The Purpose Within

If you are a regular receiver of the Winner’s Circle Network, or if you are familiar with the work of The Pacific Institute, you know that we believe a strong sense of purpose is important – in fact it is vital to fulfilling the promise of the potential that resides in all of us.

Purpose, or contribution beyond self – often for the good of a community of others – provides a not-so-subtle boost to our self-image or self-worth. It’s an internal boost, because we are not relying on others to validate our purpose. So, the challenge becomes to not make the mistake of confusing purpose with worth, as many do who are continually looking outside themselves to feel worthy.

When you determine your personal worth by your job, career, family, social position, income or appearance, you create a dilemma for yourself. The dilemma is that you must constantly work for approval, love, acceptance and control, in order to feel worthy.

If you lose your job, or your children grow up and leave home, or you retire and begin to look and feel older, you may find yourself feeling worthless or even depressed. You can spend a lifetime looking outside yourself to feel worthy. The truth is, all we really need to do is look within.

Every human being is worthy, simply because she or he exists. And because we exist, we have opportunity in every second of every day to find and fulfill the promise of purpose. You see, we want to look within to find our purpose and then look outside for ways to express it.

A sense of purpose will help you live a more satisfying life, but always remember that you give meaning to what you do – what you do does not give meaning to you.