The Healing Power of Purpose: How Meaningful Action Supports Mental Health
What is your purpose?
The age-old question many people face is: What is their purpose? What pushes them to be better and gives them goals that they can aim for? Before you can ask yourself these questions, you must first define what purpose is. Everyone has their own purposes that affect their day-to-day life. It can be hard to know where to start figuring out your purpose.
Research by McKnight & Kashdan says that “Purpose is a central, self-organizing life aim that organizes and stimulates goals, manages behaviors, and provides a sense of meaning.” In simple terms, purpose is what motivates you and makes you feel good. Your purpose can typically be seen in what you prioritize in life and what fulfills you. Purpose can offer direction to what your goals can be and might indicate how you structure your day. “Purpose is intrinsically motivating and relatively effortless, and it is mood-enhancing to engage in activities that are congruent with one's purpose.”
What are some examples of purposeful activity?
Helping others: Volunteering, Nursing, Community Involvement, etc.
Relationships: Spending time with friends, connecting with family, joining a social group or activity-focused club, etc.
Hobbies: Cosplay, Music, Theater, Photography, etc.
New Experiences: Visiting countries, trying new foods, attending cultural events or festivals more locally, etc.
What are the benefits of discovering your purpose?
Engaging with your purpose supports resiliency.
Having a purpose creates motivation that helps you continue pursuing your goals and remain focused despite changing environmental conditions.
Having a sense of purpose helps you adapt to the challenges you may face during challenging experiences.
Purpose can help with recovery.
Many find that resilience and recovery go hand in hand, as when you are being resilient, you are also helping yourself recover from an event.
Having a purpose can help give a person motivation that pushes them
Engaging with your purpose boosts one’s sense of self
Figuring out your purpose can be hard and can take many years. Finding your purpose is a very individualized experience, and there is no set right or wrong way to explore it. However, when you find your purpose, your sense of self can be strengthened by this new understanding.
Engaging with your purpose can lead to mood benefits
Engaging in purposeful activities can influence optimism and positive feelings as you encounter fulfilling experiences.
When you are engaging with activities that are congruent with yourself, you are less likely to face cognitive dissonance and more likely to have a boost in mood.
Is it rare to have a purpose?
Yes and no. Most people have something that drives them. The bigger question is whether you have intentionally identified your own values or purpose to direct your actions. It can be challenging to figure out what yours is.
If you feel you have not yet found your purpose, reflecting on your values and how you define success and meaning can be a helpful first step.
If you are struggling to identify your purpose or values, this could be a very beneficial conversation to explore in therapy.
McKnight, P. E., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Purpose in Life as a System that Creates and Sustains Health and Well-Being: An Integrative, Testable Theory. Review of General Psychology, 13(3), 242-251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017152 (Original work published 2009)
Scout Gomez
Scout is an undergraduate intern for Flourish Counseling & Wellness. Scout is currently a third-year student at Colorado State University, majoring in psychology and minoring in political science.
She hopes to continue her education in the future in a postgrad setting and eventually wants to become a licensed therapist.
