Finding Purpose

Any career or profession that you pursue you must find a purpose that speaks to you.  The reason you are invested in pouring your heart and soul into that profession.  Your why!  If you don't, your ability to be a high achiever and invest the time and effort it will take to level up will not be there, you will be mediocre.

In fact, purpose is so important that your life depends on it.  In a study led by Dr. Koichiro Shiba an assistant professor at Boston University School of Public Health.  According to the results, having a purpose lowers the risk of all causes of mortality, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity, but the effects were more pronounced among women.  The findings showed that purpose was more strongly associated with longevity in women than men, although it provided a significant benefit for both.  The researchers found that women lowered their risk of all-cause mortality by 34%, compared to men, whose risk was reduced by 20%.

As a male, if I could reduce my chances of an early death by 20%, I think it makes for a good case to find purpose in what we are doing for a living.  Studies have also shown that a strong sense of purpose provides a healthier heart, and makes a person more resilient to stress. 

Hopefully I have convinced you that finding real purpose in what you do is a worthwhile task.  So why did you get into the automotive industry?  Maybe it was to make money, maybe you love cars, maybe it was the best job available at the time, maybe you wanted to just drive new cars, maybe you wanted to help people buy their dream car.  It could be all these combined.  

There is no doubt that money was a factor in you deciding to enter the automotive business.  However, if your sole purpose is to just make money, customers will see right through you and it will diminish the experience.  If all you are after is money, customers will see you as the sleazy car salesman we have been portrayed as in the past.  This will only further enforce the negative thoughts and fears of customers.  We have to remember the customer who is purchasing the vehicle is likely making either the biggest or second biggest purchase of their life.  This purchase is important to them and you should treat the buying experience as such.  Not just your opportunity to make money.  Remember the ridiculous percentage of people who dislike the dealership experience?  You should!  If not, 87%, 87% of people dislike something about the car dealership experience! (Newswire) We will talk later in the book about how to align with the customer regarding the importance of the purchase.  

Please understand, I want you to make a lot of money, it is ok for income to be a purpose.  I just believe we need to make money secondary, or even “in-line” with serving the customer.  Let me show you the difference between two mission statements.  I want to make $100,000 a year -vs- I want to give people a world class buying experience while making over $100,000”.

I promise if you buy into, and believe the latter, you can, and will make well over $100,000.  Putting the customer first, and delivering a world class experience from the first hello to the last follow up task carries much more purpose than just making money.  This is because it is harder to do, it is connected to a person, and it separates you from the average salesperson.  Furthermore, if you conduct your daily business activities with this approach the money will take care of itself.  

An example of how to find purpose, (even in suffering) is Victor Frankl.  Victor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, found purpose to survive through his development of logotherapy (or search for meaning in life) and his personal experiences during his time in concentration camps. Before World War II, Frankl was a successful psychiatrist, specializing in the treatment of depression and suicidal tendencies. He was influenced by the teachings of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, but he felt that their theories did not adequately address the existential questions of human existence.  

In 1942, Frankl, along with his family, was deported to Theresienstadt, and later to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. He endured immense suffering, witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust, losing loved ones, and facing starvation, forced labor, and dehumanization.

Despite these circumstances, Frankl became convinced that finding meaning and purpose in life was essential for survival and maintaining one's mental well-being. He observed that those prisoners who had a sense of purpose and meaning were more resilient and had a greater chance of survival.

Drawing from his experiences in the camps and his background in psychiatry, Frankl developed logotherapy, a form of existential analysis. Logotherapy emphasizes the importance of finding meaning in life as a primary motivating and therapeutic force. It posits that individuals can find purpose through three main avenues: creating a work or doing a deed, experiencing something or encountering someone, and adopting an attitude toward unavoidable suffering.

Frankl found personal meaning and purpose in his role as a doctor and in his attempts to alleviate the suffering of his fellow prisoners. He provided therapy and support to other inmates, offering them hope and a sense of purpose. His own survival became intertwined with his mission to help others find meaning in their suffering.

After his liberation in 1945, Frankl wrote the book "Man's Search for Meaning," in which he chronicled his experiences in the concentration camps and outlined his philosophy of logotherapy. The book became a seminal work, providing insights into the human capacity for resilience, finding meaning in suffering, and the pursuit of a purposeful life.

Through his personal experiences and the development of logotherapy, Victor Frankl found purpose to survive by recognizing the importance of meaning and helping others in the face of extreme adversity. His teachings continue to inspire countless individuals to this day, reminding us of the potential for resilience and the power of finding meaning in life's challenges.  Highly recommending reading this book.

To be the best you have to find a purpose greater than just making money, or at a minimum attach your earnings to a purpose. A driven person will be willing to dissect their purpose and not brush this off as a worthless activity. You have to want to be the best.  Being driven is a core characteristic of most all high performing sales people.  If you are driven, and want to be world class at what you do, move forward.  If not, quit right now because you will not make it, or best case you will be a mediocre salesperson who will continue to deliver subpar experiences and give the industry a bad name.  

So let's get excited to think about your purpose and how you can find it!  If you are any kind of an achiever you will have goals. Hopefully you already have them clearly defined.  Start with your goals, and separate why you are working to achieve that goal.  Your purpose is the reason you set a goal to begin with.  If you have a goal to lose ten pounds, be clear about why you want to lose ten pounds.  Is losing ten pounds just a goal to have because it sounds good, or is the real “Why/purpose” to have more energy, to have a washboard stomach, or to live longer?  

Your goals are always attached to a purpose.  Being clear about your purpose will keep you focused on the real reason you are working towards that goal.

Finding a higher purpose will make you happier.  Over time any business that requires discipline and hard work will wear you down.  In those moments of weakness you might question why you are putting yourself through the stress, heartache, and time commitment.  The best way to avoid going down a path of feeling like you aren't making an impact or a feeling of worthlessness is to anchor your goals, career and everything you do on purpose.  

The famous ruler and stoic Marcus Aurelius had this to say about purpose.  “People who labor all their lives but have no purpose to direct every thought and impulse toward are wasting their time, even when working hard at work.”  Read that a couple of times!  When I see someone miserable in their job I immediately think about how they may not have attached what they are doing to a purpose.  I have done jobs that many would not find rewarding.  For example, one of my first jobs was to pick strawberries.  Not the sexiest of jobs, but my goal was to earn a little money so I could buy a dirt bike. When I felt like quitting I just kept thinking about that dirtbike.  Not a very high level purpose, but the purpose kept me engaged and pushing forward.