Using our skills to find our purpose
Katie McNerney breaks down why everyone is a “superhero,” whether they know it or not. As she points out though, according to Gallop 70% of people do not feel engaged at work. She discusses how even for her it was difficult to find her purpose. She changed her major four times in college and later got an MBA from Harvard, but still didn’t feel purposeful at her job. However, when she discovered that one of her superpowers was empathy and a field that would allow her to implement that, she felt fulfilled.
McNerney discusses how for her birthday this year; she went on vacation and turned her phone off for four days. While she acknowledges that not everyone can have this luxury, she was grateful since it allowed her time to reflect on herself and what she wanted. She discusses how this is a really important step in figuring out where you feel like your purpose is. McNerney emphasizes the need for reflection since it allows you to discover what your nonnegotiables are when it comes time to apply for jobs.
McNerney then goes on to explain how even though reflecting is a very important step, it is also vital to go out in the world and explore using these reflections to find what you want to do. She discusses how in the 21st century we have one of the most powerful tools for connecting with others, LinkedIn, where you can essentially see someone's entire professional CV and easily connect with them. McNerney explains though that to actually get something helpful out of these connections, you must take the initiative to reach out and try to talk with them.
Finally, McNerney states that it’s important to look at your priorities and how they align with the possible fields in which you want to work to help figure out which fields are suitable for your needs. McNerney finishes by telling the audience that then it is time to put your capes on and use your superpowers to make an impact on the world.
This TEDTalk really broke down the idea of finding one’s purpose through the skills that they are naturally good at. I think this is a great way to find your purpose because it naturally aligns with who you are already. For me, I’ve always been very good at details and looking into things to get the full story, so it makes sense that I am well suited for research.
I too changed my major in college and am now getting my master's degree in a different concentration within the same field. Initially, I wanted to pursue audio production, but while I like music and think it’s really exciting to work on, I noticed in my classes that I never really looked close enough to notice the differences in examples. However, when I found researching media instead, I was able to instantly align what I was good at with my work and could find the minute differences that my classmates may have struggled with. This was a really powerful moment for me because I was able to see more clearly where my strengths align and how that gave me purpose within my work.
Finding what you're good at can be hard. I think McNerney breaks it down very well of how to find what that is and therefore how you can find work that allows you to use those skills so that you can feel fulfilled within your work.
Written By: Bryn Garick
Sources: TEDxTalks. (2018). Finding Your Purpose at Work. YouTube. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9TLuXQxNw.