CORPORATE SUFI: Understanding the magic of purpose

You were born into this world for a reason. You are here for a nobler purpose than just to eat, sleep, produce offspring, and die.

You are here to make a difference. You are here to shine your light and leave the world in better shape than you received it. You are here to display the gifts you have been blessed with. You are here to use those gifts to make a contribution and create significance.

There is no one like you in this world. No one in this world can match your smile, style, or DNA. No one in this world can speak like you or think like you. You are unique, gifted, and special. Your gifts are tied to your purpose. Discover them and use them fully. When you do things you were born to do, and use your innate gifts to make a difference, you are living and working with purpose.

When you live with purpose, you are energized and focused and have a sense of direction. Life Balance becomes easier because you are concentrating on things that are important to you and not wasting time on unimportant things. Your life has meaning, direction, and focus, and you are able to pay attention to your work, family, and spirituality.

“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece,” wrote John Ruskin, the Victorian artist, scientist, poet, environmentalist, and philosopher.

All of nature is on call, operating in silence and yet on purpose. The mighty oak was once a little nut that stood its ground. The acorn contains the design for the fully developed oak tree in all its mightiness. Where you find purpose and strong principles, there you find success and balance.

A ship would never sail without a destination. Similarly, you can’t find life balance without having a clear objective. In fact, when facing the storms of life it is our purpose which ferries us out of them.

When you have a purpose, you know where you are going, and you know why you want to go there. You are driven to get there. A sense of purpose creates energy, meaning, gumption, and love. You lose track of time doing things that have a solid purpose. You find enjoyment and make a difference to others.

Finding Life Balance starts with having clarity of purpose — knowing what you want and why you want it. This applies to your work and to your home. Without clarity, we are unable to focus.

When you do purposeful work, you feel guided by principles. Your principles are the anchor, providing a source of steadiness amid tumultuous circumstances. If your anchor is bendable, then it will not hold the boat in place properly. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “Important principles may and must be inflexible.” If principles can be bent, they cannot serve as reliable guides to behavior.

Most successful initiatives in the world are born out of a strong and clear sense of purpose. Erin Ganju, the CEO and co-founder of Room to Read, one of the most successful nonprofits in the world, attributes the success of her venture to her life purpose of empowering others. Today, Room to Read builds libraries and educates girls in Asia and Africa and has now scaled to a team of 1,300 employees across ten countries serving 10 million children per year.

To conclude, the significance of purpose can be best summarized in a quote by American author Robert Byrne, “The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose.”