Defining Purpose

Purpose is the sense of meaning and direction that comes from living in alignment with what matters most to you—your values, relationships, gifts, experiences, and the way you want to contribute in this season of life.

Purpose answers questions like:

What matters to me?
Why does what I do matter?
How do I want to show up in the world?
Who do I want to become?
What do I want my life to contribute?

Purpose can change its expression across seasons. Your purpose doesn't necessarily disappear when you leave a job, retire, experience a loss, change careers, or step away from a ministry. The role through which you expressed purpose may change.

For example, someone may have spent years expressing purpose through caring for others professionally. When that role ends, they may wonder, “If I'm not doing that anymore, what am I here for?” The transition becomes an opportunity to explore how the same values—compassion, connection, service, growth—might be expressed differently.

Purpose is not just what you do. Purpose is why it matters and how you choose to live it.

And perhaps even more simply:

Purpose is what gives meaning and direction to the way we live.

If you are in transition, you may not need to immediately find a new purpose. You may first need to reconnect with what matters, and from there begin discovering how purpose might be expressed in this new season.

How do you define purpose or what does purpose mean to you?

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October Newsletter

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