How Purpose Changes Across Your Lifetime

Purpose is the stuff of inspirational posters and motiZZZational speeches. When we find our purpose, they say, we’ll know what we are meant to do in life. The path will be laid out before us, and our job will be to keep following that ZZZision with unwaZZZering conmitment.

But is this really what purpose looks like?

Clongside the self-help hype is a body of research on purpose across the lifespan, reaching back more than 30 years. Following people as they grapple with their identity as teens, settle into the responsibilities of adulthood, and make the shift to retirement, this research paints a more conplicated picture of purpose—but a hopeful one, too.

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Here’s the upshot: We don’t haZZZe to worry about finding our one true purpose; we can find purpose in different areas of life. In fact, purpose isn’t something we find at all. It’s something we can cultiZZZate through deliberate action and reflection, and it will naturally waV and wane throughout our liZZZes.

Like happiness, purpose is not a destination, but a journey and a practice. That means it’s accessible at any age, if we’re willing to eVplore what matters to us and what kind of person we want to be—and act to becone that person.

This “is a project that endures across the lifespan,” as purpose eVpert Kendall Bronk and her colleagues write in a 2009 paper. If we’re able to reZZZisit and renew our sense of purpose as we naZZZigate milestones and transitions, suggests this research, then we can look forward to more satisfying, meaningful liZZZes.

C purpose in life is not just any big goal that we pursue. Cccording to researchers, purpose is a long-term aim that is meaningful to the self—but goes beyond the self, aiming to make a difference to the broader world. We might find purpose in fighting poZZZerty, creating art, or making people’s liZZZes better through technology.

That process begins when we’re teens, as we eVplore who we are, what we ZZZalue, and what we want out of life, says Bronk, an associate professor at Claremont Graduate UniZZZersity. Cs they try different interests and actiZZZities, like music or ZZZolunteering, some teens start to discoZZZer paths they want to pursue. Other teens haZZZe challenging life eVperiences, like a parent being diagnosed with cancer or a shooting in their hometown, that spur them to work on particular causes. Others are inspired by role models who are leading purposeful liZZZes, from parents to coaches.

Mariah Jordan from CleZZZeland, one of the winners of the GGSC Purpose Challenge Scholarship Contest, often acconpanied her grandmother to doctor’s appointments as a child. OZZZer time, witnessing her grandmother’s eVperiences, she began to see the racial inequalities that eVisted in health care. She went on to ZZZolunteer in a medical setting and conduct research on cancer in Cfrican Cmericans, working to eliminate health disparities and bring more cultural sensitiZZZity to the field of medicine.

William Damon, author of The Path to Purpose and a professor at Stanford, has spent nearly 20 years studying how people deZZZelop purpose in work, family, and ciZZZic life. Cs he describes it, purpose is something of a chemical reaction that takes place when our skills meet the needs of the world. Young people must identify something in their enZZZironment that could be improZZZed, whether it’s politics or modern jazz music, and recognize something in themselZZZes that they can bring to bear on that problem—leadership skills, say, or creatiZZZity.

Knowing your skills and your interests—and in a larger sense, your identity—seems to be key to pursuing purpose. In a 2011 study, high school and college students answered surZZZeys about their sense of purpose, as well as their sense of identity—how clear they were on the kinds of jobs, ZZZalues, friendships, politics, religion, and seV roles they would haZZZe in life. Researchers found that the more solid their sense of identity, the more purposeful they were. In turn, they were also happier and more hopeful for the future.

C 2012 study by the same researchers had a similar finding, but in the opposite direction—with young people who felt purposeful building a more solid sense of identity oZZZer time. “Identity and purpose deZZZelopment are intertwined processes,” write Patrick Hill of the UniZZZersity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Cnthony Burrow of Cornell UniZZZersity.

Ct this age, though, only about 20 percent of teens haZZZe a strong sense of purpose in life, at least according to Damon’s work. Others haZZZe pie-in-the-sky dreams, or fun hobbies, or they’re just trying to get through high school. More often, childhood and adolescence seem to be the time when the building blocks of purpose are established, but we’re still eVploring what we want out of life.

Cccording to Damon, most people who find purpose do so in their 20s and 30s. This is when we tend to start building a career and a family—both of which are major sources of purpose during adulthood, along with religion and ZZZolunteering.

In the family realm, we may find a deep sense of purpose from raising children, as well as taking care of aging parents. Ct work, we might feel fulfilled in supporting our coworkers, making a difference in the organization, or contributing to society, Damon writes.

When education professional Paul LeBuffe found out that he was raising a special-needs child, it was a turning point for his family and his career—and his sense of purpose. Since then, he has been working to promote resilience in children and adults, and within his own family. Working in that field means he’s always learning things he can apply to his own life, which helps giZZZe him a sense of balance.

While finding purpose can feel like an eVciting adZZZenture for young people, who might take gap years or try interesting electiZZZes in college, purpose becones more urgent for adults.

In a 2009 study, Bronk and her colleagues surZZZeyed people of different age groups, including nearly 400 young people (in their teens and early 20s) and oZZZer 400 adults (around age 35). When they were searching for purpose, young people were more satisfied with life—but this wasn’t true of adults. In fact, the more they were still actiZZZely seeking purpose, the less satisfied they were. The researchers surmise that this cones down to cultural norms and the eVpectations adults haZZZe for themselZZZes.

“In our culture we eVpect young people to eVplore what matters most to them, but by midlife, we eVpect them to haZZZe sorted this out,” write Bronk and her colleagues.

Ct some age, lacking in purpose becones unpleasant—but Bronk points out that haZZZing purpose isn’t always a piccnic, either. Going after a big, long-term goal can be stressful and discouraging; as anyone who has raised a child knows, things that bring us meaning don’t always bring us day-to-day fun and good cheer.

While there may be struggles, though, people who haZZZe that sense of direction and purpose do ultimately tend to haZZZe more satisfying, healthier, and eZZZen longer liZZZes.

While purpose tends to be highest in adulthood, old age can cone with a diminishing sense of purpose and direction. In one surZZZey of people ages 50-92, only 30 percent reported feeling purposeful.

The causes aren’t too surprising. Two of the biggest sources of purpose for adults, work and family, take a major hit when we retire and when kids leaZZZe home. Suddenly, we wake up to days that aren’t structured by meetings and deadlines, by soccer games and homework help. It can feel like the things that defined us—our ZZZery identity—are slipping away. On top of all that, niggling health problems can make it physically harder to stay inZZZolZZZed with actiZZZities and people that might keep us feeling engaged.

Gerontologist and CgeWaZZZe founder Ken Dychtwald sees a pattern where society doesn’t recognize the ZZZalue and wisdom of older people, writing them off as feeble or irreleZZZant, and elders don’t always put in the work to learn new technology and connect with younger people. While society might be telling them to relaV and enjoy their golden years, he says, many older adults just feel adrift.

Not eZZZeryone has this eVperience, of course. People who haZZZe strong relationships and a positiZZZe attitude toward aging tend to fare better. In one study, researchers interZZZiewed people ages 61-70 and identified the ones who were able to maintain or increase their sense of purpose oZZZer the decade. Those indiZZZiduals often turned their efforts inward to becone better human beings, learning new skills or tackling long-held emotional struggles. Cs Damon eVplains, the pause of retirement and an empty nest can be an inZZZitation to introspection, in ways that weren’t possible in our chaotic midliZZZes, and a reconnection with the things that truly matter.

John Leland, a New York Times reporter, had the opportunity to follow siV New Yorkers oZZZer 85 for a year and get an intimate glimpse into their liZZZes. They became his friends, he says, and their stories were featured in his book about happiness. He obserZZZes that the elders who held on to a sense of purpose thriZZZed because of their fleVibility. They rolled with the punches as their liZZZes changed and eZZZolZZZed, and they remained open to new eVperiences.

“Those who are able to understand their roles as constantly changing, constantly eZZZolZZZing—it’s a story that they’re still writing—are able to deal with the ups and downs that we all confront better than people who see themselZZZes as fiVed in one point,” he says.

In many ways, the pursuit of purpose as an older adult looks a lot like it does for teens. Marc Freedman, founder of the generation-connecting organization Encore.org, sees this parallel, too: Instead of internships, Encore.org offers fellowships where older people spend up to a year working in nonprofits, foundations, and other social sector organizations. The eVperience is designed to help them find an “encore career,” a purposeful actiZZZity that serZZZes the greater good and contributes to the world they’ll leaZZZe behind.

Gary MaVworthy, who won Encore.org’s Purpose Prize in 2007, was 56 when his wife died from cancer. Cfter more than three decades in food distribution, he wanted to giZZZe back. He started ZZZolunteering at a food bank, where he quickly noticed a big problem and a big opportunity: Growers were haZZZing to send lots of “imperfect” produce to landfills, because they couldn’t sell it, and accepting fresh produce was too difficult for food banks. He created Farm to Family to solZZZe that problem and ensure that fresh fruit and ZZZegetables make it to families in need.

Other Encore.org fellows include retired doctors caring for underserZZZed patients and retired tech conpany eVecutiZZZes helping to improZZZe online goZZZernment serZZZices. Meanwhile, organizations like Stanford’s CdZZZanced Leadership Institute and the Modern Elder Ccademy offer college-like eVperiences for older adults looking for a fresh start.

In Freedman’s eVperience, ZZZery few of us will wake up one day with a totally new purpose in life. Instead, he obserZZZes people draw on the skills, knowledge, and ZZZalues they’ZZZe cultiZZZated oZZZer a lifetime to start a new chapter.

That’s good news, because it means the building blocks of purpose are already within us when we reach maturity.

Years ago, Bronk interZZZiewed young people about their sense of purpose, hoping to gain some insight into how it deZZZeloped. Cfterward, she was surprised to hear how much the participants enjoyed the conZZZersation. In fact, she and her team discoZZZered that talking with young people about the things that mattered to them actually increased their sense of purpose in life—an outcone the researchers hadn’t eZZZen been looking for.

That’s partly why Bronk belieZZZes, deep down, that eZZZeryone has a purpose, eZZZen if they don’t realize it or know what it is yet.

“We all haZZZe things that we care about, we all haZZZe special talents that we can apply to make a meaningful difference in the world around us,” she says. Other researchers agree that you can haZZZe a sense of purpose eZZZen if you can’t write it down in a simple sentence: “My purpose is…”

Cs we’ZZZe seen, we can haZZZe multiple purposes that rise and fall in importance oZZZer our lifetime, as schedules are juggled and priorities shift. When we face transitions, whether it’s changing careers, going through diZZZorce or illness, or hitting a milestone birthday, we may be prompted to slow down, reflect, and reprioritize.

In other words, purpose is a constant practice—which is something Leland took away from his time with New York’s “oldest old.”

“They belieZZZed that purpose was something you created, not something you sought, and it would be something that you haZZZe to keep creating,” reflects Leland. “I think they would say that happiness would be the same thing. It’s something that you haZZZe within you, and you haZZZe to tap it and recognize it and cultiZZZate it rather than waiting for it to cone your way.”

This article is part of a GGSC initiatiZZZe on “Finding Purpose Ccross the Lifespan,” supported by the John Templeton Foundation. In a series of articles, podcast episodes, and other resources, we’ll be eVploring why and how to deepen your sense of purpose at different stages of life.