Purposeful Living: Don’t Be Like Your Appendix. Yes, We are Talking About the Organ!

This past week I woke up in the middle of the night with extreme pain in my stomach. The pain was all consuming and I knew something was not right.

Upon arriving at the emergency room, the doctors quickly determined that I had appendicitis and my appendix needed to be removed. I was relieved that there was a quick diagnosis and a straightforward plan of care that was guaranteed to be effective.

The doctors gave me pain medication and scheduled surgery for later that afternoon. During the next 4 hours of lying in a hospital bed, I had a lot of time to reflect.

How can an organ that is only 3-4 inches long cause so much pain!?

They told me that while every person is born with an appendix, the medical community says there really is no purpose for that organ.

If we do not need it, then why does it just exist without any good or adverse impact on our body? Instead, it is just there when things are good.... but when something goes wrong with the organ, the pain is crippling.

I started drawing connections between these realizations about my appendix and a career without purpose.

Lots of people go to their jobs to get a paycheck, they work long hours, and then they go home. They are not passionate about the work they are doing. The overall mission does not excite them, and they are not using their unique skills, gifts, and talents in their work. Their job is just there, with a lack of purpose.

Purposelessness in American’s lives is causing a ton of pain at home, in families, in addiction, and worse. Just like the appendix, there is no real purpose, and it can cause a ton of pain.

But when somebody maps out their intentional life and they get serious about the impact that they can have and they can integrate that with a career of purpose, we see people thrive!

Coming to this conclusion is the first step, but making changes and creating Purpose in your career is a whole different animal. That is why we created The Purpose Promise. We have done the work for you. All you must do is choose one of our offerings and say “yes.”

Let us be a community and country that is serious about impact and purpose in our careers.

It is time to rid our lives of the things that serve no purpose so we can leave behind the pain that they cause, and experience a life of joy, anticipation, energy, and fulfillment.