Appendix A: Purpose Activation Resources

"We cannot become ourselves by ourselves." - Arthur Clutton-Brock

It is impossible to discover, embody and activate one's purpose alone. I've never seen it happen. Nobody ever had an ah-ha, and then changed their life completely by themselves. Nobody ever picked up a book, did an exercise and instantly became purpose-activated. No matter how powerful the dispatch from your soul, it cannot be activated until there is a significant measure of reflection, sharing, and integration in the key areas of life, e.g., career, love, health, home, etc.

This is because purpose not a piece of missing information or a problem to solve. It's not a journal exercise or a strategic plan or 5-day challenge or an app or a matter of pure will. The brain can't figure it out because it isn't a matter of the brain. It's a matter of the soul that needs witnessing, nature, movement, creativity, structure, reflection, spaciousness, feedback from trusted friends and family, and good questions.

As such to fully activate your purpose, please explore the following approaches:

1. Work with a trained Purpose Coach 1:1, or
2. a friend, colleague or mentor who has completed the purpose journey, or
3. in community with other people who are also committed to discovering and activating their purpose.

#1 Work 1:1 with a Purpose Coach

The benefits of working with a trained Purpose Coach, is that they can get you through the process more effectively and quickly, by attuning to where you are in your journey, and structuring experiences that are tailored to your development. This is especially important with respect to transforming your inner voices, e.g., inner critic, protector, etc. who try to protect you by resisting and/or sabotaging your purpose. Coaches also frequently include a purpose integration component at the end of a program, where they empower you to activate your purpose in every area of your life. The better coaches will help you land in a soulful or purposeful community, so that you are supported ongoingly in fully activating your purpose. The best coaches offer a satisfaction guarantee, wherein they will keep working with you at no charge until you are completely satisfied. The investment is somewhere between $2-10,000 (2021 USD).

Where to find trained Purpose Coaches / Soul Guides:

• Global Purpose Leaders
• True Purpose Institute
• Animas Valley Institute
• Wayfinder

#2 Work with a friend, colleague or mentor

​The benefits of working with friend, colleague or mentor who has completed the purpose journey is that they can provide inspiration, reflection, accountability and support and often won't charge you for it. The downside is that they typically aren't able to attune to your unique development, nor skillfully help you deal with the inner voices of resistance, nor integrate your purpose into each area of your life, nor help you find / craft a purposeful community so your purpose can grow roots.

Where to find purpose discovery exercises for using with a friend, colleague or mentor:

• ​The Purpose Field Guide by Brandon Peele
• Finding Your Own North Star by Martha Beck
• True Purpose by Tim Kelley
• Leading From Purpose by Nick Craig

#3 Group Purpose Program

The benefits of engaging in a purpose program with a community of fellow participants is that you understand a great deal about how to activate your purpose by learning from the experiences of your peers. Also, your group holds you accountable to completing the exercises and sharing what you learned so the whole group can benefit. Groups can offer great support in overcoming resistance to taking purpose-aligned action. If the group is optimized for diversity, you'll also expand your understanding of people from different backgrounds and begin to touch the deeper threads of our shared humanity. After 25% of a community is purpose activated, purpose starts to become a cultural norm, wherein people are expected to fulfill their purpose, share their gifts with the community, and turn to it for guidance. The program fees that you or your organization will pay to join a group purpose program are in the $200-2,000 pp range (2021 USD).

Where to find group purpose offerings:

• For enterprises: Unity Lab, Imperative
• For schools: nXu, Project Wayfinder
• For individuals: Animas Valley Institute

Other purpose resources:

Perspectives on purpose and soul:

• The Golden Thread by Holly Woods
• Planet on Purpose by Brandon Peele
• Regenerative Purpose by Wendy May
• Nature and the Human Soul by Bill Plotkin
• Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
• Fate and Destiny by Michael Meade
• Revision de Vida by Anamaria Aristizabal
• Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore
• Widening Circles by Joanna Macy
• Ritual: Power, Healing and Community by Malidoma Patrice Some

Where to get support in activating your organization's purpose and values:

• True Purpose Institute Consultants
• Barrett Values Centre
• Future Search

Where to find a community of purpose-oriented professionals:

• PurposeWork.us
• Business of Purpose
• Conscious Capitalism
• Net Impact

Movies about purpose and soul:

• Moana
• Coco
• Brave
• Soul
• The Peaceful Warrior
• The Family Man
• Click
• Lion King
• Pay It Forward
• Matrix Trilogy (with philosophers' commentary)
• Billy Elliot