Time to think about purpose

Purpose isn’t waiting to be found. Everyone has a purpose, but it rarely just reveals itself. Instead, you have to make a proactive choice to discover your purpose.

It’s common knowledge that having a sense of purpose gives a person direction, fulfillment, and happiness, but research has shown it also has a tangible benefit on your health.

•    A study at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, found that rating a person’s sense of purpose even one point higher on a seven-point scale decreased the risk of death by 12 percent over 14 years. Plus, the benefits were seen across people in their 20s to 70s, suggesting it’s never too late to find your passion.

•    A study by Rush University Medical Center found that people who have a lower sense of purpose in their lives could be more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease compared to people who have a greater understanding of purpose.

•    Researchers for the American Heart Association analyzed several studies. They found that over an average follow-up of 8.5 years, having a high sense of purpose in life was associated with a 23 percent reduction in death from all causes and a 19 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes.

•    A study by the University of Michigan found that those who reported having greater life purpose were more likely to make better use of preventative healthcare and spend less time in the hospital than those with a lower sense of purpose.

Finding purpose in retirement isn’t just nice it’s a necessity! Here are some thoughts you can do to help unlock your purpose as you age.

1.  Describe the finest chapter in your life thus far. What made it the finest? How can you manifest those qualities in your next chapter?

2.  Ask yourself, “How can I grow and give?” Review your calendar. Make regular appointments with yourself to grow and to give.

3.  Who is your ageing exemplar, and why do you admire this person? What qualities of growing old do they embody?

German philosopher Immanuel Kant, who famously wrote that, to be happy, it is essential to have:

•    Something to do: Whether your passion is volunteering, crafting, taking continuing education classes, golf, or some other hobby or pastime, activities that engage you fully and give pleasure are the ones that are essential to our well-being.

•    Someone to love: As we age, as well, we come to understand better that connecting with the people we love is necessary. Whether it is the family you are related to or the family you have chosen, interpersonal relationships sustain, especially later in life. Sadly, we saw the impact social isolation had on so many people during the pandemic.

•    Something to hope for: Older people who flourish have a wide range of purposes and things to hope for that give meaning to their lives. Meaning and purpose come from caring about something beyond ourselves. This could be a social cause, family, spirituality — whatever energizes you.

 How To Find Your Purpose In Life

According to St. Ignatius of Loyola, here are six ways to find your purpose in life.

1.     Pick The Right Time To Think About It

2.     Imagine Yourself In The Future

3.     Ask The People Who Know You Best

4.     Think About How The Rest Of Your Life Is Affected

5.     Pretend You Are Another Person Giving Advice To Yourself

6.     Imagine You Are Living Your Last Moments

a.  Are you happy with the way you have lived your life? If not, what can, and would you change?

b.  This is a profound question all retirees need to answer as they move into the last third of their lives. Remember you never retire from making contributions.

A sense of purpose

 If you are doing something you love, it is not work. A simple truth, but not understood by many. People look at those who work 60 to 90 hours a week and shake their heads and wonder what is wrong with these people. Let me say that there is nothing wrong unless they are working to avoid but most people who work long hours work because they love what they do, and they do not consider what they do work.

During my time writing this blog, I have found that when I talk to people who are thinking of retiring, they are concerned about how much money they will have to fund their retirement. This is a useful fear to have and one that should be seriously considered, but not when one is close to retirement. This issue should be looked at and resolved with a plan at least 15 to 20 years prior to retirement. Being concerned about this with only a few years to go before retirement is too late. However, when I work or talk to people who have recently retired the answer switches to how to find a purpose.

A recent study done by AgeWave found that 92% percent of retirees agree that finding purpose is key to a successful retirement, while 93% of those surveyed believed it’s important to feel useful in retirement and 87% agreed that being useful actually “makes them feel youthful.”

Studies have found that people are happier when they possess a sense of purpose and those with the highest sense of purpose live significantly longer than those with a lower sense of purpose and it doesn’t matter how rich or poor people are, or what gender they are, what race they are or their education level. The studies also show that purposeful people have stronger immune systems, can handle stress better and can recover from surgery quicker.

Purpose comes in many different shapes and sizes and most retirees have more than one. Your chosen purpose does not need to be grandiose; it only needs to be something meaningful to you. For example, your purpose could be getting in shape by exercising. People who started exercising later in life were more likely to retain cognitive abilities, even if not having exercised before

You can find purpose from taking care of a garden, providing eldercare, taking care of a cat, going back to school, learning how to fly fish starting a new business or doing volunteer work.

Living your purpose strengthens your sense of self; it gives you a way to explain who you are to other people.