Page Title

A Lifestyle Rich in Purpose

January 4, 1999

(Talents + Passions + Environment) x Vision = Lifestyle Rich in Purpose

A "lifestyle rich in purpose" is the sum of:
* Your talents
-Skills that you truly enjoy expressing
-Abilities that come naturally, effortlessly, and spontaneously
-Abilities you can't remember learning because you've been doing them effortlessly,  
  and spontaneously for so long

* Your passion
-Problems you strongly feel need solving in the world
-Issues in which you'd love to be more involved
-Areas you obsess about or would like to learn more about
-Activities which reflect deep and consistent interests

* Your preferred environment
-The ideal work environment that would make it easiest or most comfortable for you to express your true talents and passions
-Place and style preferences (Most people get hired, fired, promoted, demoted, or find satisfaction based on their ability to align themselves with their environment)

* Your vision
-How do you see yourself putting it all together?
-How do you envision the hoped-for future and how is what you're doing now?
  getting you there?
-What does succeeding in the next year or more look like?

Lifestyle is an idealized vision of how we see ourselves living and working.  A lifestyle rich in purpose reflects a tremendous integration between who we are and what we're dong.  It fits Gandhi's admonishment to "be your message."  People who are on purpose like what they are doing and like where they are doing it.  Their lifestyles fit their idealized image or vision of themselves.  In the truest sense, they are simply being "who they are."  (Leider and Shapiro, 1995)

Reference:  Leider, R. J. & Shapiro, D. A. (1995).  Repacking your bags. p. 103 San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
As you begin the New Year, reflect on your personal and professional life and determine if you are living a life rich in purpose.

*  Repacking Your Bags is available on loan at the OSU Extension Leadership Center.  A listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~leaders

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Created: 2009-01-06, Updated: 2009-01-18