The dictionary meaning of purpose is – the reason for which something exists. This is different from a goal. In many ways, a goal is the opposite of purpose. You need conscious effort to chase a goal. Whereas, you need conscious effort to resist a purpose.

Yet, in recent times, we have created a false equivalence between purpose and goal. This has made more and more of us chase goals in response to a feeling of lacking purpose.

So, what’s purpose? It’s a feeling, not a goal.

Have you ever felt purposeful even if only for a moment? I hope you have coz it’s hard to describe a feeling using words & I may not do a good job at it. So I’ll try describing its defining features instead:

• It’s rewarding – it makes you miss it when it’s gone.
• It’s transcendental – it evokes a sense of being a part of something larger than yourself.
• It’s clarifying – it reduces uncertainty (in decision-making).

If a feeling satisfies all these 3 conditions, it’s likely to be the feeling I’m calling “purpose”.

Turns out, 3 things need to happen at the same time for this feeling to emerge:

1. You need to be making a choice that feels important.
2. The choice triggers some emotions within you – the more the better.
3. The choice reduces the electrical activity in your brain’s self-focused circuits – the circuits that come alive when you’re consciously or unconsciously thinking about yourself – the lower the better.

If you’re rarely feeling purposeful these days, it indicates that you are lacking one or more of these 3 ingredients in your day-to-day life.

Let’s look at some examples for clarity –

• Chocolate or Vanilla – it’s not an important choice + doesn’t trigger strong emotions + makes me think about myself = 0/3 ingredients present.
• If I come to hit you, do you block me or not – it feels important + triggers strong emotions + but, it makes me think about myself = 2/3 ingredients present.
• If I come to hit someone you love, do you block me or not – it feels important + triggers strong emotions + does NOT make you think about yourself = 3/3 ingredients present.

How often are you getting to make choices that score 3/3 on these ingredients? If your answer is “not enough”, what can you do to increase such opportunities for yourself?

Why should I increase such opportunities? you may ask, why chase purpose at all if it’s just another feeling? You’re right! You don’t need to. But since it is an extremely rewarding feeling, it is hard to not miss it after you’ve tasted it. This is what makes us want to chase this feeling even though we don’t need to.

But why is it rewarding in the first place? Evolution. If one variant of humans accidentally evolved to find this feeling rewarding, they’d have had a huge survival advantage over other variants who didn’t find this feeling rewarding. But why would it give them a survival advantage? Not obvious, is it? Let’s dive a little deeper –

Humans are social animals who live in groups. We have been for millions of years. When social animals face an external threat, like a predator chasing them for example, they have a choice – do I prioritize what’s good for me or what’s good for other members of my tribe?

Have you ever watched a lion hunt wildebeests in a documentary (or irl, if you’re cool like that!)? Lions often target the weakest member of a herd and the herd rarely fights the lions to defend that member. Result – lions rarely hesitate to prey on the wildebeests.

Hyenas on the other hand, fiercely defend every member of their herd, often by putting themselves at risk. Result – lions rarely target Hyenas. Individually, each Hyena is doing something that increases their chances of death. Yet, since most Hyenas choose to do the same, it increases their chances of survival as a group.

This is called Group Fitness. In social animals, group fitness is more important than individual fitness when it comes to survival of the fittest. By being rewarding, the feeling of purpose directly contributes to an increase in our group fitness even if it may sometimes reduce individual fitness.

There you go! That’s the origin story of the feeling of purpose. What do you think? Is it a feeling you want to chase?

If your answer is yes, you’re naturally wondering – How can I chase this feeling? What do I do to improve my chances of feeling purpose?

It’s simple, but hard – identify which of the 3 ingredients you are lacking and figure out how you can improve them. That’s all 🙂 Good luck!