Marcus Aurelius talks a lot about purpose in his scrolls titled, Meditations. He says everything was created for a purpose and man needs to discover his purpose; we experience true delight when we do the task we were made for. It is what gets you out of bed in the morning. He expresses clearly that man wasn't made just to be pleasured, each of us has a purpose for being here.

As a creative type, I feel the need to create. I feel the need to contribute. I feel the need to give in a bigger way through the work I do and the projects I invest my time. I don't believe we are meant to only have one purpose, though. I feel our purpose evolves with time and with the people we are able to connect and learn from. I think like what Anais Nin says about life, "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage" the same can be true about our purpose. We experience more of life the more we can align with the purpose we serve.

And since we are responsible for giving things meaning from our perceptions and lens we use to see the world, then I believe purpose can also change with perspective. If we are able to separate purpose and identity I think we are able to have more fulfilling lives. I feel sometimes our lives do shrink because we identify in only one aspect; I'm a business person, an athlete, a dog trainer, a welder, whatever it may be. The profession doesn't have to be the way we embrace our purpose, though.

What's the difference? Well I believe there is a very specific distinction that goes far beyond semantics here. If my identity is to be a circus clown, and my purpose is to make people laugh, I may only feel valued when I'm performing at the circus. If my identity is to be a good person, and my purpose is to use that good and spread it through different vessels where I have skills and knowledge, I am still in alignment and can constantly grow with that mission.

Since my identity is shaped around a broader persona, my purpose can be as specific or as broad as I choose. However if my identity was very specific, like a circus clown--perhaps my perspective shifted or my identity was altered if people looked at me and were scared or cried or screamed--then I could lose my purpose if people didn't laugh. I could lose my identity if my purpose was conflicted enough, and my circus clown persona didn't meet my needs.

I've worked with a lot of people who wanted to make career changes or couldn't continue working in their field of skill and struggled because they formed their identity around the task or service the career provided, rather than the person they became because of their career. We see this a lot of times with pro-athletes going into retirement. Look at Tom Brady for instance, being anything but a football player didn't resonate. His marriage and his family and his identity couldn't handle the shift. So he returned, and then he finally knew he just couldn't.

If your identity or purpose are telling you a shift is needed, listen. If that scares you, refer back to the Anais Nin quote I referenced earlier. May you live each day with the courage, purpose and identity that makes you proud to be here.