Bradley Wright, Life Purpose Lab

How do our careers give us purpose? It turns out that there are a variety of ways, and we can combine them into a wonderful career. Julie Cyzewski worked as an elementary school teacher, but she knew that wasn't the right place for her. She decided to return to the passion of her childhood: books. She enrolled in graduate school in English and worked her way through a PhD. Now she's a tenure-track professor. She has shaped her current position so that it provides purpose in multiple domains of life-intellectual, relational, and society. This makes her career deeply life-giving to her.In this episode, you'll learn - What it feels like to be in the wrong career- The power of childhood interests in guiding our later career- How our purpose pulls us back to it when we try to leave- The significance of relationships in all aspects of our purpose- The different ways careers can give us purpose- What to know if you're in the right careerThe book that Julie mentions is Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing.Enjoy!The School of Purpose is a place to learn the process of finding purpose in life. Visit us at schoolofpurpose.org.  Questions? Comments? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would love to hear from you.  Edited and Produced by Josh Gilbert, Music also by Josh Gilbert. Are you interested in starting your own podcast? Send Josh an email. He will get you going and make you sound good. joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com 

What is the relationship between what we want in life and what we do day-to-day? How do our actions affect our sense of purpose?Richard Lopez is an expert in neurocognitive science and behavior change. He is an assistant professor at Bard College. Richard shares with us the science of enacting our purpose in life. A purposeful life is not jus a one-time decision. Rather, there's an interplay between what is most important to us (our values), our perceptions of what we are able to do (agency), and what we actually do (behavior). Understanding the scientific principles underlying this interplay makes it easier to live a more purposeful lives. In this episode, you'll learn- What agency is and why it matters so much- The connection of values with purpose- How to bring other people into our purpose-related decisions- How our self-understanding affects our actions - How our actions affect our self-understandingEnjoy!The School of Purpose is a place to discover the process of finding purpose in life. Visit us at schoolofpurpose.org.  Questions? Comments? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would love to hear from you.  Edited and Produced by Josh Gilbert, Music also by Josh Gilbert. Are you interested in starting your own podcast? Send Josh an email. He will get you going and make you sound good. joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com 

How do artists find their purpose and express it through their work?  How does purpose fuel creativity?In this episode, Sculptor Diane Husson passionately engages the role of purpose in her life and work. She is a sculpture who specializes in the all-but-forgotten art form of faux bois. She uses concrete to make beautiful  garden furniture in the shape of tree branches. Diane takes us through her journey from the corporate world into art. It was a path with unexpected and even mystical mystical twists. Though a success in another form of sculpting, she knew it wasn't the right one for her. She explored other options for years before finding faux bois.In this episode, you'll learn about:  The interplay between skills and purposeWhy the worst day in the corporate world is easier (but not better) than the best day at being an artist A powerful definition of life callingThe importance of crafting our life circumstances to support our purposeComfort being a barrier to living our purposeYou can learn more about Diane's work at https://fauxboisfurniture.com/. Make sure to check out her beautiful work. She's also on Facebook and Instagram.  Enjoy!The School of Purpose is a place to discover the process of finding purpose in life. Visit us at schoolofpurpose.org.  Questions, comments, or suggestions for improvement about the podcast? Send me an email at schoolofpurposeorg@gmail.com. Would love to hear from you.Edited and Produced by Josh Gilbertjoshgilbertmedia@gmail.com Music also by Josh Gilbert

How important is it for college students to aim for a career that would give them a sense of purpose? What happens when they make plans without purpose?Nick is a smart student who entered college with no sense of what he really wanted to do. So, he decided to do something that would make him a lot of money. If I can't be happy, I might as well be rich he thought. So, he decided to become a corporate lawyer. There was a problem, though, with this plan. Each year he got less happy with it. Something inside prodded him that there's more to life. Finally, in this, his senior year, he has made a complete reversal in his career path, and it's changed everything.In this episode, you'll learn about:  Following intuition in picking a careerThe hazards of succeeding at something that's not meaningful to youThe powerful and potentially harmful effect of other people's expectations for us How to know if you're making purposeful plans for the future.What it feels like to be finally doing something that feels rightEnjoy!The School of Purpose is a place to discover the process of finding purpose in life. Visit us at schoolofpurpose.org.  Questions, comments, or suggestions about this podcast? Send me an email at schoolofpurposeorg@gmail.com. Would love to hear from you.Edited and Produced by Josh Gilbertjoshgilbertmedia@gmail.com Music also by Josh Gilbert

How does a sense of purpose change our life? Does it really make a difference?At 24 years old, Bob Turner wrote out a life purpose statement. He's now in his 70s. This purpose statement has been his guide for a half century. It led him into remarkable experiences, rich relationships, and a profound impact on many people's lives. It even had him attend one of the most significant historical events of the 20th century. He's not done, either. He still follows this purpose statement daily.In this episode, you'll learn about:  What makes for a great life purpose statementHow life purpose statements guide our livesHow to have an influence across generationsWhy having purpose steers us away from needless busynessThe importance of letting our life purpose unfold on its own. Enjoy!The School of Purpose is a place to discover the process of finding purpose in life. Visit us at schoolofpurpose.org.  Questions, comments, or suggestions about this podcast? Send me an email at schoolofpurposeorg@gmail.com. Would love to hear from you.Edited and Produced by Josh Gilbertjoshgilbertmedia@gmail.com Music also by Josh Gilbert

What do you do when you don't know what you want to do in life? You try new things. You look for glimpses of what's interesting to you and what you're good at. Nancy Franson is a writer, but it took her decades to get there. As she puts it, she discovered that she was a writer in her fifties. She shares her journey in this episode. From her story, we learn about getting feedback from other people about who we are, doing free writing to see what comes out of our hearts, and serendipitous encounters. She shares a remarkable story about getting a job as a writer in the most random of circumstances. You can learn more about Nancy at https://nancyfranson.com/. She's on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nancyfranson.The School of Purpose shares knowledge about finding purpose in life. This knowledge comes from both research and life experiences. Visit us at schoolofpurpose.org. Edited and Produced by Josh Gilbertjoshgilbertmedia@gmail.com Music also by Josh Gilbert

Things were going just fine for Bud Brown. He lived a comfortable life as a church consultant. His kids were raised. He lived in a beautiful city. Then he got a whiff of a dream. It’s not just any dream. It’s a change-everything, wouldn’t-it-be-amazing dream. Most people would just talk about such dreams. Not Bud. He took action. He and his wife planned out how to have a remarkable third act to their lives. They sold the house and are now exploring how to put this plan in place.This episode is about being in transition into purpose. How is purpose initially discerned? What has to be done to bring it about? Topics covered include finishing life well; using love, joy, and peace to identify what is purposeful; taking steps forward when the destination isn’t clear; and exploratory road trips.Do you feel adrift in life? Are you unclear about your goals? If you don’t find direction, you won’t live the life that you want. The School of Purpose will lead you into knowing what matters most to you and how to bring it about. It takes you on an exploratory journey of purpose in your life. You’ll receive articles and exercises that show you how to find your way (and it’s free). Sign up now at schoolofpurpose.org. You can connect with Bud at Budbrown.net.Edited and Produced by Josh Gilbertjoshgilbertmedia@gmail.com Music also by Josh Gilbert

Sheri Blackmon is a cancer survivor-twice over. The most recent occurrence was harrowing. For a year, she could do little each day except try to heal. Even the smallest moments became meaningful. From this experience, she learned to view the world differently. While the chemotherapy was killing the cancer, the cancer was killing triviality. In this episode, Sheri describes how she now engages the world differently. Among the topics that come up are: the difference between active and passive purpose, the role of control in living purposefully, the significance of small choices, and why dreams might be better than goals.If you’d like to learn more about your own purpose in life, visit schoolofpurpose.org for training materials, articles, and more.You can learn more about Sheri's story at lifeafterwhy.com.Edited and Produced by Josh Gilbertjoshgilbertmedia@gmail.com Music also by Josh Gilbert

Tom Andrix has had a long and varied career. Her served as a naval aviator, a dry wall installer, a staff person for a Christian ministry, and a data base manager for a hedge fund. When it came time to retire, Tom wanted to do something that used his skills to make the world a better place. He wanted something that moved him at a deep level. After investigating possibilities for several years, he found a retirement activity that perfectly fits these criteria.In discussing his story, we talk about the role of chance encounters in finding our purpose, the use of our gifts and skills, and our responsibility to the world.If you’d like to learn more about your own purpose in life, visit schoolofpurpose.org for training materials, articles, and more.To contact Tom about his work with Compassion International, you can email him at tomlike2bike@gmail.comEdited and Produced by Josh Gilbertjoshgilbertmedia@gmail.comMusic also by Josh Gilbert

Manisha Desai is a sociologist who has studied activists for many years. Over that time, she’s had countless conversations with them about why they get into activism. Purpose is at the core of their motivation, and it expresses itself in different ways. Among the topics that come up are the distinction between social-purpose and self-purpose, how purpose relates to both change and acceptance, and different pathways into a purposeful vocation.To learn more about finding your own purpose, visit schoolofpurpose.org.   Produced and Edited by Josh Gilbertjoshgilbertmedia@gmail.com