Plan your route
Discover your where, discover your why.
Think.
As Viktor Frankl said: “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”
For the next several weeks, we’ll dig into the idea of Purpose (Line of Effort—4.)
I think of purpose as the strategic objective of a military operation.
It’s where you are going.
It’s the reason you’re here.
The thing worth fighting for.
Without an objective, there is no reason to leave friendly lines; without a purpose, there is no reason to get out of bed.
When I first codified my thought on the 6 Lines of Effort this one was initially termed Passion/Purpose.
I’ve removed Passion because I think it confuses the issue. We can be passionate about something one minute and it can fade the next. Passion can lead us to overindulge or rush into situations without forethought.
Many of us have been told so often to “follow our passion” that it can lead to ‘passion paralysis.’ That is, a fear of getting it wrong that prevents action.
Purpose on the other hand is more practical. What have you been put on this earth to do?
Purpose is the thing or things you would do if you didn’t have to do anything.
Hopefully, it is a thing that brings out the virtues we talked about last week:
Pursuit of Meaning, and Value
Self-Sacrifice for the Greater Good
Simon Sinek has famously talked about the imperative of ‘finding your why.’
Perhaps it’s semantics, but I believe in finding your ‘where’.
Once we know where we are going, we can determine where we are in relation to it, how far we have to travel. Then we can start to plan a route to get there.
The beauty of this is that by following our azimuth and keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the horizon, as long as we keep paying attention, it is hard to get off course.
And if we do, we can remember what Friedrich Nietzsche said:
“To forget one’s purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.”
Read. Rick Wilson’s Substack
By:
On the men of Operation Overlord and their purpose
Write.
This week I received a few early copies of my book from Simon & Schuster. It looks good. Do yourself (and me) a favor and pick one up.
Repeat.
Words of wisdom from those who said it best.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
– Picasso
If you enjoyed this week’s T.R.W.R., please consider sharing it with a friend. If you want to enjoy the extra benefits and support my writing, consider becoming a paying member.
See you next Thursday!
Viktor Frankl should be required reading in high school. Simply amazing.
The find your "Why" cliche causes my eye to twitch... Every sales guru pitched this at some point in their sales career.