Living a Life of Purpose – Five Sanity Practices

Did you have another day where you cleaned up your desk, wondered what you had achieved today, and got home to a stack of dishes, a pile of clothes, and a crying son? Did you spend last night driving your daughter to SCUBA class, squeeze in a conference call, and forget that it was your mother’s birthday? Did you then, at 11 pm, sit down thinking, “Why am I not moving on with my life?”

Often, we think we are too busy to do the right thing—the book we want to draft, the Ph.D. we want to start, the Master’s thesis we want to finish. We keep putting the start off until we “are ready.”

“We do not do what we want. We want what we do.” (is what my Coach Educator, Drs. B. Vermeulen, used to say.)

You probably know this from your projects. In January, you wanted to start a weight loss program, and healthy nutrition without alcohol was high on your priority list. However, come February, you are so overloaded with work that you completely forget the app and the program you started and fall back into old habits.

We don’t go out to meet a new partner. (I will when I have lost 10 kg or look better than now.)

We play safe, and the older we get, the less risk we are willing to take. (I will eventually have more fun on the weekends during my retirement; I will go to the opera and enjoy live music more.)

Often, we spend our time doing the wrong things. Sometimes, there are good reasons to hold onto a job, a client, or even a marriage. Sometimes, hanging in there is part of the deal (“…for better or worse…”), but there is also a fine line between going through rough patches and self-destruction.

In the past, I also got stuck in an Aschenputtel story that I have been telling myself for the longest time. I have achieved balance in my life through continuous learning and weekly practices.

After being exposed to a global pandemic, two wars, and general anxiety in the world, you probably lie awake at night thinking about the latest argument with your manager and your teenager, trying to find their identity as YouTubers.

You sometimes spiral down the rabbit hole of worry, and your inner Gollum starts telling you all the critical feedback you have EVER received as if you are Arya Stark and must remember every man who was ever wrong in the world. You know that you have to change something, but you are too scared to start.

Money has a limited value. When basic needs are met, the rest is a luxury, and no pair of shoes, no holiday, and no luxury car will replace your health, happiness, or time spent with your ailing elders.

What is it that you truly miss in your life right now?

Have you ever worked out how much money is enough?

Maybe you could consider lifestyle changes to do more of what you love.

If you feel like this (even on the odd occasion), I invite you to the following sanity maintenance practices.

1 – Press the Pause Button to find Purpose

You might need to learn how to do this, but I will teach you. Those of you who are following our programs probably understand that maintaining a weekly practice helps you be more satisfied with your achievements. You can also clean up your house or apartment while listening to your favorite music.

2 – Plugin Your Purpose Batteries

To reconnect with your purpose, you first need to have one. Maybe you thought you had defined your purpose clearly, but now you have doubts. Is that the reason why you are in the world? Is this the area of work and life where you can improve the world, or are you just in this for the status, the money, and the company car? What is your vision for a more inclusive world, and what are you working towards?

3 – Divorce Purpose from Your Self-Worth

When I speak to some of you, I understand that work is critical in your life. Is your love life and happiness no longer meaningful? What about your parents, siblings, and close friends? You are more than a breadwinner, and after having been in the corporate world for such a long time and making it here, don’t you think you deserve to focus more on your meaningful relationships?
Don’t you deserve to sip rosé in the Biergarten at Zurichhorn on a Saturday? Open-air movies with your besties on a school night? You can work for your purpose from anywhere. You don’t have to sit at a desk to help someone.

4 – Kill Your Inner Corporate Zombie

You do not have to be a corporate zombie, either. The company pays you to deliver 42 work hours (in Switzerland). All productivity research shows that productivity declines after six hours of focused work. Potentially, we must deconstruct the 42-hour workweek, as it was designed for industrial workers, not knowledge workers, let alone our new breed of knowledge workers. You can learn to be more productive, so you have more time to focus on your purpose.

5 – Start Working with my Book

As you probably know, I published a workbook last year that can help you get through this crisis and transition right now. I always think it helps to start with a baby step, and buying the book could be your first step toward living a life of purpose. Here is more information on the book: https://www.angieweinberger.ch/the-global-rockstar-album/.