Do you know what gives meaning and purpose to your life? Maybe you don’t, but maybe you do.
Wendy McManus, a leadership coach who specializes in the produce industry, says this is something she addresses with her clients at the outset through an intake form, which asks about meaning and purpose.
“Most people leave that blank,” she says. “But by the end of their first session, they know what it is.
“It may not relate directly back to the produce industry,” McManus continues. “It might be about being in service to others, raising a family, or being in service to a community. For some people, it’s more inward-looking: to live a happier life.
“We connect back to this in coaching—how does it show up in the day-to-day? I find people are able to do that pretty easily,” she says.
Family at the Top
For many Americans, family is at the top of the list in respect to meaning and purpose.
In February 2021, Pew Research Center surveyed Americans asking: “What about your life do you currently find meaningful, fulfilling, or satisfying? What keeps you going and why?”
The survey broke down the answers on the basis of political affiliation. Although there were differences (Republicans were much more likely than Democrats to prioritize religion), responses converged in most other respects.
“Family and children” came first for both affiliations: 49 percent for Republicans, 52 percent for Democrats.
The difference in percentages is so small that they can be taken as essentially identical—so it’s family first for a very large number of Americans.
Occupation and career came in fourth for both political affiliations (for Republicans, it was tied with “material well-being, stability, and quality of life,” at 17 percent; for Democrats, it was just below 19 percent, versus 21 percent for material well-being).
How, then, do work and career fit in with the larger purposes of life? What gives meaning and significance to professional life? After all, many Americans spend more of their waking hours with coworkers than with loved ones.
This is an excerpt from a feature story in the September/October 2022 issue of Produce Blueprints Magazine. Click here to read the whole issue.
