The Past is Prologue
How the dreams of our childhood can be fertile ground for discovering purpose anchors
There is no doubt that discovering purpose anchors can be trying work. By now you are beginning to realize that there are several mechanisms by which we can start to unearth these silent beckonings that await us. In the last two posts we talked about the life review and the art of subtraction. Today, we revisit our childhood and ask the most basic of questions.
What lit you up when you were a child? What were your most joyful moments?
This is a journey back to the safety of your childhood bedroom and a glance at what filled your day-to-day attention span. What posters did you have on the walls? What trophies adorned your shelves? Was your room full of video games, comics, or (like me) baseball cards? Although you may, at first, discard these interests as childish and unimportant, I would beg to differ.
Econome Conference 2024
I have encountered this phenomenon over and over again when working with coaching clients. Ricky (a made up name to maintain anonymity) remembers fondly pursuing Boy Scouts and then Cub Scouts with his father. It was not only the family time together, but he actually really enjoyed being part of the community and learning all sorts of new skills involved in camping and survival. When doing some work with me on purpose anchors, we realized that his son is now just at the perfect age to start one of these programs himself. Ricky’s excitement bubbled up as we talked about signing up for this joyful activity that he could do with his oldest child. Perhaps Ricky could even eventually become a scout troop leader.
As the above example shows, childhood is a magical time in our lives. It is the only season in which we let imagination run free and we allow our activities to be less goal and more joy oriented. It is a time where societal constraints, making a living, and the FOMO of social media are left behind. If a three year old asks a parent about building a swimming pool in the backyard, the adult will likely take them outside and joyfully play for hours. Yet, if a teenager asks their parent about the same thing…they will be greeted by all the reasons it is not feasible or appropriate.
Growing up is a dream killer. We are inundated by various messages about who we are to be, what we should become for a living, or which products and lifestyles we should strive for. These messages often come from well-meaning parents, or unfortunately not so well-meaning advertisers and influencers who want to make a buck off our attention.
Either way, our childhood dreams are often discarded and replaced with more “suitable” interests. Yet, often these dreams of childhood are actually much more aligned with our sense of deeper meaning and more connected to joy than the tasks we eventually undertake as grownups. So why do we throw them away so easily?
To summarize the last few posts, finding purpose anchors is easier than you think. Here are the three ways we have discussed to find them already:
The Life Review
The Art of Subtraction
The Dreams of Childhood
In the next post, we will jump into what you do if nothing works. If the first three techniques leave you more lost than found, then it is time for the funnest method of all.
The Spaghetti Method.
Today’s Poll
Did you catch this week’s episode of Earn & Invest (Click to listen)?
Path to Purpose Coaching
Over the last year, writing my new book The Purpose Code, I have spent a huge amount of time thinking about, writing about, and discussing purpose. I have offered one-on-one and group coaching to my mastermind group, Wealth With Purpose. These discussions stem from my real life encounters with dying hospice patients as well as the numerous interactions I have had with people after reading Taking Stock.
What I've found is that most of us who listen to the Earn & Invest Podcast struggle with three basic issues:
How do I define purpose in my life?
How do I transition to a more fulfilling career?
What is enough money look like? Enough life?
To help navigate these waters, I have decided to offer the Path to Purpose coaching program. This is one-on-one coaching with me to help you further define purpose, direction, and career. Sessions will be spread over five weeks with a goal to provide a more concrete and enjoyable path to crack the purpose code and start living your life now whether you are broke, pre financial independence, financially independent, or beyond.