Find your purpose
Why are you building? Find your purpose
Every founder and leader started for a reason, and under the weight of running things it's easy to lose track of it. This is a short reflection to find your purpose again, or to find it for the first time, and it's built for people who are already building something.
There are nine questions and it takes about ten minutes. Write the way you'd talk, skip any that don't land, and if you can, finish with your why in one sentence. You'll get a one-page summary you can save or print.
What you write stays in your browser. When you reach your summary, the site adds one to a count for this tool, with nothing you wrote attached.
Why are you building? A reflection by Rory Nicol · rorynicol.com/find-your-purpose
Your why
When you read it back, notice what your gut does. If something tightens or goes flat, that's a signal worth paying attention to.
Read back what you did write and notice what keeps coming up.
Notice too which of your answers has the most energy in it, and which one you rushed, because both are telling you something.
Try this week: read your sentence out loud to one person who knows you well, and ask whether it sounds like you.
A 30-minute conversation, online
Want to talk through what came up? I coach founders, engineers and executives, online by video.
To keep a copy, choose "Save as PDF" in the print window. You might also like the personal values assessment, which checks your week against what matters to you.
Questions
How do I find my purpose?
One way is to look back at what you've already been doing, especially the moments that felt most alive, and then say it plainly. The questions here are built for that. For founders and leaders, purpose usually sits inside the reason you started building in the first place, even if it's been buried under the work since.
Is this an ikigai test?
Not quite. The popular version of ikigai is a diagram of four circles: what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for. This tool asks more personal questions, about who the work is for and what you're giving up to do it, since for leaders who are already building something that's usually where the answer is.
Is this therapy?
No. It's a reflection tool for leaders, and it doesn't assess your mental health. If you're struggling with your mental health, talk to your doctor or a registered mental health professional.