Finding Your One True Purpose

I used to believe that we all have one true purpose. Two years into my first job after college I started feeling restless, and I wracked my brain trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I knew I was becoming increasingly passionate about issues related to women and girls. I also knew that I wanted a career that had meaning. I was tired of planning community service events for my firm and volunteering in my freetime, so I assumed that meant I needed to build a nonprofit career.

What I hadn’t realized yet is that this was only the beginning.

My passion for women and girls jumpstarted my career search and led me to my first nonprofit job. Exposure to the nonprofit sector combined with my love for reading about social innovation in HBR and Stanford Social Innovation Review led me to business school. And my plan is for business school to take me on a fun ride in marketing and product management for socially conscious brands.

That’s a long way from where I thought I’d be, yet I get more and more excited everyday about it.

As I throw myself into new experiences my perspectives continue to evolve. It’s 100% natural. I imagine that my thoughts, opinions and values will continue to evolve for the rest of my life, and therefore so will my purpose.

So instead of constantly focusing on discovering the “thing” I’m called to do with my life, I’ve chosen to go where my heart leads me and have impact every step of the way.

Photo source: Susan NYC