9. Connect to your work
Purpose often lives at the intersection of what the world needs and what skills you possess, and the Japanese concept of “ikigai”adds two variables to the equation, according to Chip Conley, founder of Modern Elder Academy and author ofLearning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better With Age. Picture a Venn diagram with four overlapping circles, he suggests. One circle is what the world needs, and another is what you’re good at; the two remaining circles are what you love and what you can be paid to do. Your purpose is what fits in the middle of all four. Though each of ikigai’s pillars is important, the notion of compensation could be particularly potent. “One’s purpose doesn’t have to be found at work … but a recent McKinsey & Co. survey found that 70 percent of people said that their primary sense of purpose is defined by their work,” Conley notes. “Individuals with a connection to purpose in the workplace feel more fulfilled, are more engaged, more productive and report more fulfilling work relationships.” If you’re working, find ways to reconnect with your job’s inherent value, or consider looking for an employer whose mission you support. If you’re retired, think about how you could start a business or work part-time in ways that allow you to be compensated for your unique skills and contributions.
Illustration by Sam Island
10. Create something
People who make art may experience pleasure and better moods, feeling less stress and anxiety.A 2017 study involving more than 23,000 British participants found that people who regularly made art were happier and had better mental health compared with those who didn’t.It stands to reason, then, that a good place to look for purpose might be on a canvas, on a pottery wheel or in the lens of a camera. “Artistic expression can be very purposeful,” Cole says. “When you talk to artists, they’re speaking something that they see, and speaking inherently connects us to other human beings.” If it doesn’t give your life purpose, art can at least give your day purpose.
11. Think short-term (and long-term)
A 2020 study in the journal Science determined that dopamine — a neurotransmitter that’s responsible for feelings of pleasure, motivation and reward — plays an important role in the decision to pursue difficult tasks by influencing the brain to focus more on benefits than costs.With that in mind, it’s important that people seeking purpose choose attainable goals that can satisfy their dopamine cravings by delivering fast and frequent wins in the short term. “When we look at a person who has a lot of purpose in their everyday life, or someone who is pursuing something that they care about, we can look at their biology and see a lot of activity in the brain systems that are responsible for value, hoping, seeking and wanting,” Cole says. “Purpose, as I think about it, is whatever activates that dopamine-rich brain circuit.” Goals shouldn’t be too easy, because if you accomplish them too quickly, you’ll find yourself purposeless again in a heartbeat. To realize the benefits of having purpose, you need to stay engaged in that purpose for years, not months, Cole points out. For that reason, he says, the best-case scenario is to choose as your purpose a destination that you can easily move toward but probably never reach. “That’s the trick. Find something where the work will never be done but where the work will never happen if you don’t do it.”
12. Read poetry
In 2023, British researchers discovered a surprising source of well-being: poetry. In a study funded by the U.K.’s Arts and Humanities Research Council of 400 people who used poetry as a coping mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers concluded that reading and/or writing poetry can help people deal with feelings of loneliness or isolation and can reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.Poetry isn’t just good for mental health. It’s also good for finding purpose, says Nancy McGaw, author of Making Work Matter: How to Create Positive Change in Your Company and Meaning in Your Career. As a senior adviser of the Aspen Institute Business & Society Program, she helps business leaders find purpose in their work, and one of her favorite exercises is reading poetry. “It slows you down,” explains McGaw, by forcing readers to take their time, to pause, to reflect and to think differently — all of which can foster an “aha” moment in those seeking purpose.
13. Look for leadership opportunities
Whether you’re working or retired, there’s a good chance that your career has given you a sense of purpose at various points in your life. If that’s the case, you might correlate purpose with productivity and professional advancement — the pinnacle of which is leadership. But climbing the corporate ladder isn’t the only way to be a leader. “Leadership doesn’t always mean having a group of people who report to you,” observes McGaw, who says leadership isn’t about having control but about having influence. “Even people who are not working anymore can influence others to achieve goals or be their best selves.”If you derive purpose from having influence, look for leadership opportunities wherever they exist — philanthropic organizations, community groups or even condo boards.
14. Clarify your values
Purpose requires prioritization, Kashdan says, suggesting it can be helpful to create a set of values. “If you had to list what are the fundamental values that you live by, what would they be? You might list things like compassion, caring for other people or your physical health,” he says. “You have to understand what values are prominent in your life, what values are important to you but not prominent, and what values are basically irrelevant to you.” Research has shown that students who remind themselves what their core values are — by spending as little as 10 minutes writing about them, for example — can experience prolonged academic achievement.You can turn values into purpose by making them actionable, says behavioral scientist Vic Strecher, a professor at the University of Michigan and author of Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything. “Write down what matters most to you and add the word ‘be’ at the beginning,” suggests Strecher, who says someone who writes down “grandchildren” as important might turn that into “I’m here to be a really good grandparent.” “That helps you form a purpose,” he says.
Illustration by Sam Island
15. Tell your stories
For 40 years, social psychologist James Pennebaker has been studying the benefits of “expressive writing” — writing about emotional experiences as a form of therapy.His research and hundreds of derivative studies have found that people who write about their most traumatic experiences are happier and healthier. They enjoy lower blood pressure; stronger immune systems; less stress, anxiety and depression; better sleep; and superior focus.Expressive writing teacher Allison Fallon, author ofThe Power of Writing It Down: A Simple Habit to Unlock Your Brain and Reimagine Your Life, says,“Writing your stories … forces you to think about yourself as the hero of your story.” Fallon says heroes face adversity and overcome it, often transforming in the process. “If you’re the hero in your story and you’re in the process of transforming, what is your life transformation all about? Who are you becoming? When you write your stories, you have to answer those questions to uncover what’s called a through line — what the hero’s story is all about. When you uncover that through line, it gives you clarity of purpose.”
16. Mine your grief
Strecher’s personal quest to find purpose began after the sudden death of his 19-year-old daughter from a heart attack. During a period of deep depression, he had a moment that he describes as his daughter’s spirit urging him to overcome his grief. Rattled, he set to work making a list of all the things that mattered in his life — such as his students.“I decided I was going to teach every student as if they were my daughter. … And when that happened, my teaching changed completely,” he recalls. “I started teaching with my heart rather than just my head. The duty of teaching and the pleasure of teaching merged, and suddenly there was no difficulty in it. It became a complete joy. And it became what I realized was a purpose.” Strecher says he now recognizes grief as an opportunity to turn something lost into something gained. “It could be a divorce, the loss of a job, the loss of a loved one, illness. We all go through things. And if we can just think about those tragedies as transitions, it can help us repurpose our lives.”
17. Seek civic engagement
Purpose and belonging can supercharge each other, Serrano says. “When one has a strong sense of life purpose and direction and is among others who share those goals, it is likely that they will feel a deeper sense of belonging. … Relatedly, when one feels high belonging in any life setting, they are better equipped to direct energy toward tackling big challenges.” A 2023 report from the Center for Inclusion and Belonging titled “The Belonging Barometer: The State of Belonging in America” found that belonging is associated with increased civic engagement and trust — in neighbors, in local government and in institutions. Unfortunately, trust, social engagement and belonging are trending downward. More than half of Americans report a lack of connection to their neighborhood.“Civic engagement can look so many different ways — from serving on a jury to volunteering as a poll worker, participating in a public forum or even serving in an elected or appointed office, among others,” Serrano says.
18. Solve a problem
Find “something that agitates you,” Conley suggests.This is how the world’s best inventions often come to be. People who were concerned with the fire risk posed by candles and oil lamps found solace in light bulbs, for example. People who hated throwing spoiled food away were delighted by refrigeration. And people who were exasperated by encyclopedias and libraries were among the first to celebrate the internet. Those and countless other innovations would not exist without people who recognized problems and dedicated their lives to solving them. That’s not to say you need to become an inventor. You might find purpose by devoting yourself to something that irks you. If you’re bothered by litter, clean up your neighborhood. If you’re irritated by people’s lack of manners, teach etiquette classes. If you’re vexed by high food prices, start a community garden.
