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Writer's pictureKirk Thiemann

The Big Picture

Updated: Aug 31, 2021

Thanks for joining the journey towards purpose once again! To begin this post, I’ll start with a story. I was in graduate school for my PhD and it was a hard semester. A terrible semester really. There was chaos occurring with my classmates. One would assume that counselors know how to interact with each other in a kind and empathetic manner. Not so in every case! It was at this point that I really began to think about what mattered most in my life. I had thought about this previously, but something was different about this thought process. I started to think about death. What really matters knowing that some day I will die? This brought a renewed sense of clarification to my life. It was even more clear to me that my family mattered to me, really helping people mattered to me, living my faith and spiritual life mattered to me. Yes, school was important, but the chaos of the semester did not merit the consuming frustration that it was creating. I had to cut myself off in a lot of ways. I think this was unhelpful in some ways, but in others it was liberating.

This process led me to decide to work full time and study part time. I became a career counselor for two years. I then went back to finish my degree full time. Throughout this time period of work and going back to school full time, I developed the life purpose conceptual model. So without further ado, here is the life purpose model that forms the basis of this blog, and hopefully my professional life legacy!


Now what does that mean?

Before we go into depth on figure 1 (that will be the content of the rest of this blog), I better clarify a definition or two. What do I mean when I say life purpose and meaning? Are they the same thing? To me (and according to this model), they are not the same. Purpose is the central guiding principles and guiding patterns of meaning throughout the life span. Meaning is the experience and sense of intrinsic worth. So… what does that mean? Let’s start with meaning. To experience meaning is to be engaged in something that really matters to you (aka intrinsic worth). You feel an inner alivening. To sense the meaning means that you are able to put the meaning into words. This is not always easy, but it is essential. If you can clearly understand what it is that really matters to you, that brings life into you, then you are better able to do, be, and experience more of it. Now let’s try purpose. So now that we have a definition of meaning, purpose is how we consistently live out meaning in our lives. What patterns have we established in our lives that help speak to what is important? Are these patterns consistent? If so, then we are moving towards understanding purpose. What principles guide our lives? Principles that are infused with what matters most? Can your life be explained, briefly, in a way that sums up what is most guiding to how you live your best life? That answer is another move towards understanding your purpose. There are probably plenty of questions left unanswered. Hold onto them! Let’s move to the details of the model and see if some of them get answered.

The foundations of this model are like the foundations of a house. You don’t always see them, but without them everything comes crushing down. The foundations are essential. They are freedom and responsibility, empathy, openness, and authenticity. I will describe each of these in the next four blog posts. The themes are values, energy, beginnings and endings, suffering, inheritance, and holism (to be explored in this blog after I address the foundations). These themes are existential topics that need to be discussed, understood, integrated, and lived for purpose to exist in your life. Another way to view the themes is to see them as a whisper. Each theme whispers an important message about your life purpose. Most of the time, we need to slow down and quiet down in order to hear the whisper. Perhaps some of the themes will be loud yells, but regularly they will whisper to you. If you don’t take the time to slow down and listen, you might miss the whisper, or the call towards purpose. The whispering is like an entry points. They are opportunities to enter into a consideration of the large, life enhancing, and life expanding power of life purpose.

I hope your interest is piqued and you are ready to explore more. This blog will examine the foundations and themes with examples and in depth descriptions. This is not just a blog to me. It is a journey. A journey towards purpose. It is a pursuit of the noblest kind because it brings the core reasons for living to the surface. It can help break through the trance of life. It can help envision a life of greater potential. Purpose can transform your life. I look forward to the journey with you!

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