I asked this question to some of the 8th graders working in the library today. One said, "Easy: to accomplish my goals." Another said, "to help people, or to make the world better."
"What is the reason for your goal?" I asked.
"Hmmmm, that’s a tough one," the students thought.
Have a conversation with your child(ren) about purpose, and it may surprise you.
March is reading month, and one of the best ways to connect people is through stories. Think of some of the classic children’s books like Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” What does this story tell us about family, love, and imagination?
Or Ezra Jack Keats, “The Snowy Day” where Peter has an adventure, enjoys the snow, and learns how to deal with the changing problems that confront children as they grow up.
Or “Harold and the Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson. This book about Harold and his magic purple crayon takes us on a journey through Harold’s imagination, escaping dangers, and traveling to far-off places; at the end, Harold comes to a surprising realization.
Many stories can help us think about purpose. I recently revisited a Time.com article I read a couple of years back. “The sense that your personal life is meaningful to you is a cornerstone of psychological well-being,” said Michael F. Steger, director of the laboratory for Meaning and Quality of Life at Colorado State University. Not only that, it is “tightly tied to being happier, more positive, more confident, more caring, more helpful, more resilient, and more satisfied in your life, relationships, and work.” Who doesn’t want that for their kids? Who doesn’t want that for themselves? Character Lab talks about purpose this way. Purpose is a strength of heart, and it can be cultivated. Strengths of heart are interpersonal, helping strengths. They help you relate in positive ways to other people. Some strengths of heart include gratitude, purpose, self-control, and social/emotional intelligence. In a blog post on medium.com Chris Hullman gets in the mind of a middle-schooler and quips, “I could be changing the world right now, but instead I’m solving for X.” Click on the link to see an awesome resource that helps us have conversations with our kids about finding value in classwork, and why it matters.
Dr. Bill Damon of Stanford University talks about Purpose from Character Lab on Vimeo.
Teachers and parents take note of expectancy-value theory and what it says about helping students answer the ‘why’ question. What do you think? What is your purpose? What is your favorite children’s book? What are barriers to instilling a sense of purpose in our lives?
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