Finding your purpose

Purpose is a funny thing that only comes from conscious beings.

I never thought much about purpose before three years ago. I lived my life, tried to be good to others and pursued my goals.

But then something happened on the way to death. I realized that one day there would be a knock on the door and I would no longer be here.

The urgency of creating something of extreme value became important. I was looking for my purpose. I didn't want to live a wasted life.

Not that I was looking for fame. I wanted to be able to laugh on my deathbed knowing I had accomplished something important in my time here.

In my first year of business school, we learned about the importance of mission statements.

I translated what I learned from business into a personal mission statement.

And I missed the point badly.

The reason for the mistake is businesses don't understand mission statements. Follow someone who doesn't know what they're doing and you'll end up in the same ditch, eventually.

As this was swirling in my head, I decided to open another restaurant. Again I wrestled with purpose and mission of this new business. It bothered me. I was supposed to have these answers for clients and I couldn't even come up with them for myself.

One sleepless night, while thinking about purpose, mission and trying to figure out what I stood for, I came to the realization that I did not have the answer. I had to seek it out from others.

Then I was enlightened by a brilliant nine year old, who just happens to be my son.

I asked my kids what the purpose of this new business was going to be. My ten year confirmed what most would say, "It's about making money".

Then my nine year old, who LOVES money, articulated so clearly why it couldn't be about money. I have been trying to tell businesses for years why money could not be the purpose. And he told us in a couple of sentences why businesses fail.

To put this into context, my nine year old doesn't do very well in school. He loves money. He counts his birthday and Christmas money at least three times per week. We've had to take away his wallet because he would roll around in it if we would let him. When I say, he loves money, I mean he LOVES money. Every winking moment, he thinks about, associates it to things and wants more of it.

But here's what he told his sister and I that morning around the breakfast table.
"It can't be about money. It will make you look selfish. No one wants to buy anything from someone who is selfish".

And there it was. The answer I was looking for. In the lack of a real purpose, people and businesses are thought to be SELFISH. In a selfish transaction, it's a dog eat dog world.

You want my money, what are you giving me in return.
Where's the discount?
Give me what I want and I will give you what you want.

That's simple transactional buying. It's the biggest pitfalls most businesses fall into.
And it can be avoided by existing on purpose.

I walk into my favourite coffeeshop and I don't know their purpose.
The default is to make money.
The default is selfish.

I go to buy a car or a sofa. The business talks about how it's going to save me money.
I'm not dumb. I know my savings are translated into profits for the seller.
Now I want a bigger discount.
I will price shop because no one is taking care of me, but me.
SELFISH

The opposite of SELFISH is GENEROSITY.

What are you generous with?
Time, Money, Education, Happiness, etc?
How do you promote them in your life or in your business.

So there it is. This new business will stand for generosity. It will be a giving corporation. It will take care of its employees, its customers, its community.

I'll share more about Generosity as it relates to marketing in my next blog.