Whether you’re a brand or a person, knowing your purpose or your reason to exist is the most powerful piece of self-identification you can undertake. Understanding your ‘why’ creates your anchor. The centre to which you can always return.
In brand we talk about purpose as a fundamental piece of your brand foundation. But really, it is your foundation. Covid exposed those without purposes early on simply because many didn’t know who they were outside their tangible product. Sport being a very hard hit industry for this.
In people, our purpose is why we’re here. It’s what we set goals around, how we make life decisions. For many, it’s our saviour. We talk a lot about helping kids find their purpose as a way to escape or avoid the hardships of our world; whether that be the digital age or street crime.
Sport can be a rich purpose for many children but it can also be the downfall. Academy students who feel going professional, only to have this crushed feel they have lost their purpose in life. But they haven’t. We need to start teaching our world the power of purpose beyond the basic tangible products.
For example, if playing football is your purpose in life, this can be executed through teaching, coaching, refereeing, playing. But it can also be executed through finding a job that is involved in the purpose - take it sport branding or business - or that gives you the flexibility to play football in during or after work.
We need to get better at being patient. Identify your purpose and shape what you do around it.
As brands and as people, we have to foster an environment that enables us to identify and realise true purpose.