Open yourself to your life's purpose

I had a delightful dinner yesterday with two business executives who work for one of the largest food companies in the world. Through their very influential positions, they have pioneered an alternative economics model that challenges the prevailing global paradigm that the sole purpose of business is to maximise shareholder profit.

 ‘The economics of mutuality’ as they’ve dubbed it, is based on the biblical Jubilee concept in Leviticus 25 and sees the threefold purpose of business as being to provide for ‘people, planet and profits’. In other words, company managers in their numerous units across the world will only be considered successful if their business adds real value to all the people involved (farmers, buyers, factory workers, distributors and consumers), leaves a positive environmental impact and also brings reasonable profit to shareholders. Their humongous multinational with turnover larger than Kenya’s GDP is seeking to implement this model across the board so that the company’s success is measured from all three bottom lines!

With the blessing and funding of their company, my friends are also working with one of the world’s most prestigious universities to design an alternative MBA to educate the next generation of business majors differently. Their goal is to change how we all think about business. There is much openness to their work, especially after the global economic crisis revealed the brokenness in our prevailing individualism-driven, greed-based capitalistic approach to business.

Not just a job

 I really enjoyed the meeting with the two gentlemen. Apart from my obvious fascination with their work, it was fun watching them in conversation. Their eyes lit up and it was clear this was more than just a job to them. It seemed to me they would have done what they were doing even if their company wasn’t paying for it!

Afterwards, I reflected on how many people today are trapped in jobs they don’t enjoy, and that don’t have any meaning for them other than their monthly paycheck. So many dread Mondays and thank God when it’s Friday! And many people I know are miserably waiting for the day when they eventually make enough money so that they will be able to do the things that will give them joy.

 The good book says that God pre-designed each one of us for a unique purpose. None of us is here by coincidence or by accident. None of us was designed to simply be born, go to school, get a job, make money, get married, have children, retire and die. There is a much bigger reason for your existence! When you (like my two friends) discover and begin to live out that purpose, you’ll understand that your natural talents, passions, personality and even your life experiences (whether positive or negative) are all gifts to help you excel in the thing that you were created for.

You owe it to yourself to discover and pursue your purpose. Your family, friends, neighbourhood, workplace, industry, nation, continent and even the entire world could be impacted for the better when you do!