6 July 2022
Before beginning this blog, I reviewed the online list of past blogs figuring this subject had been addressed—and that I had better pick up where the last one left off. But it hasn’t been written so here goes!
“Purpose, n. 1. The object toward which one strives or for which something exists; goal; aim…3. Determination; resolution...from Latin...to put forward, propose” (Morris, 1975, p. 1062).
It is intriguing to see the first definition begin with a singular term rather than “A series of objects...” That singularity implies importance and prominence within a human being’s hierarchy of values. Up to now, my tacit assumption has been that one’s purpose underlies one’s values, acting as the criterion with which values are tested and selected.
As an example, let’s take a young person who has an outstanding talent for playing soccer. This talent is recognized early and brings enormous satisfaction to its owner, so her purpose becomes to play soccer at the highest possible level. Her values fall neatly into line with that purpose: related exercise and drills; supportive nutrition; playing with as many different—and better—players as possible; and being a valued, contributing team player. As soccer will fall away if she fails at school, succeeding in her studies etc. become tertiary, supportive, and/or corollary goals.
This is mildly interesting because a natural hierarchy is emerging: purpose, chosen values, and supportive goals. It is also predictable that as our soccer player ages, both her purpose and the resultant values and goals will change. [And...after I wrote these words, I turned to a related reference article (Strecher & Quinn, 2022) and saw Viktor Frankl’s name. Frankl’s name reminded me that purpose was previously discussed in this blog (Choosing Victimhood, 20 January – 3 February 2021).]
One of the questions Strecher asked Quinn was about the benefits of purpose during times of crises, such times being well known to those in recovery. The essence of the answer is that purpose is more important during hard times than good times. Quinn quoted a man who had grown up in desperate straits until his grandmother found a way for the lad to acquire an education. That lad, now a grown man replied that, “...purpose gives you hope. Without purpose, you really have nothing. Purpose helps you think about what you could be. It helps me care about what I care about the most.”
That quote reveals two things: 1) that identifying and naming a purpose is essential to an integrated hierarchy of values and, 2) that we are ends-based (teleological) creatures i.e., we function best when in pursuit of clear ends. Those ends/goals can change. Some fail to be met, some are attained, but both are secondary to values which are secondary to purpose.
Strecher & Quinn’s (2022) article was written as a commentary on the role of purpose during a crisis, such as the pandemic. The upshot was that when a crisis arises, those with purpose already have a rudder allowing them to guide and course-correct their actions more swiftly and decisively than those without the rudder of purpose.
To wind this up, it may be helpful to look at how purpose is used in day-to-day life. Strecher was quoted as stating that purpose alone is insufficient. “It’s being purposeful. You start acquiring greater agency, self-efficacy, and consciousness about ‘what do I care about?’” (Strecher & Quinn, 2022, p. 2, Italics original). This makes sense but I would have placed the italics on being.
Agency is the ability to act on choices. Self-efficacy is the effectiveness of those actions i.e., are they moving toward or away from my desired destination? But the self-reinforcing component is the changed consciousness. If you start caring more about your own purpose and values, you gain focus and, with focus, more accuracy. This is very much in keeping with Clark’s (2016) notion of the human brain as a “prediction machine” (Kaufman 2020, p. 9 after Clark, 2016). As your consciousness changes, and your focus gains precision, your ability to predict accurately and more quickly increases your efficacy. Kind of cool.
Next week we’ll look at some preconditions of having a purpose i.e., what factors prevent people from identifying and pursuing their own purpose?
Dan Chalykoff is working toward an M.Ed. in Counselling Psychology and accreditation in Professional Addiction Studies. He writes these blogs to increase (and share) his own evolving understandings of ideas. Since 2017, he has facilitated two voluntary weekly group meetings of SMART Recovery. Please email him (danchalykoff@hotmail.com) to be added to or removed from the Bcc’d emailing list.
References
Clark, A. (2016). Surfing Uncertainty: Prediction, action, and the embodied mind. Oxford University Press.
Kaufman, S. B. (2020). Transcend: The new science of self-actualization. TarcherPerigee Books.
Morris, W. (Ed.) (1975). The Heritage illustrated dictionary of the English language. American Heritage Publishing Co, Inc.
Strecher, V. & Quinn, R. E. (2022, March 2). Can Purpose Help Us in Hard Times? Positive Links Speaker Series, University of Michigan’s Center for Positive Organizations.
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