CHAPTER 8 Discover your purpose

‘Martin wanted to serve, and the best place to do that was in the South … He could have stayed at the seminary [after completing his studies]. But he knew what he needed to do.'

DR CORY (CT) VIVIAN, TELLING ME ABOUT HIS FRIEND DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

A conversation about purpose

Ileana mentioned in an email that she was in a time of transition and searching for the next steps in her life and career. She recognised that a tendency to say yes to too many good things could be a distraction.

‘When you open the door to opportunity,' she wrote, ‘you never know what is going to happen. I am looking for a specific opportunity, but other opportunities are showing up … so what to do? Should I consider them? Ignore them? Every opportunity could be a good one … or not'.

Ileana's words expressed what I frequently hear and observe. There are so many roads you can choose that it becomes hard to take the first step, and harder still to remain on the chosen path since there are just so many opportunities. How can you make a choice when all of them are full of promise?

I asked her the only question that can provide a solution.

‘Big question: what is your purpose in life?' ...

Get Humanise: Why Human-Centred Leadership is the Key to the 21st Century now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.