Purpose and Living the Good Life

A while back, a friend asked me to speak remotely on a panel for her class of students in China, on the topic of purpose and “living the good life”. I loved the opportunity to reflect…

How have you / do you find purpose in your life and work?

I’ve learned that I love being behind the scenes. My purpose is more about solving problems and serving people than it is about technology in and of itself. My ultimate purpose is taking someone else’s ambitious vision and helping them make that a reality. That’s ultimately why I started Impact Upgrade. There are so many business and nonprofit leaders with incredible visions on how they could serve people in real, impactful ways. But they need someone to help them connect the dots to get there. That’s my purpose. People-serving organizations can be messy and hard to build and scale. So we remove barriers and come alongside them, using software and data to ease that burden. That purpose is so rewarding.

Would you say that you are living the “good life”? How come?

I am now, but I wasn’t before, which I’ll talk about later. I’ve learned that focusing on only today is the good life, as opposed to dwelling on the past or trying to plan the future. There’s a saying (can’t remember who) that no time is more divine than the present. That means I work hard on what’s in front of me today and soak up each present moment I have with my wife, kids, family, and friends. I’m also now in a job where I get to serve others and worry less about myself. That’s been an amazing change of pace.

Would you say purpose has anything to do with your “good life”? Why or why not?

Absolutely. It’s a question of alignment. If your job and how you spend your free time are aligned with your purpose and what you value, that’s what I would call the good life. I currently have that, like I mentioned. But I have not had that alignment in the past and the good life suffered. I’ve been in jobs where I focused more on money and had no purpose, focused too much on climbing the ladder to gain prestige or respect, spent too much time and attention away from my family, and didn’t take care of myself. I burnt out. Totally unaligned.

Do you think there is a unifying purpose for all human beings in terms of what makes a “good life”? Can people have different jobs and talents and interests and still share any unified purpose?

I’m a Christian and believe that every single person has value. And I believe that it’s important to recognize that and serve others as a first priority. I also believe that every job and vocation is just as important as others. People and communities need janitors/cleaners as much as they need leaders. So the purpose is serving each other, building community, and relationships.