Rediscovering Humanity's Purpose

From the beginning of time (and the very earliest age) humankind has sought meaning and purpose, in life and in all we do (e.g. work). This is central part of 'being human' and critical to 'human flourishing'. The philosopher Aristotle referred to this as Eudaimonia (i.e. psychological wellbeing) and the 'art of human flourishing'.

Yet neuroscientists are now sounding the alarm, stating that humankind has become dangerously distracted by fame and fortune (money and likes), at the expense of others (people), communities (places/society) and the planet (nature/enviroment).

They point to humankind becoming increasingly obsessed by material 'things' (e.g. houses/phones/cars), rather than the wellbeing of others & the wellbeing of our planet. This materialistic pursuit is also starting to become apparent at the earliest of ages (age 11 & earlier), with many young people saying their ambition is fame and fortune (money & likes), without any idea/interest what they'd like to be rich/famous for (e.g. helping other people or the planet). Conversely, more and more people are angry by what they see, have a clear purpose to fix this, and bring values/purpose back into their life and into the lives of others.

If people find fame/fortune (and obtain all the material things they could wish for) they only seek more (more money/likes) - just like a drug (dopamine). Ironically they themselves often become depressed, finding their lives to be shallow (e.g. in relationships/friendships) and/or empty (without any real meaning/purpose), and just like any drug, finding the 'addictive high' harder and harder to achieve.

Philosophy over the centuries refers to two types of wellbeing.

• Hedonistic wellbeing - this form of wellbeing seeks pleasure/happiness without either meaning or purpose, and focuses upon self/materialistic things (e.g. cars/phones/cake). Just like eating cake this form of wellbeing is found to be both fleeting/short-lived and addictive/destructive (need more and more to satisfy this need).

• Pyschological wellbeing - this form of wellbeing is achieved by having meaning/purpose in our lives, focused on the good we do for others, for communities and the planet. This form of wellbeing is the only one that leads to true fulfillment, a flourishing life (Eudaimonia/Ikigai), and long-term happiness (linked to serotonin and oxytocin).

The above goes a long way to explaining the mental wellbeing epidemic/crisis facing the UK today. So are we to 'process the systems' of this epidemic or are we going to tackle 'the root cause'? Are we going to rediscover what being human really means ('values') and gain real meaning ('purpose') in our lives & through the work we do?

Rediscovering our values & purpose, in 'life' and in 'work', is what the Good Turns Foundation is all about. It's core to our vision, mission, and purpose. When we re-awaken our values, find purpose (ie our 'North Star'), and re-build these into our DNA, we become Purposeful™, lead a Purposeful Life™, and help Purposeful Organizations™ to create a thriving, flourishing, Purposeful World™.

David Clift

Purposeful Ambassador®

Co-founder, Purposeful Education

Founder, Good Turns & Purposeful Enterprises

Co-developer of Purposeful  Britain and a Purposeful World

[GTF22092024_01]

© Good Turns Foundation 2024.

^† Values are Valued™, Purposeful™, Purposeful Organisation™, Purposeful Enterprise™, Purposeful Board™, Purposeful Executive™, Purposeful Director™, Purposeful Trustee™, , Purposeful Partner™, Purposeful Ambassador™, Purposeful Government™, Purposeful MP™, Purposeful Minister™, Purposeful Mayor™, Purposeful Council™, Purposeful Councillor™, Purposeful Governor™, Purposeful Life™, Purposeful Communities™, Purposeful Economics™, Purposeful Economy™, Purposeful Britain™, Purposeful World™ are all recognised/registered trademarks.