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1 results

  • Chapter 10 - Purpose

  • from Part III - Motivation
  • Christopher Connolly, Sporting Bodymind Ltd, Fernand Gobet, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book:
    Transition Expertise and Identity
    Published online:
    30 May 2024
    Print publication:
    06 June 2024, pp 221-228

  • Summary

    The search for purpose and meaning is common to the work of many twentieth-century psychologists. It seems to operate as an overarching motivation or metamotivation for a career rather than as a specific motivation for a transition. Purpose tends to emerge and be discovered, whereas meaning is a constructed system of beliefs that is built over time around the search for purpose. Choices that lead to the discovery and construction of one’s “true nature” or “authentic self” or “essential identity” can give purpose and meaning to one’s life. The search for purpose and meaning in work is discussed in light of the retrospective interviews with twenty-four elite performers in three domains (business, sports, and music) who successfully and repeatedly transitioned to higher positions within their field.