3 Keys to Finding Purpose Every Day

1. Reconsider your purpose.

As the hospital custodians did, it’s important to link your work or even your recreational activities to a higher purpose. Think about how your work impacts other people. If you’re a financial adviser, for example, you help people realize their dreams of starting a family or owning a home. If you’re in human resources, you offer security and peace of mind to employees and their loved ones. Hair stylists, cab drivers, landscapers, chefs and servers bring joy, comfort and ease to the lives of many.

2. Appeal to people’s innate desire to do the right thing.

One study conducted by economic behaviorists Dan Ariely and James Heyman found people are less likely to help move a couch when they are offered money than if the favor is positioned as just that: a favor. Why? People want to feel that they do certain things because they are good people, not because they’re being compensated to do so.

3. Help yourself first.

The late psychologist Abraham Maslow amended his famous Hierarchy of Needs late in his life to add self-transcendence at the top, over the previous pinnacle of self-actualization, or achieving one’s full potential. Just as self-actualization is dependent on the fulfillment of the base layers of the pyramid—needs like food and warmth, safety, and love and belonging—so does self-transcendence depend on self-actualization.

SOURCE:success.com