Are you looking for what I refer to as your "True North," the place where you gravitate to experience the feeling of Flow, of being in the Zone? Do you want your next act, when you leave your mid-years' career, to be a time when you truly connect with your passions, your values, your mission? I've written in these posts for years now about how we have the opportunity to experience 30 or so bonus years, years our parents couldn't depend upon (even if they did live long lives, like my grandmother who lived until 101). Do you want to make those years as fulfilling as possible?
I read a book lately that is germane to this topic, even though it's written for an audience of organizational leaders. The Purpose Linked Organization: How Passionate Leaders Inspire Winning Teams and Great Results, written by Alaina Love and Marc Cugnon, co-founders of Purpose Linked Consulting (www.thepurposelink.com).They wrote: “Purpose is the driver that propels us through life and gives meaning to our daily existence … Without purpose, and its outward expression through our passions, life becomes a series of unconnected activities that do not lead to a sense of fulfillment and joy so vital to our well-being.” The book includes access to a tool called a Passion Profiler TM, which tells us our top 3 Passion Archetypes; mine are: Transformer, Teacher, and Healer. The Transformer, which is the way I see my passion and purpose as a Life and Career Coach, is described as someone who is a change agent, who identifies and embraces possibilities, and can see the full potential of what can be and will gravitate toward it. The Transformer is passionate about facilitating change. That’s me to a “T.” These are the things I take from this compelling book: 1. Once we enter the path of finding one's purpose and passion, we are much more independent and capable of finding a way to express it in any domain of our lives. It's always there for us to access. We don't have to wait to find just the right combination of circumstances. 2. It is a process that takes mental, emotional, and spiritual energy and focus. Many of us don't have the discipline to do it on our own. Find a partner, coach, support or mastermind group. 3. If we really want our lives to be stupendous, we can create work or other experiences where our passion archetype is valued, where we are chosen because of it and the organization needs just exactly what we have to offer. Now, that is bliss. See a longer version of this article and book review at my column on "Meaning and Purpose" at WorkForce50. And comment by clicking the button below to contribute to this topic: e.g., what do you imagine is your "Passion Archetype," what really drives and motivates you?
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