Purpose is a huge topic within the human development community. It has spawned countless books—including one by this author—and many, many conferences. Most examinations of the topic focus on how to find purpose and what you can do to develop it.
Purpose is a huge topic within the human development community. It has spawned countless books—including one by this author—and many, many conferences. Most examinations of the topic focus on how to find purpose and what you can do to develop it.
So, it was with great interest that I came across a new book, Thieves of Purpose: Overcoming the 12 Mindsets Robbing You of Your Potential. Author Davin Salvagno, a fellow member of 100 Coaches, focuses on what holds us back from finding our purpose and explores ways to identify and address these shortcomings.
Identifying the obstacles
The first obstacle, as Salvagno writes, is “Perhaps the most relentless thief is comparison. I have not met a person on the planet who doesn’t compare themselves to others, and for good reason, we live in a society that perpetuates comparison at every turn. From social media and magazines to commercial ads and perhaps even the car sitting in your neighbor’s driveway, it is almost impossible not to find a potential trigger of comparison in front of our eyes.”
When we do not achieve our intentions and lack purpose, we can make excuses. “We all want to win. Winning inspires us, and losing shapes us, but responding defines us,” writes Salvagno. How many learning moments and purpose points have we missed in our lives because our natural response was to make an excuse or to blame others?” Excuses drain us of our energy to focus on what is important.
Resilience is essential to living one’s purpose. “Every leader faces challenges—missed opportunities, unexpected disruptions, moments of doubt… It’s about how you recover, adapt, and keep playing,” writes keynote speaker and pianist, Freddie Ravel. “The best leaders, like the best musicians, know that resilience isn’t about perfection—it’s about adjusting and finding a new groove when things don’t go as planned.”
Fortunately for readers, Salvagno includes tactics to overcome what can rob us of our purpose. Let me cite two examples among many.
One is to “Review how you spend your time and energy and what you are focused on most of the time.” Consider how important your energy expenditures are and whether they take time away from what is more important.
Two, “What problems are you solving or what difference are you making in the work that you do?” Write the impact that your problem-solving efforts had on others and yourself. Was this effort worth it?
Success vs. Significance
Purpose can fuel the quest for success. In a recent interview, Salvagno said, “Everyone wants to be successful, and there’s nothing wrong with success. However, our fixation upon success can rob us of significance. And significance is where purpose actually lives.”
Citing the book Halftimeby Bob Buford, Salvagno notes, “Really the difference between success and significance is your impact on others. There are a lot of highly successful people who have amassed great fortunes. They’ve done lots of great things for themselves, but they’re extremely unfulfilled” because their positive effect on others is lacking.”
Purpose is about finding meaning and achieving it by what you do and how you do it. What you do is important to achievement. How you do it is essential to others. Melding your purpose with making a positive difference in the lives of others is essential to living a life of significance.
Addressing the obstacles holding us back is never easy, but when you do it with a mindset of learning, you take the onus off what it means to succeed and put it on what it means to grow and develop as a better human being.
So, it was with great interest that I came across a new book, Thieves of Purpose: Overcoming the 12 Mindsets Robbing You of Your Potential. Author Davin Salvagno, a fellow member of 100 Coaches, focuses on what holds us back from finding our purpose and explores ways to identify and address these shortcomings.
Identifying the obstacles
The first obstacle, as Salvagno writes, is ” Perhaps the most relentless thief is comparison. I have not met a person on the planet who doesn’t compare themselves to others, and for good reason, we live in a society that perpetuates comparison at every turn. From social media and magazines to commercial ads and perhaps even the car sitting in your neighbor’s driveway, it is almost impossible not to find a potential trigger of comparison in front of our eyes.”
When we do not achieve our intentions and lack purpose, we can make excuses. “We all want to win. Winning inspires us, and losing shapes us, but responding defines us,” writes Salvagno. How many learning moments and purpose points have we missed in our lives because our natural response was to make an excuse or to blame others?” Excuses drain us of our
energy to focus on what is important.
Another obstacle to fulfilling our purpose is fear. “Fear constricts rather than expands who we are. Fear tells us not to smile at strangers or speak our opinions too loudly,” writes Salvagno. “Instead of pushing our boundaries, fear encourages us to avoid any potential failure or rejection. For example, we should not write that book, ask for that date, or apply for that promotion. If it were up to fear, we would hide in bed instead of growing into who we could be.”
Fortunately for readers, Salvagno includes tactics to overcome what can rob us of our purpose. Let me cite two examples among many.
One is to “Review how you spend your time and energy and what you are focused on most of the time.” Consider how important your energy expenditures are and whether they take time away from what is more important.
Two, “What problems are you solving or what difference are you making in the work that you do?” Write the impact that your problem-solving efforts had on others and yourself. Was this effort worth it?
Success vs. Significance
Purpose can fuel the quest for success. In a recent interview, Salvagno said, “Everyone wants to be successful, and there’s nothing wrong with success. However, our fixation upon success can rob us of significance. And significance is where purpose actually lives.”
Citing the book Halftimeby Bob Buford, Salvagno notes, “Really the difference between success and significance is your impact on others. There are a lot of highly successful people who have amassed great fortunes. They’ve done lots of great things for themselves, but they’re extremely unfulfilled” because their positive effect on others is lacking.”
In a closing thought to our interview, Salvagno says, “Many times we look at failure and then we live in guilt and all these different things, and then it robs us for a purpose. But when we redefine failures as learning moments and we give ourselves grace, we can step forward.”
Addressing the obstacles holding us back is never easy, but when you do it with a mindset of learning, you take the onus off what it means to succeed and put it on what it means to grow and develop as a better human being.
Note: Check here to catch my full LinkedIn Live interview with Davin Salvagno.