William Damon likes to tell the story of a student who took a job at a fast-food restaurant for some summer cash. It could have been total drudgery. But “we talked about how his job wasn’t just about flipping burgers,” says Damon, who has spent two decades studying—and teaching—how to live a purposeful life. “‘There are people coming in for a meal,’ he said to the student, ‘who have been working hard. Your job is to put a smile on their faces.’ That changed his whole orientation toward service. That kid became purposeful at that fast-food job.”
Photo: Courtesy William Damon
Damon, a professor of education and director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence whose books include The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life, says purpose is an “intention to accomplish something that is at the same time meaningful to the self and consequential for the world beyond the self.” It gives your life meaning and a sense of direction. Studies have shown the personal benefits associated with a sense of purpose: increased energy, motivation, emotional stability, and resilience. Counterintuitively, those come from focusing on other people. “One of the biggest benefits of purpose is that it endows people with resilience because you’re not thinking about yourself all the time,” Damon says. “Even when you have failures or a financial reversal or don’t accomplish your goals, people who really have purpose tend to keep going and are good at bouncing back from their difficulties.” Damon offers expert insights for anyone looking for more meaning.
This is not a dream.
Goals, passions, wishes, dreams: These have value, but they are not the same as purpose. You’ve got to turn those dreams into action plans. Learn a new skill around an interest and then find a place in the world where that skill can be useful. For example, take your interest in plants, educate yourself so that you can put this interest to use, and then find something hands-on to do—maybe a role dedicated to preserving endangered plants, or lobbying for green spaces in your city, or helping maintain a community garden. “A purpose is a goal, but a particular kind,” Damon says. “It’s not short-term or self-oriented.” Also important to remember: “A purpose often ignites passion, but not always.” Even when you’re doing something meaningful, you might not always feel excited about it.
You don’t have to save the world.
In Education: A Global Compact for a Time of Crisis, Damon and psychologist Anne Colby, an adjunct professor of education, write that those who turn their interests and talents into purpose tend to experience two revelations as they learn more about the world: first, that something in the world needs to be improved, corrected, or added to; and second, that they have the desire and ability to contribute to this. “You don’t have to radically change the world,” Damon says. “You can add to the world. If I go in and teach, and just one kid in my class says, ‘That’s really interesting,’ that one little light in a student’s eye provides me with purpose.”
You (probably) don’t need a different job.
Purpose can be an all-consuming, high-stakes commitment or found in a prestigious job, Damon says. But it doesn’t have to be. “I never advise people to quit their job,” says Damon. “Almost any job can be a calling.” Looking at your job in a new light (like the burger flipper) might uncover how it can be more meaningful than you realized. Then again, sometimes a job is just a way to pay the bills. Your care and commitment to family, charitable works, or faith-based pursuits might hold your purpose.
No, you didn’t sleep through Purpose Day at school.
Damon’s most recent study, which surveyed more than 1,000 students at 11 colleges and universities over a three-year period, found something that surprised even him. More than half of the students were in college to find purpose, not just to learn how to make a living. The study, which was published in Applied Developmental Science in September, also found that most colleges were not providing this type of education in ways shown to help teach purpose—such as one-on-one advising or lab and field experience.
“We are beginning to see some interesting developments in higher education surrounding this issue,” Damon says. Since the publication of the study, he’s fielded calls from interested leaders in higher education, some realizing that a sense of purpose can both increase retention rates and provide a broader, whole-person education, he says.
Only you can find your purpose.
“Finding purpose in life is really an individual discovery,” says Damon. Which means it can’t be something that someone else (a parent, your manager) chooses for you, or you won’t stick with it, he says. Introspection and hands-on doing are key. “Think a lot about who you are and what you believe in,” he says. Then, take these “sparks” and connect them with the broader community. Get outside your head: Pick up a shovel or tutor a child. Find volunteer work in your areas of interest. Discover mentors or role models to learn from. Get field experience. Then combine all you’ve learned and think again: What is meaningful to you?
You might not find it by age 25. Or 45.
Yes, there is the cancer researcher whose motivation was born when, as a child, her grandmother died of the disease. The pianist who found both his talent and passion at the keys long before high school. But for most people (and most people do care about finding purpose, Damon says), the path to a purposeful life is long, with ups and downs.
Studies have found that only about one in five young people has a fully developed sense of purpose. In middle-aged or older adults, it’s slightly less than one in three. And over time, your purpose may change. Many people begin a new search for meaning after their children leave for college or during retirement. “It can be challenging to find a place where your talents and interests can be useful in today’s ever-changing world,” Damon says. “The economy is constantly changing; new fields are developing. Life is hard, and we don’t always have an easy ride. But one of the great things in life is purpose.”
Tracie White is a senior writer at Stanford. Email her at traciew@stanford.edu.
