Discovering Purpose and Passion Planning Guide

What is your calling? What are you meant to do? Answer this question effectively, and you
won’t have a job. You’ll have a career full of uplifting and fulfilling experiences. I fully recognize
that this is a tough topic to tackle. So, let’s start very simply. Where are you right now?

The best way to gain clarity and forward motion thinking about your purpose is activity working
on it. You have to spend time regularly thinking, writing, and talking about it. The more you
make working on this issue normal, the faster you make progress.

Here’s an assignment to get you moving. What is your life philosophy? This is a statement about
how you approach life. Write it down in 50-100 words. There is no perfect answer. Yours might
include something about your values, behaviors you believe in, aspirational goals, etc. Your
philosophy might change over time, but the point is to start clarifying where you are now. Just
to make you think, here’s mine:

I strive to live with kindness, curiosity, and gratitude. I want to continue evolving and growing my
entire life. I believe in maximizing what I’m capable of, helping others, taking smart risks, and
finding reasons to laugh. I openly embrace the full spectrum of human characteristics from
confidence and humility to strength and vulnerability. I love being an educator, but mostly I just
want to be a decent human and live a life that matters.

Now it’s your turn – start writing! Do it. Edit it later, then edit again. You’ll end up changing it
later, and that’s okay too. The point is to strive for clarity about what matters to you. This
provides you with a vital reference point for judging your professional pursuits.

When you look at what you do and how you spend your time professionally, how well do those
things fulfill the ideals stated in your philosophy? Typically, the answer is never that your
professional activities perfectly fulfill all of the ideals you wrote about. Just keep this simple. If
you consider your professional life, look at your philosophy, and feel that you’re meeting a lot of
those ideals or are clearly making progress in covering more and more of them – you’re doing
great! However, if you make the comparison and see that you’re not covering hardly any of them
at all – you’ve got work to do.

Maybe it’s time to change your skillset, your role, your job, your employer, or your vocation.
Don’t be rash but continue to explore the very specific steps you should take to help you find a
next move that provides more purpose and passion.

Now, with your philosophy in mind, let’s focus further and get specific about actual goals. Think
one year, five years, and ten years out. Like your philosophy, these might shift a bit over time,
but probably won’t change radically. Be specific. Common places to begin thinking might look
like these: graduate college, find two mentors, work for a technology company, get a promotion,

TODD DEWETT, Ph. D.

drdewett.com
become a leader, start a business. The more you strive to articulate what success might look like
for you, the more likely you are to be successful.

Next steps – make all of these issues part of regular journaling and reflection. Start
conversations about these issues with relevant others: best friend, partner, HR or L&D partner.
Consider a formal coaching or career advisor.

It’s never too late to make a change and move closer to your purpose, but it does require action
and commitment to start gaining more clarity – get moving!

TODD DEWETT, Ph. D.

drdewett.com