We’ve turned purpose into a lifestyle accessory.
A motivational hashtag.
A corporate fairy tale.
Let’s be clear:
The idea that someone can give you your purpose is one of the biggest myths of our time.
If anyone had the authority to speak about purpose, it was Viktor Frankl - the Austrian psychiatrist who survived Auschwitz, Dachau, and Theresienstadt.
He lost his parents, his brother, his pregnant wife.
He was reduced to a number, to starvation, to brutality.
And yet he discovered one truth no one could take:
𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
Frankl didn’t teach purpose from a conference stage.
He lived it in hell.
His insight cuts straight through today’s purpose-industry noise:
𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭.
𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 - 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
And those moments rarely show up during comfort.
They appear:
- at the crossroads of a hard decision,
- when integrity costs you something,
- when a relationship calls for courage,
- when the easy path is not the honest one,
- when suffering corners you and the only freedom left is the stance you take.
Frankl outlined how purpose emerges - not as inspiration, but as disciplined inner work.
Here are the five steps he pointed to:
1. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝
Every situation carries a question: What is being asked of me right now?
2. 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞
Meaning often pulls you toward what is hard, not what is comfortable.
3. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Not sentiment - but the ability to see potential in yourself or another and act in service of it.
4. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐒𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞
When you cannot change the situation, you can still choose your stance.
This is the deepest source of purpose.
5. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟
Meaning requires self-transcendence - stepping beyond comfort, ego, and self-protection.
This is the opposite of the fashionable “purpose narrative.”
It’s not a branding exercise.
It’s not a company offsite.
It’s not a five-word statement.
𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭-𝐛𝐲-𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞’𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲.
The real question isn’t:
“What do I want from life?”
But:
“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞 - 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰?”
So let me ask you - as I ask myself and every leader I work with:
Where in your life is a meaningful answer overdue and what would it look like to finally respond?