Happiness comes from feeling you have purpose.
Your purpose, to put it bluntly, is to serve others. The path you take in service of others, well, that depends on you – your talents, interests, and desires.
Social scientists, spiritual practices, celebrities, and psychologists all seem to come to this same conclusion. I know because I love this topic and have spent a lot of time researching and reflecting on finding one’s purpose.
Ready for more? Let’s dive in.
Social Scientists: Maslow
Did you know that Maslow modified his famous Hierarchy of Needs in the last year of his life?
He changed the pinnacle of his pyramid from self-actualization to self-transcendence. Instead of seeing the ultimate goal as being about the self – that is, your self-actualization – he realized that humankind’s purpose is really about serving others, which is how he defined self-transcendence.
Finding fulfilling work is important because it leads to what we’re meant to do – serve the greater good for the betterment of humanity.
Spiritual Practices: Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity
Hindus call the state of transcendence articulated by Maslow Samadhi, Buddhists call it Nirvana while Christians refer to transcendence through the Resurrection. More modern teachers like Eckhart Tolle and Marianne Williamson use different terminology like spacious awareness and return to love. Abraham-Hicks describes transcendence through the lens of alignment.
Transcendence places us beyond ourselves into the service of others.
Through transcendence, we come to know who we are and how we’re meant to serve. As the writer Julia Cameron puts it in a short prayer from Faith and Will: “How can I best serve Thee? Thy will be done. And please keep me out of the way!”
Celebrities: Arnold Schwarzenegger
We’re meant to work, to Be Useful, as Schwarzenegger says. “We are all connected,” he explains, then further describes how you feel useful when you serve others. He sees usefulness (and self-sufficiency) as the primary tools to fight unhappiness. Put simply, you live your purpose by giving back and paying it forward.
Psychologists: Adler
Adler describes happiness as the feeling of contribution. Specifically, happiness comes from feeling “I am beneficial to the community” or “I am of use to someone.” This is what purpose is about. By shifting from attachment to self to concern for others, our resulting service to others gives us a gift too: “harmony of life.”
Pulling it All Together
You’ve heard varied perspectives on finding your purpose. While the wording may differ, the concepts do not.
Now, let’s shift to route guidance.
Route Guidance
When clients approach me for career assistance, often because they are seeking more fulfilling work or because they feel dissatisfied, what they’re really asking for is help in finding their purpose.
Like you, they seek purpose because they want to feel happy. Happy people feel good. Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to be happy?
The pursuit of happiness, then, is linked with living in alignment with your purpose. And, as I said, your purpose can be simplified to one thing: service to others.
The magic is figuring out how YOU want to serve others.
Let me save you some time and potential heartache by identifying your purpose for you. Here it is, one more time. You are here to serve others.
Remember, you are part of a bigger story. The world needs your contributions for the story arc’s success.
Find what you’re meant to do. Feel happiness through service to others.