Put your purpose at the top of your CV

How often have you heard that it’s important to know your purpose? With Socrates suggesting some 2500 years ago that we should all ‘know thyself’, the idea of living a purposeful life is as old as time.

Have you spent much time reflecting on why you exist? Or why you go to work? Beyond the personal financial rewards and social benefits of being part of a tribe, there is a deeper aspect of our careers that is often overlooked. Why we work.

A purpose is a simple statement, that encapsulates your big why. It helps you get out of bed on a morning with natural gusto for the day ahead, and knowing yours, has many benefits. Defining my own purpose in 2002, was an interesting creative process that helped me launch my leadership development business and since then I’ve had the privilege to help many others also connect with theirs.

In our society, we have focussed great emphasis on the tangible aspects of our work, (qualifications, experience, income, roles, responsibilities, titles etc). And we’ve placed much less attention on the intangibles (purpose, meaning, soul, heart, values). It’s understandable because employers need means to recruit the right people for their roles and then keep them willfully employed during their time in the business. Are we perhaps missing some deeper part of our work that could bring more spirit into our workplaces? I would say so.

When you get aligned with your purpose, old aspects of your work that no longer serve you often drop away, to make way for better opportunities that do. Naturally occurring synchronicities happen more frequently, and if you have the courage to explore them, you’ll start seeing a more true pathway through your career emerge before your eyes.

I was recently asked by Robert Half Recruitment to offer some suggestions about how people can change their careers to be more aligned with their purpose. You can watch the movie here and get in touch with me if you’d like to explore how you can bring more purpose into your career.