School of Purpose
In-depth exploration into purpose in life. What is purpose? How does it change lives? How do we find more of it? Interviews include researchers who study it, practitioners who guide people to it, and people who have experienced it. New episode every Wednesday morning.
Episodes
100 episodes
#100. Is Purpose a Mission Statement or an Action? Psychologist and Author Todd Kashdan
How we understand purpose in life affects what we do to obtain it. How can we gain a more robust understanding of what purpose is?Todd Kashdan is a professor of psychology at George Mason University where he studies purpose and other facets...
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57:27
#99. Fully Living Your Dream Life: 14-Year Sailing Family Jamie and Behan Gifford
What would your life look like if you devoted everything to following your dreams?The Giffords did just that. In 2002, they realized they wanted something different than the typical American life of house and job. They created a six-year pl...
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59:04
#98. The Four Pillars of Purpose: YouMap Creator Kristin Sherry
Purpose is idiosyncratic. Everyone has their own view on what matters most in their life. However, is it possible to create a single system that many people can use to find purpose?Kristin Sherry has spent years helping people find purpose....
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46:57
#97. How Colleges Creatively Guide Students into Purpose: Sociologist and Vice Provost Time Clydesdale
Colleges have extraordinary responsibilities in the lives of their students. Sometimes overlooked is guiding students into purposeful careers.Tim Clydesdale is the author of The Purposeful Graduate. It's an evaluation of a large-sc...
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46:59
#96. Finding Purpose after Severe Trauma: Author and Survivor Michael Unbroken
Severe childhood trauma changes one's life--often for the worse. Sometimes, however, it has a redemptive effect as it leads one into purpose.Michael Unbroken experienced a level of trauma in childhood that's difficult to fathom. Yet, today ...
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39:02
#95. From $500 Million to Prison to Purpose: Author and Musician John Lefebvre
How do you make sense of the world when you had a lot and then lost just about all of it?John Lefebvre co-founded Neteller, a publicly traded online payment company often used by gamblers. In 2007, John ran into legal problems and lost almo...
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43:41
#94. How Adolescents Find Purpose in Life: Developmental Psychologist Kendall Cotton Bronk
Young people face many difficult decisions in their transition to adulthood. Chief among them is identifying what matters most in life so as to live with purpose. Some young people do this successfully. How do they do it? How do then diff...
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52:05
#93. Telling Our Own Stories of Purpose: Experience Designer and Executive Coach Julia Winston
When it comes to purpose, we often think of making goals. However, we live our lives in terms of stories. Especially important are the stories that we tell ourselves about our lives.Julia Winston guides people in creating the stories of the...
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43:42
#92. How to Connect with Your Truest Self: CEO and Author Jaclyn Gallo
In today's world, it's so easy to become disconnected from our inner, true self. When this happens, what should we do?CEO and author Jaclyn Gallo joins us in this episode to point the way forward. She shares effective strategies and techniq...
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52:28
#91. How to Find Your Calling in Your Social Context: Communities of Calling's Jane Patterson and Jessie Bazan
Do you ever wonder if you were created for a specific purpose in life? That's the logic of having a calling. It extends to communities as well as individuals.This week we're joined by Jane Patterson and Jesse Bazan of Communities of Calling...
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52:12
#90. Guiding High School Students into Greater Purpose: Wayfinder Founder Patrick Cook-Deegan
How would you guide high school students into a greater sense of life purpose? Is it even possible?Patrick Cook-Deegan has not only figured out how to do it, his company, Wayfinder, is doing it at scale. Patrick's approach combines research...
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47:16
#89. The Great Benefits of Purpose for Organizations: Chief Purposologist Haley Rushing
Why should an organization care about purpose? They exist for profit, don't they?Haley Rushing is the cofounder and chief purposologist at The Purpose Institute. in this context, she advises large corporations on how to incorporate purpose ...
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51:50
#88. Being a Purposeful Artist in Every Aspect of Life: Multidisciplinary Artist Katie Chonacas
Artists epitomize purpose. They bring something out from inside of themselves to share with and contribute to the world. For most artists, art equals purpose.Katie Chonacas knows about art because she's done many different mediums of it. Sh...
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46:09
#87: Spiritual Health and Finding Purpose: Author, Priest, and Sage Sally Nash
What's the relationship between spiritual health and purpose? They are related--but not identical--concepts. How can each one be used to increase the other?Sally Nash PhD is a priest, author, and expert on shame. She guides people into livi...
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45:07
#86. The Magic of Personal and Professional Purpose: PurposePoint CEO and Author Davin Salvagno
What does it mean to integrate purpose in our life? How is that different than having work-life balance? How is it different than "finding our why"?Davin Salvagno is an expert on Purpose. He is a coach, consultant, speaker, and author. He i...
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57:58
#85. Purpose in Work and Leadership: Professor and Center Director Stuart Bunderson
What is true leadership? Some view it as effective influence--getting more people to do what you want. But it's more than that. When leadership is rooted in values, it has the potential to change the world. Stuart Bunderson studies mea...
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53:01
#84. Creating and Telling Your Life Story: Publisher and Storyteller Jeremy Brown
Do you have a life story waiting to be told? Storytelling provides a powerful structure for organizing how we think about our lives. It can be used to create a life of greater purpose.Jeremy Brown started is the founder and CEO of Throne Pu...
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46:34
#83. A Journey of the Mind through Great Difficulties: CEO and Activist Leon El-Alamin
Leon El-Alamin started out life on the wrong path. Growing up in Flint, Michigan he got into the street life. He was a drug dealer. He was shot in the head. He was incarcerated. In prison, he was put into 22-hour-a-day lockdown. Amid these diff...
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52:51
#82. Using Self-Hypnosis to Find Purpose: Professor of Psychiatry & Reveri Co-Founder David Spiegel
You've heard about hypnosis. Did you know that you can hypnotize yourself--easily and safely? Doing this can be a powerful way of clarifying lots of issues--including your purpose.David Spiegel is the Wilson Professor of Psychiatry at the S...
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48:06
#81. How to Find Your Calling in Life: Psychologist and Chief Science Officer Bryan Dik
Do you have calling in life? Do you want one? How would you know if you have a calling?Bryan Dik is an expert on callings. As a professor of psychology, at Colorado State University, he has studied them for two decades. He even started a co...
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50:45
#80. Being Brave Enough to Suck at Something New: Master Woodworker and YouTube Star Cam Anderson of Blacktail Studio
Have you ever dreamed of doing something that was entirely new, but you have no idea how to do it? All too many people don't act on such a dream. It's too different, too difficult. Some people, however, try it. They take the risk and bold...
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49:39
#79. What to Do When You Have Many Passions: Social Entrepreneur Sierra RyanWallick
What should a young person do when they passionate about doing many different things?Sierra RyanWallick is one such person. She's been a go-getter from early on. At age 11, she founded a fundraising organization that has since raised over $...
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46:55
#78. "Passionate about Helping People Become Who God Made Them to Be": Pastor and Author Chase Davis
How can Christians find their calling in life? There's lots of teaching in the Church about God's "general" will-that is for all people. What about God's "particular" will-His individualized plans for a specific person?Chase Davis is the pa...
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52:06
#77. Growing Up with Cancer: Writer, Educator, and Survivor Amber Hovanec-Carey
As much joy as purpose gives us, it's often born in pain.Amber Hovanec-Carey grew up with suffering. At age 9, she was diagnosed with stage 4 of a very rare form of childhood cancer. She went through extensive treatment. At one point, she a...
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36:47
#76. How Emotions and Relationships Point Us to Purpose: Developmental Scientist and CEO Ben Houltberg
Purpose is multifaceted. We experience it in different areas of our lives. Many different factors come together to move us into it. How do they come together?Ben Houltberg has done a lot of things that gives him insight into life purpose. H...
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52:27