Unlocking Your Purpose: The Key to Sustained Motivation and Success

Most people start a business or pursue a career path for a specific reason - some because they want freedom, others because they want to provide value to others, while others may have started down a pathway because they saw an opportunity to make money. Whatever the reason may be it’s important to know without intrinsic purpose, it is difficult to stay motivated. Here are key factors that will help create motivation when the external motivation runs dry.

Your Why:

This is the big why - it’s a statement that defines your raison d’etre. It is usually a personal statement that connects with you. Not only should your why statement cover why your business exists or why you do what you do, but also how it inspires you and makes you feel. Having a powerful why will motivate you even when external motivators are lacking.

Your Vision and Mission:

Whether the vision and mission for yourself or the company - it’s important to be clear about what they are. Your vision and mission will give you a place to stand. The vision defines a moment in time in the future that exists because you did what did and because of the difference you made. A vision can be short term, such as 5 or 10 years or longer term, such as a lifespan for an individual or 100 years for a business. A vision allows for a legacy to emerge from the work you are doing.

A mission is a promise to the world - it's like a deliverable. What are you or your company promising the world that you will make good on? Having a powerful mission that makes a big, bold promise allows for individuals and companies to step up to the challenge and it can be a great way to provide motivation and purpose to keep going.

Clearly defined mission and vision are important because they allow the individual or company to place themselves in the world specially when things get tough.

Your Values:

Everyone has intrinsic values whether they are clearly defined for themselves or not. It’s important to figure out what those values are and get clear about whether they want to keep them or create a new set of values. For example someone may have the value of accommodation and they realize that they do so much for others they may want to create a new value for themselves of assertiveness. It’s important to take a little time and get clear about what your values are.

Values are important because, when an individual's work or business aligns with their personal values, they are more likely to feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment. They will not get easily rattled if someone tries to lead them down a different pathway.

These are some key factors that will keep you motivated and on purpose. In addition to the above factors, a few other things that are important are getting recognition or a sense of accomplishment, knowing you are making a difference, and a feeling of belonging. Create your why, vision, mission and values to get started on the pathway to success. And whenever you feel a loss of purpose or motivation read these statements to remind yourself of why you are doing what you are doing.