ll settle on a suiting definition: A purpose is a meaningful and intentional pursuit.
Through The Chaos
One of the central ideas of Jordan Peterson, the now famous Canadian psychologist, is the concept of order and chaos. Simply put, the idea entails that: the unknown is chaos, and the human ability to organize that chaos is order.
To have a goal — a purpose — a ‘why’ that pulls you through the ‘how’, is to organize the world around you. Because, you see, as you’re moving through time, you’re also always going somewhere. And to have a purpose is to move through time in a meaningful way.
On the other hand, if you don’t have anywhere particular to go — if any option seems as good as any — then you‘re doomed to feel lost. Because without a purpose, you have no meaningful way through the chaos.
Nobody wants to live in chaos. Not involuntarily. However, if you go forthrightly into the future — through time—voluntarily with a purpose in mind, you’re carving out a pathway through the chaos.
To live this way is deeply meaningful.
The psychological literature clearly states that there’s a link between purpose and psychological well-being. Having a purpose — a meaningful pursuit in your life — acts as a buffer against stress, reduces negative emotion, and makes you more likely to engage in health-promoting behaviors. It even helps you sleep better at night!
A lack of purpose, on the other hand, is detrimental to your health; and depression, anxiety and meaninglessness can easily follow if you don’t have one.
“People who have a greater sense of meaning may be more likely to take care of themselves because they feel as if their lives matter more. They’ve got this ultimate purpose that they’re trying to achieve, and health is the foundation for being able to do that.” — Stephanie Hooker, Ph.D.
This is all good, but the crucial thing is to find your purpose.
What’s my purpose?
If you’re having trouble with finding your purpose, there’s really just one sensible solution to the problem: you just have to pick something. Because something is better than nothing; something is better than chaos.
If you have no clue at all, you just have to aim for something. Adjustments can always be done later.
But you have to start going somewhere — towards something you regard as having just a tiny bit of value. Then, as you go, you can adjust your goal whenever you’re acquiring more information (as you inevitable will as you move through time).
“If you pay attention, when you are seeking something, you will move towards your goal. More importantly, however, you will acquire the information that allows your goal itself to transform.” — Jordan Peterson
Conclusion
Despite that the word ‘purpose’ is slightly elusive, and perhaps even overused, it’s no less beneficial to have one.
To have a purpose is meaningful; it organizes the world as you move through time. Without one, you can easily fall pray to the chaos of the world.
To discover a purpose — a good one — you have to start with taking a step. You have to pick something, rather than nothing. You can always adjust later.
We started this article with a quote by Kierkegaard, and we’ll end it in the same manner:
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
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