I’ve spent a lot of my life asking this question.
The idea that my nine to five could be my purpose has always felt hollow. A paycheck to execute someone else’s dream isn’t purpose to me.
It’s a means to keep your belly full and the lights on.
When I lived in Thailand, I asked a friend about purpose while riding a train to grab dinner somewhere in Bangkok. You’d never guess that he had an obscene net worth from his humble demeanor and worn Birkenstocks. He told me purpose was what made him tick. For him it was solving problems that made life easier for people. He kept solving problems, got wealthier, and he seems pretty happy today.
I’m not wealthy, at least not yet, but I’ve found my purpose through trial and error.
It hit me on a turkey hunt in Colorado. I’d hunted and fished my whole life, but that morning was different. The air was crisp, the mountains were waking up, and everything just seemed to make sense in that moment. If I could bottle that feeling, I’d sell it.
Hell, I’d give it away for free.
Here’s what I now know about purpose:
It’s not a final destination. It’s the journey to get there, and it must be constantly refined.
It doesn’t come to you. You’ve got to seek it.
Money can’t be the main motive. Once you get it, then what?
Purpose has to be about impact. About contribution. About sacrificing of yourself and giving something that the world needs.
It’s worth the search. Without it, men burn themselves out chasing instant gratification.
Purpose is the mission. It’s the compass. It gives weight to every step you take.
FIELD
In August the best way to locate a big buck is to pin down his core area. That’s the pocket of thick cover where he spends most of his daylight hours. You won’t find it by chance. Glass fields at dawn and dusk to watch where he enters and exits. Hang cameras in staging areas between feeding and bedding, not on the obvious trails. Pay attention to terrain. Mature bucks often bed where they have the advantage, like on a hillside where the wind carries scent up to them, or in thick brush where they can see danger coming. Put those clues together and you’ll know where he lives. That is your strike zone.
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
– Friedrich Nietzsche
What would you chase if no one was watching and money didn’t matter?
