The two dimensions of purpose
We often associate purpose with outward contribution and impact. We can think of purpose as the intentional, ongoing life path through which we contribute to the greater good and infuse our lives with meaning. To be purpose-driven is to have our life and careers be propelled forward, in part, by a desire to serve something beyond ourselves.
But while this outward-facing dimension of purpose is essential, purpose also has an inward-facing counterpart.
Our outer purpose (or social purpose) is how we contribute beyond ourselves. We might help foster improved access to drinking water and sanitation in the Global South. Or we might look to catalyze greater racial equity within the education system in our community. Or we might look to protect endangered species in our bioregion. Outer purpose is how our purpose work connects and commits us to the world around us. It’s how we enact contribution and social impact. It’s endeavoring on a mission.
Our inner purpose (or personal purpose) is how we each uniquely find fulfillment through knowing and revealing our essential nature. We might use our innate charisma to catalyze collaborative networks. Or we might powerfully express our sorrows through art so that others can grieve more fully. Or we might leverage our brilliance to design new technologies. Inner purpose is how our purpose work connects and commits us to the inner calling that bring us most alive. It’s how we enact our passions, strengths, and values. It’s tapping into our innate, unique genius. (More on this in articles to come.)
Pursuing inner purpose and outer purpose separately in life
Like with profit and purpose more generally, many of us often privilege our inner or outer purpose work over the other.
You can focus on outer purpose at the expense of inner purpose. You might, for example, spend your life working at an organization that genuinely serves the greater good, but in a role that doesn’t resonate deeply with your passions and strengths. You do something that you know is “good” or “right” but doesn’t afford you the best opportunity to feel your most authentic and alive. It’s service and definitely important and helpful, but it’s not really purpose in the fullest sense because it doesn’t reveal the most true, authentic you to yourself and the world.
But you can also focus on inner purpose at the expense of outer purpose. You might, for example, focus on making art “just for me.” You do something that ignites your passions but doesn’t necessarily connect powerfully to the world around you. While it expresses your unique essential nature and may very well be worth doing, it’s not really purpose in its fullest sense because it doesn’t offer anything to anyone beyond you.
For your purpose work to truly blossom to its fullest extent, both inner purpose and outer purpose are required. Without the outer purpose, you can’t contribute. Without the inner purpose, you can’t see, know, and reveal yourself.
Finding the fit and harmony between inner purpose and outer purpose
For it to be true purpose, we need both the inner and outer dimensions. But perhaps more than that, purpose blossoms most fully when the inner and outer are joined together, pursued in concert with one another, as one act. You make art that brings you alive and awakens insight and passion in others. You have a job where you get to use your innate gifts and passions in order to contribute to something meaningful in the world. In the same endeavor, you do what brings you alive and offers the world something it yearns for.
Yes, you can eat just peanut butter toast or just jelly toast. And sometimes that might be what you really want or simply the only thing available to you. But something magical happens when you put the two together.
That’s the inner and outer of purpose.
The gift of purpose
When inner purpose and outer purpose are married together, something magical happens both within us and out in the world. Why?
I like to think of purpose as giving a gift.
The best gifts are just as much about the giver as they are about the recipient. The gift reveals the heart of the giver. It demonstrates their greatest gifts and qualities. The process of finding and making the gift brings the giver alive and offers them fulfillment.
But the gift is not complete until we give it away. We finish it, wrap it up, and send it off to someone for whom it really means something. Just as the best gift reflects the heart of the giver, the best gift is also deeply attuned to and aligned with the recipient’s needs and wants. There’s a natural fit between what the giver is offering and what makes the receiver feel seen, honored, and provided for.
Yes, you can just get someone a Starbucks gift certificate for their birthday. They’ll probably enjoy it and put it to good use. But it won’t ever mean as much or bring as much joy as something that you made or that comes from your heart.
And you can make art just for yourself. In fact, this will almost certainly serve you well. But you’ll usually find the most meaning and fulfillment when you share your creation, when someone else can experience its wisdom and beauty and can see you more fully through it.
That’s purpose. It’s opening up your wild, beating heart and letting it sing out freely and be heard. But more than that, it’s lending your voice to whatever chorus yearns for that special tone and timbre only you can offer. It’s creating a resonant harmony between your personal journey and the world around you more beautiful than anything you could ever have conjured on your own or could ever have been conjured without you.
More from the Purpose 101 series
What does it mean to be purpose-driven?
You can skip the Hero’s Journey
What is purpose? Purpose = passion + service.
Stop trying to save the world
Antidotes to meta-crisis despair
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