Purpose and Meaning Add Years to Life — Purpose Driven entrepreneurship

Okinawans call it ikigai or “reason for being.”

Costa Ricans call it “plan de vida.”

Most commonly, though, it’s simply referred to as your life’s purpose.

Beside the social geography, there is a population with the population that lives with a purpose. Entrepreneurs. Having a purpose makes your life better, even increases your lifespan to the point that we have sound science in support of it.

Entrepreneurs have a purpose, they have a goal. They want to fix a problem. It’s either trying to sell for profit and make a living i.e. support their families or in the most iconic and romantic version, entrepreneurs have a dream and they want to achieve it.

There is nothing wrong with the buy-low sell-high entrepreneur and i have respect for any form of entrepreneurship.

The most emblematic one, with the entrepreneurial hitch to “fix a bug” in society are those I am most interested and those that have the highest purpose. The hardest the challenge, the bigger the purpose.

This is what i like to call “purpose driven entrepreneurs”

I like to call it purpose driven entrepreneurship and look at all the biggest entrepreneurs of the planet. Steve Jobs, Bezos, Musk…they all want to fix a problem, they all have a purpose. Money comes the moment you forget about the money, those big guys don’t play just for the money. They have all did multiple all ins and playing the game is way more important than the fishes you get at the exit.

I am not saying that all purposes should be entrepreneur or business driven but most entrepreneurs, special the social entrepreneurs or those with a purpose-driven vision or crusade are.

I am an obsessed to Monx and I can’t sleep fantasizing on how to disrupt the industry. This, contrary to what you would think, doesn’t burn people out but enhance and give purpose and fulfils people. A fulfilled father is a better father and a role model to the kids. So, let’s de-mistify the workoholic as a bad father if the workohlism as a purpose.

In the blue zones regions of the world, purpose has always played a major role in well-being and the resulting extreme longevity. It’s also believed that the strong sense of purpose possessed by older Okinawans may act as a buffer against stress and help reduce overall inflammation, in turn lowering chances of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, and stroke. There continues to be a growing body of research to support the impact of purpose on mental and physical health and how it can lead to longer life expectancy.

Dr. Robert Butler, director of the National Institute on Aging, estimated that an ability to define your life meaning adds to your life expectancy. Dr. Butler and the team made an NIH-funded study in 2014 that analysed at the correlation between having a sense of purpose and longevity. His study found that individuals who have a clear goal — something to get up for in the morning, something that made a difference — lived longer, were sharper and more motivated than those who did not.

A more recent study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association has linked a strong sense of purpose with a lower risk of all-cause mortality after age 50. The study was based on about 7,000 adults over the age of 50. They were interviewed using a questionnaire to rank their life purpose. Researchers assigned life-purpose scores based on participants’ responses and followed up with them five years later.

They found that participants who had the lowest life-purpose scores had double the likelihood to have died than those with the highest scores.

It is important to note that this study was based on correlative data, still there is a clear evidence to suggest that having a strong sense of purpose can impact health and longevity for the long haul.

Entrepreneurs express their purpose in creating companies. Creating companies motivate them and those creators are ultimately among the most fulfilled humans in society.

Lifespan or not. Entrepreneurs or even side-hustlers are happier. I have been purpose less and i was off. I have seen my clients starting businesses, even tiny ones and having their life re-shaked, reshaped and more fulfilled.

Clearly, romantic as it is, it’s not just sunshine and rainbow, entrepreneurship take hard work and competence. My purpose is to help entrepreneurs to become better entrepreneurs. I may not live 100 years, but my professional life on earth will totally be well spent.

I am Stefano Passarello, proud co-founder of Monx. A purpose driven organisation.