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118 Examples of Purpose

John Spacey, September 20, 2022

Purpose is the reason that something is done. This includes the life purpose of a person whereby an individual has a reason or "a why" in their life. It is also possible for organizations, teams and social groups to have a purpose such as the mission of corporation. The following are illustrative examples of purpose.

Accepting Others	Accountability
Accumulating Social / Economic Power	Achieving a Vision for the Future
Advancing an Industry / Technology / Profession	Aesthetic Experience / Experience of Beauty
Architecture	Art
Becoming Optimistic	Becoming Pragmatic
Becoming Resilient	Behaving Well
Being Yourself / Authenticity / Keeping It Real	Being a Good Person / Morals
Building Up Others	Building a Business
Building and Sustaining Generational Wealth	Caring / Kindness
Comfort / Convenience / Mediocrity	Conservation / Animal Welfare
Coolness	Creating Joy Around You
Creating Opportunities For Others	Creating Value / Contributing to the World
Creative Expression	Credentialism / Pursuit of Titles and Credentials
Credibility - becoming a person others believe and follow	Cultivating Positive Personality Traits
Cultural Life	Developing Emotional Depth
Developing Grit	Developing Personal Strengths
Development of Confidence	Doing Good As You See It
Earning a Living	Epic Experience
Family	Film
Fitting In / Social Acceptance / Social Inclusion	Forgiveness & Redemption
Freedom / Living Free	Friendship
Fulfilling Your Role In Things	Grandparenting
Gratitude	Happiness / Pursuit of Happiness
Health & Wellness	Helping People
Humility	Influencing the Direction of Humanity
Language / Cultural Immersion	Learning / Pursuit of Knowledge
Life Experience	Lifestyle / Quality of Life
Living Up To Professional Ethics	Living in the Moment
Love	Making an Idea Reality
Making the World a Better Place	Manners & Politeness
Mastery of a Profession / Meaningful Career	Mastery of a Talent
Meeting New People	Minimalism
Music	Overcoming Fears
Overcoming a Bad Habit	Overcoming a Negative Trait (e.g. becoming less judgemental)
Overcoming a Problem	Overcoming the Past / Living in Present
Parenting	Participating In Your Community
Peace & Reconciliation	Personal Expression
Personal Growth	Personal Presence / Social Skills
Physical Fitness	Play
Pleasure / Self-indulgence	Popularity
Pursuing Curiosity	Pursuing a Hobby
Pursuit of Adventure	Pursuit of Control, Order and Stability
Pursuit of Curiosity	Pursuit of Dreams
Pursuit of Imagination	Pursuit of Style
Pursuit of the Past / Nostalgia	Reading / Literature
Recognition & Awards	Relationships
Religion	Reputation
Respect - becoming a person others respect	Responsibility
Safety & Security	Sanity / Maintaining a Healthy Outlook and Perspective
Saving the Environment	Schadenfreude - Joy At the Misery of Others
Searching For Answers	Self-Awareness
Self-actualization - a catch-all for reaching your fullest potential whatever that may be	Selflessness
Sense of Wonder / Gratitude for Life's Mysteries	Simple Living
Social Status	Socializing
Spirituality	Sport
Survival	The Journey -- the process of life as the purpose
Tradition / Connection With Past	Transcendence
Travel Experiences	Wealth / Income
Winning Competitions	Winning Debates / Political Battles

Purpose vs Goal

A purpose is why you are doing something. A goal is something that you would like to achieve. For example, a student's purpose may be to have a meaningful and rewarding career some day. In this context, a goal might be passing a test or acceptance into a university.

Overlap Between Purpose and Goals

There is much overlap between purpose and goals because the purpose of one person can be the goal of another. For example, you could have a goal to make money for some purpose such as supporting your family. Alternatively, making money could be your purpose in life.