Find Your True North: Living and Leading with Purpose
In a world that feels like it’s constantly shifting beneath our feet, a powerful question whispers to us more than ever: Are you truly living and leading with purpose? This isn’t just about your job; it’s about the very heart of who you are, how you connect with others, and how well you feel.
Thinking about Purposeful Living and Purposeful Leadership isn’t just a fleeting trend. It’s becoming a go-to way to handle tough times, bounce back stronger, and find real, all-around success. This isn’t a quick fix; it’s a thoughtful journey of self-discovery and intentional action that can completely reshape your personal joy, how effective you are at work, and the positive mark you leave on the world.
Inspired by Ranjan De Silva’s incredible journey and deep research—including his doctoral studies and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic—this article will walk you through why purpose matters so much. We’ll introduce you to practical ways to master yourself and offer heartfelt questions to help you look within across different parts of your life. Get ready to see how embracing purpose can truly help you blossom.
What Does it Mean to Live and Lead with Purpose? It’s a Whole-Life Shift
At its core, purposefulness is simply about knowing why you do what you do. It’s that inner drive that connects your actions with your deepest values and hopes. As Ranjan De Silva’s work clearly shows, this isn’t just a tool for your career; it’s a whole-life shift that makes every part of your existence richer.
Think about De Silva’s own story: by 27, he had quickly climbed the corporate ladder to a director role, driven by ambition. But this success came with a heavy price – his health, family life, and spiritual well-being suffered. Finding his purpose was the turning point, sparking a huge positive change in how he lived, cared for himself, nurtured relationships, and approached his work. His focus moved from just “work” to a beautiful blend of work and life.
His 2024 doctoral dissertation, “Living Purposefully: An Inquiry into the Life of a Leadership Development Practitioner,” echoes this personal change, explaining that “being purposeful helps understand life from a more holistic and altruistic manner.” What came from it? Better choices, more self-care, work that felt right, and ultimately, a happier, more fulfilling life.
Purpose turns workplaces from places where you just punch in and out into spaces filled with meaning, where people feel linked to a bigger vision, not just a paycheck.
The Three-Step Journey to Purposeful Leadership: Beyond Yourself
Purposeful Leadership isn’t just about your own personal growth; it’s a powerful force that spreads outward. De Silva’s model maps out a three-step leadership path:
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Leading Yourself Purposefully: It all starts here. This means truly knowing yourself, figuring out your personal purpose, and aligning your actions, thoughts, and feelings with that purpose. Without this inner compass, trying to lead others with purpose won’t feel genuine.
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Leading Others Purposefully: Once you’re clear on your own path, you can thoughtfully inspire purpose in your team members, colleagues, and even your family. This involves listening with an open heart, sharing an inspiring vision, and creating chances for others to discover and connect with their own sense of meaning.
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Leading Organizations Purposefully: Finally, this is where purpose shines brightest, with a collective goal guiding the organization’s mission, vision, strategy, and culture. It transforms a business into a power for good, creating lasting value not just for owners, but for everyone involved and society as a whole.
This progressive model shows us that authentic leadership starts within and spreads outward, creating a beautiful chain reaction of positive change.
COVID-19: A Wake-Up Call for Deeper Purpose and Global Thought
The global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite bringing immense hardship, also served as a powerful testing ground for humanity. It nudged people worldwide to look inward, prompting many to find and engage in more purposeful activities. De Silva noticed that this crisis led to a deeper appreciation for “inner success, happiness, and peace,” inspiring many to lend a hand in their communities.
How purpose showed up during the pandemic:
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Ranjan De Silva’s Community Heart: During lockdowns, De Silva himself was busy distributing dry rations, offering financial help to relatives and friends, creating mental health videos, hosting free webinars, and even giving psychological first aid (using NLP and Releasing techniques) to frontline medical staff at Sri Lanka’s Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH). This shows how your personal purpose can turn into real, positive contributions to society when things get tough.
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Nature’s Healing Moment: With fewer people out and about during lockdowns, the environment saw incredible improvements: cleaner air and water, bluer skies, and greener landscapes. This striking sight highlighted how quickly nature can bounce back. It also subtly connected our global challenges – health, environment, and economy – suggesting that a fundamental shift in how we think and act with purpose is needed for a truly healthy world.
The pandemic truly brought home the idea that when outside certainties crumble, an inner sense of purpose becomes a steady anchor, guiding us toward meaningful actions and helping us stay strong.
The Multi-Pillar Model: Your Personal Blueprint for a Purposeful Life
To truly live a whole and purposeful life, it’s vital to look at all parts of it. De Silva introduces a comprehensive Multi-Pillar Model of Purposeful Living across nine key areas. This isn’t just a checklist; it’s a guide for looking deep inside yourself and growing.
Here are the nine pillars, with questions to spark your personal reflection:
| Pillar | Reflection Questions |
|---|---|
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Spiritual: This is about your connection to something greater than yourself, your values, ethics, and what gives your life meaning. |
Ask yourself: What are the values you live by? How do you feed your spirit? |
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Mental: This covers your intellectual growth, learning, critical thinking, and overall mental well-being. |
Ask yourself: What new things are you learning? How do you challenge your mind in positive ways? |
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Emotional: This involves how well you understand, handle, and express your feelings in healthy ways, fostering empathy for others. |
Ask yourself: How do you work through tough emotions? Are you truly in tune with how you feel? |
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Relational: This focuses on the quality of your connections with family, friends, colleagues, and your community. |
Ask yourself: Who matters most in your life, and how do you nourish those relationships? When disagreements happen, how do you handle them? (And when purposes in families don’t quite align, how do you navigate those different goals with loved ones?) |
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Physical (Health): This is all about your body’s well-being – your diet, exercise, and getting enough rest. |
Ask yourself: Are your daily habits truly supporting your physical health? What small changes could give you more energy and vibrancy? |
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Financial: This explores your relationship with money, your financial security, and how you use your resources ethically. |
Ask yourself: Do your money choices match your values? Are you building financial stability for yourself and those you care about? |
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Environmental: This pillar looks at your connection to nature, how you support sustainability, and your responsible use of resources. |
Ask yourself: How do your daily actions affect the world around you? What part do you play in caring for our planet? |
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Societal: This considers your contributions to the wider community, social justice, and the well-being of everyone. |
Ask yourself: How do you help make society better? What causes really light a fire in your heart? |
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Temporal (Use of Time): This is about how you spend your most precious, non-renewable resource – time – making sure it aligns with your purpose. |
Ask yourself: Where does your time really go? Do your daily activities truly reflect what matters most to you and your purpose? |
By regularly checking in with and caring for each of these pillars, you build a balanced and strong foundation for a purposeful life.
Practical Steps for Self-Mastery and Growing Your Purpose
Knowing your purpose is one thing; actually living it is another. De Silva’s work truly highlights the power of practical self-mastery techniques that help you grow personally, change habits, and improve your mental well-being. These tools are here to help you connect with your purpose and navigate life’s ups and downs.
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Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP): A clever way to understand and shift your thoughts and actions. NLP helps you reframe limiting beliefs, communicate better, and adopt empowering ways of thinking.
Picture yourself: Using NLP to quiet self-doubt, set clear goals, and express your purpose effectively.
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Releasing (from Lester Levenson): A simple method for letting go of unwelcome emotions, thoughts, and beliefs that slow your progress and disrupt your peace of mind.
Imagine feeling lighter: As you release stress, anxiety, and resentment, freeing up mental and emotional energy for purposeful action.
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Action Inquiry: A practice where you reflect on your actions and experiences to gain deeper understanding and improve how you act in the future. It’s all about learning by doing.
When things get tough: Use Action Inquiry to ask yourself: “What happened? What was my role? What did I learn? What will I do differently next time?”
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Alpha Meditation: A type of meditation that gently guides your brain into the alpha wave state, bringing on relaxation, creativity, and a deeper sense of intuition.
Bring it into your day: Integrate Alpha Meditation into your routine to sharpen focus, ease stress, and tap into your inner wisdom for purpose-driven decisions.
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Anxiety-Releasing Meditation: Special guided meditations crafted to soothe your nervous system and release anxious thoughts and feelings.
Turn to these: During stressful periods to regain composure and maintain clarity on your purpose amidst chaos.
These techniques connect beautifully with the “Use it or Lose it” principle, which reminds us that continuously developing our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being is vital. Think of it as a constant push-and-pull between positive energy (growth) and negative energy (decline) – by actively using and refining these tools, you truly fuel your personal evolution.
Structured Learning Experiences for Organizations:
De Silva also shares helpful 5-step processes for companies to use educational videos on topics like Empathy, NLP, and Alpha Meditation as team learning experiences. These steps guide teams through absorbing content, discussing it together, planning actions, reflecting on what they’ve learned, and practicing regularly. This helps make sure individual insights turn into collective growth and a more purposeful culture for the entire organization.
Purpose: Not a Destination, But a Beautiful, Evolving Journey
Writing down your purpose isn’t a one-and-done task; it’s an ongoing, lifelong process. It often begins with a “glimpse”—that first spark or feeling of what truly matters to you. Over time, through reflection, action, and experience, that glimpse blossoms into greater clarity, a feeling of abundance, happiness, and a deep sense of inner peace.
This journey never truly ends. As you grow, learn new things, and face different challenges, your understanding of your purpose will deepen and shift. Welcome this fluidity; it means you’re growing, not being inconsistent.
Beyond You: Caring for Our Global Home
The lessons from the pandemic—especially how quickly nature healed during lockdowns—paint a powerful picture for encouraging more environmentally aware choices. They clearly show that what we do as humans and how we treat nature are deeply connected.
Embracing purpose can reach beyond your personal life and even your organization to champion a “mid-way level” lifestyle. This way of living finds a balance between essential human connection and economic activity, all while protecting our environment. This idea speaks to how interconnected our global challenges are – be they medical, ecological, or economic – showing that purposeful action from all of us is essential for a future that truly lasts.
Conclusion: Your Invitation to a Life Filled with Purpose
Purposeful Living and Leadership aren’t just big ideas; they are real paths to deep personal transformation. They offer a helpful framework for navigating life with greater clarity, strength, and positive impact, making sure your actions line up with your deepest values and contribute something good to the world around you.
From Ranjan De Silva’s own personal journey and academic discoveries to the practical wisdom gained during a global pandemic, the message is clear: purpose truly empowers.
By embracing the Multi-Pillar Model, practicing self-mastery techniques, and seeing purpose as a journey that grows with you, you can cultivate a life that isn’t just successful in the usual sense, but also rich in meaning, peace, and lasting fulfillment.
Your journey towards a more purposeful life and leadership starts now. What will be your first intentional step?