Purpose: Find Your Why
Vic Strecher, a Professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, describes how a sense of purpose can have a big impact on our well-being. We are better able to thrive when we find our own purpose and come back to it often. Remember, your purpose does not need to be just one thing for your whole life. It can change, grow, and adapt as you do. Watch the video from the Thrive in Trying Times Teach-Out here.
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0:00 I'm Vic's trekker and I'm a professor in 0:02 the School of Public Health at the 0:03 University of Michigan and a lot of my 0:05 research lately has been in the area of 0:08 purpose in life and you might be asking 0:11 what does purpose in life mean what is a 0:13 purpose in life do I have a purpose in 0:15 life and I think about it pretty simply 0:19 actually I think about a purpose as 0:21 having a goal or set of goals around the 0:23 things that matter most in your life 0:25 that's actually if we unpack that a 0:28 little bit we might start with what do I 0:31 value in my life you you might go well I 0:34 don't know I suppose my family 0:36 well maybe I'll ask you what's on the 0:37 wallpaper of your smartphone is it your 0:40 kids 0:41 is it your partner or spouse is it your 0:45 dog is it nature is it some beautiful 0:48 work of art that may be a starting point 0:50 to just think about what I value the 0:52 most setting a goal around that to be an 0:56 amazing father or to support the local 0:58 arts that can become a purpose in your 1:01 life so that's what we're talking about 1:02 also part of purpose is who you are what 1:06 yourself is so it's a self-organizing 1:09 life Fame that you have and in the way 1:12 that it organizes your life it helps you 1:14 focus on the things that matter most and 1:16 at the same time helps you kind of 1:19 unfocus away from the things that don't 1:21 matter a lot and there are a lot of 1:23 things that we're exposed to that don't 1:25 really matter a lot and if we could 1:27 maybe rid ourselves of that focus or 1:30 just that noise in our lives and focus 1:32 on the things that matter most 1:33 especially right now during this crisis 1:37 it could help us a lot so we know that 1:39 people who have a strong purpose and 1:42 direction in their lives are more 1:44 productive in their lives they're 1:45 actually happier in their lives they 1:47 have less depressive symptoms over time 1:49 all of those things are super positive 1:52 so a life purpose doesn't mean that you 1:54 have to keep this same purpose for your 1:57 entire life in fact purposes often 1:59 change and they often change during 2:02 crazy tragic events so people who have 2:05 gone through earthquakes through 2:07 tsunamis through cancer through the loss 2:10 of a loved one often 2:12 change their purpose this is a perfect 2:15 time to re-examine your life and ask 2:17 yourself again what matters most now so 2:20 many people are saying the things that 2:22 matter most now are no longer things 2:25 it's not my car it's not you know some 2:28 thing it's people it's the people that's 2:31 who are very close to me and so you 2:33 could start building a purpose around 2:35 those people who matter most