Stop Trying to Find Your Purpose. Ask This Question Instead | Tom Rath | Ep. 578

StrengthsFinder 2.0 author Tom Rath on why the hunt for purpose makes people anxious, and the questions he asks instead. His new book is named after it: What's the Point?

You've been told to find your purpose since high school. You're still waiting for it to show up.

The word is the problem. Most of us hear it and tense up, as if purpose has to descend from the heavens on a sunny day every ten years.

Tom's books have sold more than 10 million copies. Five months before his newest book launched, he called his publisher and dropped its working title, Purpose Unlocked, worried readers would be too intimidated to read a book called Purpose.

At 15, Tom was diagnosed with a life-threatening genetic condition. His life expectancy was about 40. So he set out to pack a whole career and a whole family into those years, in case he didn't get any overtime. At 40, he realized about 90% of what he'd been doing was trying to live up to other people's expectations. He's convinced most people reach the end of their careers without ever seeing the work they'd have been best at.

In this episode, you'll learn:

How to make purpose practical enough to use every day

Why 30 minutes on strangers' emails is 30 minutes less with your kids

The patient photo that made radiologists more thorough

Why your kids should see 50 jobs before picking one

A miserable job can be worse for you than no job at all

What to try before you quit a job you hate