your search for meaning is over (I'm not even joking)
an epic sparring contest between Simon Sinek vs. Viktor Frankl
If you read yesterday's post.
Congratulations.
You're one in a million.
Knowing a story about a minor baron from a little town named Ljubljana.
How does it feel to be in the 0.0000001% elite?
(lol)
Nuff horsing around.
I promised to get more technical...
...about building on purpose.
This is that email.
The nuts and bolts
of a purpose-driven business
(or a meaningful-side project)
We all heard Simon Sinek say:
"People don’t buy WHAT we do, they buy WHY we do it."
But not everyone read Viktor Frankl:
"Man can only find meaning for his existence in something outside himself."
I hear you thinking,
"How are these the nuts and bolts?"
If you were expecting:
the 7 stupid simple steps to build a purpose-driven business in a weekend
(without second guessing your every step)...
I get it.
Prescription pills are in the culture code...
So we kinda got used to it.
Expecting prescription medication on every corner.
But that's not how you build something meaningful (to you)
Something tapped into your soul’s deepest yearning.
The actual definition of a VOCATION.
Which is just fancy church speak for CALLING.
Suggesting it is bigger than you.
Something baked into your etheric DNA.
It's not some "woo-woo smoke up your nostrils" we're talking about here.
These are the technical specs:
The alchemy and science of PURPOSE. And PROFIT
(don't try this at home, no scratch that, do it, you won't regret it)
Back to Simon and (gar)Frankl
Simon Sinek made his name in the business world.
No doubt many a (too) big business boardroom had taken his advice.
And started with their WHY;
Simply profit.
(what do you get if you put lipstick on a pig?)
Bolting it onto products and services.
By reverse engineering words.
Of course you can't just slap on meaning.
As an afterthought.
It's not maple syrup.
The pancake batter been made a long time ago.
(relative to average pancake lifespan)
But you sure as hell can sell more pancakes.
And drive up profits by fabricating a WHY.
(at least until people catch onto it)
Cuz, you know...
Simon says:
"People don’t buy WHAT we do, they buy WHY we do it."
addendum proposal #1:
...unless your WHY is self-centered exploitation...
The paradox of individuation
Of course you gotta self-actualize.
Separate yourself from the social constructs.
And manifest your dreams...
But.
Introspection and hyper-fixation on yourself.
Are but one foot forward.
(not the whole enchilada, ya feel me?)
If not WHY, then what...
WHOM for
Simple perspective shift.
Not found on your airport "business & self-help" bookshelf...
Viktor E. Frankl.
Also known as the father of Logotherapy.
Author of "Man's Search for Meaning", among others.
And a Nazi concentration camp survivor.
(bet you can learn a thing or two from him)
He claims self-actualization doesn't come from turning inward.
(I got the "new-age guru" mafia on my back in a split second here)
But instead...
From turning our focus outward.
(gee, I didn't see that coming Sherlock)
Outward to your:
Community
Co-creators
Friends
Family
Nature
I and any other purpose-led entrepreneur must agree with Frankl
Once you're done searching for meaning.
You can go out and create it
By recognizing whom and how you can serve.
(isn't that the whole point of entrepreneurship at its core)
So it's a little less shocking for the Biz-knees crowd.
But perhaps mind-blowing for the spiritual seeker.
As it is a radical departure from the inward focus.
And definitely not found in your standard therapeutic textbook...
...centered on:
my needs
my feelings
my reactions
Now.
If you're here wondering.
Why I'd trow therapy and business.
In the same basket...
Cuz, I believe this:
Purpose-driven entrepreneurs use business building as a therapeutic vehicle.
A self-prescribed treatment.
(perhaps unknowingly at first)
Bam.
Shocker.
I trust you love a good paradox too?
Then ask yourself.
How can you contribute to the world around you?
Hint;
don't try to solve everyone's problem
just the one you care about most.
P.S.
Building a purpose-driven business or a simple purpose-side-project?
You may want to get on board the ZERO BS build-on-purpose crash course.
To help you throw overwhelm out the window.
Stop stitching together the Frankenstein of copy-pasted strategies.
Find the damn heartbeat of your business.
Anchor that beautiful purpose of yours into practical action steps.
Still a free ride.
Hit the subscribe button below and get the goods dripped to your inbox.
1 email a day…
And a weekly-ish drop thereafter.
Find me on LinkedIn
Or IG perhaps
—Your Meaning-Making Pen-Pal
Aleksander Brankov