How to find your purpose: it's built, not found
Purpose rarely arrives in a flash. More often it's built: you write down the life you want, name what matters under it, and put one piece of it on today's calendar. Then you do it again tomorrow.
These are the practices Thriving uses for that, and the studies each one is built on.
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Start today, free
The free account has a starter version of each of these: a minute or two, and a place to keep track.
One Important Goal
Write down the most important goal in your life right now and the deadline for achieving it.
Prepare
Prepare a space for an important habit so you can easily and quickly start that habit tomorrow.
Meaningful Action
Plan one activity for today that, if completed, will provide you with a sense of purpose or meaning, and commit to a time frame to complete it.
Be Human & Connect
Get in touch with a loved one, friend, or lost connection.
The practices, and the research behind each one
Inside the app these run as a twelve-week Program, one practice a week, with All-Access. Here they are with their sources.
Life Crafting
Your Ideal Self and Life
A one-time deep-dive that turns vague intentions into daily habits.
Schippers & Ziegler (2019). Life crafting as a way to find purpose and meaning in life. Frontiers in Psychology.
Cohen & Sherman (2014). The psychology of change: Self-affirmation and social psychological intervention. Annual Review of Psychology.
Boyatzis & Akrivou (2006). The ideal self as the driver of intentional change. Journal of Management Development.
Values: Authentic & Aspirational — Goals Module
Your Values and Guiding Principle
A one-time deep excavation of your core values — the foundation of every purposeful goal.
Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda, Lillis (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy.
Sheldon, Ryan, Deci, Kasser (2004). The independent effects of goal contents and motives on well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Ideal Life Visualization — V104
Your Ideal Life, Then Your Ideal Day
The visualization that sets you on fire each day.
Pham & Taylor (1999). From thought to action: Effects of process- versus outcome-based mental simulations on performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Oettingen (2012). The benefits of negative thinking: Mental contrasting. Annual Review of Psychology.
Meaningful Moments — Fusion: Values + Behavioral Activation
Meaningful Moments
A fusion of two practices already in Thriving: behavioral activation and values.
Uphoff, Ekers, Robertson et al. (2020). Behavioural activation therapy for depression in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda, Lillis (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy.
Sheldon, Ryan, Deci, Kasser (2004). The independent effects of goal contents and motives on well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Goal Setting & Your Deepest Why — Goals Module
Goals That Serve Your Values
Set goals the Warren Buffett way — aligned with values, ruthlessly narrowed to one, defined with a numeric target and deadline, and powered by a Deepest Why so…
Locke & Latham (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist.
Locke & Latham (2019). The development of goal setting theory: A half century retrospective. Motivation Science.
Ryan & Deci (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation. American Psychologist.
Creating a Roadmap & System — Goals Module
The Roadmap
Map the exact path from where you are to your goal.
Park, Lu, Hedgcock (2017). Backward planning: Effects of planning direction on goal achievement. Psychological Science.
Wood, Mazar, Neal (2022). Habit formation and behavior change. Annual Review of Psychology.
Action Journal Level 1 — Priorities, Time Blocking, Time Boxing
Six Things, in Order
Level 1 upgrades your Action Journal with the Ivy Lee Method for laser-sharp priorities, time blocking and time boxing to defeat Parkinson's Law, and behavioral…
Mark, Iqbal, Czerwinski (2014). Bored Mondays and Focused Afternoons: The Rhythm of Attention and Online Activity in the Workplace. Proceedings of CHI 2014.
Mark, Gudith, Klocke (2008). The cost of interrupted work: more speed and stress. Proceedings of CHI 2008.
Locke & Latham (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist.
A study finding a benefit in the people it tested is not a promise of that result for you. Follow the links and judge for yourself. All the sources.
It's rarely just one thing
A life that feels pointless is rarely only a purpose problem. Sleep, a body that never moves, and the people around you all feed it. Thriving covers four spheres — physical, mental, emotional and purpose — and one or two practices from each is enough.
Everyone tells you what matters. Thriving gives you the exact exercises, somewhere to organize them into a routine that's yours, and the tools to keep going once the novelty wears off.
If this is affecting your ability to work, sleep or look after the people around you, talk to a doctor or a therapist. Many people do both.
Also on Thriving: Anxiety & stress · Sleep · Anger · Procrastination · Habits · Stress eating · Overthinking · Yelling at the kids