The Code for Purpose

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One advantage of recording a podcast focused on work and life is that it opens up the conversation to a broad range of topics. The only pre-requisite when I contact guests to ask whether they'd be interested in joining me is that they're thoughtful and have a point of view. 

So far, I've covered marketing, entrepreneurship, motivation, the shorter working week, portfolio careers, leadership, parenting, Flow, and various sports. Amongst all that, there's a theme that keeps popping up - purpose. 

Now, the problem with the concept of purpose is that it's a slippery bastard - what exactly does it mean? To some people, it appears intangible and somewhat of a luxury, particularly, in the context of work. 

Yet, judged by whatever metric you choose - for example, the number of published articles and books or Google keyword searches, which have doubled in the past ten years - awareness of purpose and a desire to inject it into businesses has and continues to increase.

I'll save the analysis of how effectively businesses achieve this for another day. For now, I'm interested in explaining why it matters from a personal point of view. 

It's relatively simple. 

I've discussed the significance of intrinsic motivation several times. As a reminder, though, you can encourage this through a combination of autonomy (giving people control of what they do and how they do it), mastery (facilitating people to improve their skills and their selves), and purpose (providing the opportunity to work towards something worthwhile).

In the past couple of weeks, two people I respect hugely, Alyssa Westring and Shaun Tomson, have suggested I sit down with my family and discuss our values and purpose. What do we consider to be the essential rules by which we'll live our lives?

I figure I'd be mad not to heed their advice so, this morning, I sat down with my five and eight-year-old kids for twenty minutes, and we discussed our Code. The Code is a framework created by former World Champion surfer, now leadership expert and motivational speaker, Shaun Tomson, to help people discover and share their purpose. Every sentence of the Code starts with a promise of "I WILL".

Please do listen to the interview in which Shaun discusses his remarkable life, which, in his words, has been marked by "success, failure, happiness and terrible tragedy". He's inspired me in many ways but specifically to sit down with my wife and children and have the wonderful experience of discussing what's most important to us. 

So, with a little bit of grammatical correction and minor editing from me (for clarity!), here's their/our Family Code! I think you’ll find it’s relevant whatever age you are…

I will be kind.

I will listen to what other people have to say.

I will think positively about every day.

I will be thankful for everything I have.

I will always be honest.

I will share how I feel with those close to me.

I will never show off.

I will try new things even if it's difficult and won't be embarrassed if I don't get it right the first time.

I will always play and have fun; every day.

I will eat with my family and try new food.

I will look after animals.

I will always cuddle my family.

You can listen to my chat with Shaun, HERE, and read more about him and The Code on his website.

Thanks for reading, and have a lovely week.

Ollie