Second Calling: Life Purpose for Professionals at an Inflection Point

Knowing what purpose is, and how to define it, makes it easier to discover it. This mini-lesson identifies the five characteristics of purpose found in most definitions of it. It also contrasts purpose versus the larger concept of meaning.
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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

Can we find purpose in terrible situations that we can't change? If so, how?
Have you ever been sentenced to life in prison for murder? Me neither. But Quan Huynh was at age 23. In prison, he only wanted to establish a reputation as dangerous and to be feared. Then, in his eleventh year, something happened. Several circumstances prompted him to reevaluate his reason for being. He committed himself to living as purposely even single day, even if his legacy never left the prison yard. Eventually, he was paroled. Now he's living a deeply purposeful life helping others, including recently released prisoners.  
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• How purpose can be found even in antisocial behavior such as gang activities
• How reinterpreting our circumstances can change our whole life
• The power of creating a legacy where we're at
• The need to let go of other people's expectations for us
• The goodness in life that arises when we do the right thing

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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.

Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

Adolescence is a time of exploring the options that life gives us. This mini-lesson reviews research on how high-purpose adolescents found their way into deeply meaningful activities. It identifies three basic pathways by which this happens.
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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

Would you like to have more clarity about your purpose in life? Would you like to better understand the process of finding purpose?
Gabrielle Bosche is an expert on purpose. She has studied it. She has lived it. She helps others to find it. Along with her husband, Brian, she wrote the bestselling book The Purpose Factor. She has a wealth of knowledge that she shares about finding purpose. She brings a clarity of thought to what is often a murky subject. Her principles for finding purpose are both clear and actionable. 
In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Giving yourself permission to pursue purpose
• Why living our purpose usually requires lots of hard work
• Four key elements of finding purpose
• Why picking "who" to help is more powerful than "why" to help
• The biggest barriers to living a purposeful life

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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.

Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

How do we prepare children for a lifetime of purposeful living? Before adolescence, they are too young to think deeply about and plan their purpose in life. However, we can encourage them to find activities that they find enjoyable, interesting, and meaningful. Once they find these activities, we can encourage them to pursue them further. Researchers have termed these "purpose sparks."
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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

What does it look like to bring purpose into entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship focuses on making money, but purpose is so much more.
Mine Dedekoca is a serial entrepreneur. It's her nature to start new businesses, and she has done well for herself in the tech industry. She's also a deeply purposeful individual. There's more to life, she knows, than just making more money. Over time, she's developed interesting ways to incorporate purpose into her entrepreneurship. Mine has developed a series of purpose clubs. In these clubs, she mentors  women who are starting off as entrepreneurs. She teaches not just the business but also how to find a sense of purpose in what they are doing. 
In this podcast, you'll learn about:

• The balance of finding purpose in work versus the family
• The obstacles often faced by women entrepreneurs
• The power of networking in helping others find their purpose
• How stories communicate purpose so well
• The value of helping "your" people rather than just the masses

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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.

Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

The answers that we get in life are related to the question that we ask. We want to be intentional about asking the best questions possible of ourselves. About a year ago, I created a question board in my office to keep my life questions in mind. It's worked surprisingly well. This mini-lesson reviews the power of right questions and describes how to create a question board for yourself. 
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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.

Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

Purpose isn't just an individual-level activity. Invariably, other people contribute to our development and enactment of purpose. This is especially true with mentoring relationships. Mentors commit to intentionally guiding us in our way.
Marcus Goodloe felt lost as an adolescent. Growing up in Compton, California he faced various difficulties. In this context, he connected with various adult mentors--teachers, coaches, and clergy. They invested in him. They gave him the resources, opportunities, support and guidance that enabled him  to become the person that he was capable of being.
In this episode, you'll learn about

• The importance of mentorship for finding purpose
• How to mentor others
• Our responsibility for others when it comes to purpose
• The distinction between resume and eulogy virtues
• The relationship between social justice and purpose

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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would enjoy hearing from you.

Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]

A well-known conceptual model identifies three general pathways into purpose. This mini-lesson reviews and expands this model. 

The subconscious plays a surprisingly big role in our ability to find purpose. How can we cultivate it further? What can we do to better understand our subconscious' guidance.
Many years ago, Pam Muller faced a series of personal and professional crises. On a whim, she turned to her dreams to find guidance. This proved to be powerful, so she sought out education and training on dream interpretation. She's now a spiritual director who specializes in teaching people to interpret their dreams. She is also a mentor for the Dream Work Training Program of the Haden Institute. 
In this episode, you'll learn:

• The role that emotions play in guiding us into purpose
• How dreams serve as an "inner counsel"
• How dreams change our lives for the better
• Three ways that dreams communicate purpose to us
• Four practical steps for interpreting your dreams

Pam's website
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Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at [email protected]. Would love to hear from you.
Learn more at schoolofpurpose.org.
Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   [email protected]