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Table Talk 08. The Power of Purpose
71 Plays11 days ago
In this episode, Chris and Matt explore the power of purpose—why it matters, how it shapes our daily actions, and its deep connection to mental well-being and long-term happiness. Drawing on the work of Viktor Frankl and our own experiences in the fire service, we discuss how purpose isn't just a feel-good concept—it’s a driving force that fuels performance, resilience, and personal growth. Whether it’s in your personal life or on the fireground, having a clear purpose helps you show up as the best version of yourself, even on the hardest days.
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Transcript
Introduction to Table Talk Series
00:00:01
Speaker
This is the Fire Dog Podcast.
00:00:13
Speaker
Welcome, my name is Matt Wilson, and thank you for listening to this episode of the Table Talk series on the Fire Dog Podcast. The Table Talk series is a free flowing conversation between friends and peers on topics like reading leadership, successes, failures, fire grind tactics, and much more.
00:00:27
Speaker
It's the kind of conversations that you'd have at the kitchen table at your firehouse. These are conversations we have all the time. And here at the Fire Dog Podcast, we thought it would be worth recording and sharing some of those
Purpose and Mental Well-Being
00:00:36
Speaker
conversations. In this episode, Chris and I explore the power of purpose, why it matters, how it shapes our daily actions and its deep connection to mental well-being and long-term happiness.
00:00:46
Speaker
Drawing on the work of Viktor Frankl and our own experiences in the fire service, we discuss how purpose isn't just a feel-good concept. It's a driving force that fuels performance, resilience, personal growth.
00:00:57
Speaker
Whether it's in your personal life or on the fire ground, having a clear purpose helps you show up as the best version of yourself, even on the hardest days. After you've listened, join us on the Fire Dog Mentorship Facebook group or visit any of our social media pages to continue the conversation.
Insights from Viktor Frankl
00:01:13
Speaker
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor. In his memoir, Man's Search for Meaning, he describes life in Nazi death camps and its lessons learned for survival through a sense of purpose.
00:01:27
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Between 1942 and 1945, Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Man's Search for Meaning was published in 1946 based on his own experience and the experiences of others he trade treated later in his neurology practice.
00:01:48
Speaker
This was a ah book that i read recently, and I wanted to share a paragraph that really stood out to me.
Tension and Mental Health
00:01:58
Speaker
Thus it can be seen that mental health is based on a certain degree of tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what one is and what one should become.
00:02:14
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Such a tension is inherent in the human being and therefore is indispensable to mental well-being. We should not then be hesitant about challenging a man with a potential meaning for him to fulfill.
00:02:29
Speaker
It is only thus that we evoke his will to meaning from its state of latency. I consider it to be a dangerous misconception of mental hygiene to assume that um what man needs in the first place is equilibrium, or as it's called in biology, homeostasis, i.e. attentional state.
00:02:51
Speaker
What man actually needs is not a tensionless state, but rather the struggling and striving for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.
00:03:04
Speaker
What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meeting waiting to be fulfilled by him.
Modern Conveniences and Meaning
00:03:14
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You know, as you read that excerpt, I think about the mental health quote unquote crisis that I think exists today.
00:03:22
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You see, and there's there's of course a bunch of variables to this, and I don't want to attribute the lack of a purpose to people committing suicide, right? that's I don't want to put a blanket statement on it but I would like to think that a contributing factor to, I guess an increase in the use of mental health drugs, the, um, uptick in suicide statistically can be attributed to this lack of purpose, um,
00:03:53
Speaker
you know, this this absence of something challenging or meaningful in someone's life, right? We have, for for a lot of good reasons, developed our societies, um our society and our well-being. And, you know, we we live comfortable lifestyles, right? Like we have safe homes, we live in heated homes, air-conditioned homes, we have access to, you know, here in in the United States, at least, have access to hospitals and grocery stores. We don't have to go onto the planes and and kill our food, right? We don't have to go grow our plants and cultivate our crops and
00:04:33
Speaker
Like what we did through um our upbringing as human beings, right? Over the past hundreds of thousands of years, right? These traditional ways of of living have gone away in a relatively short... We've only existed with them for a very, very small fraction of time in our overall existence, right? You're talking about...
00:04:54
Speaker
um A hundred years ago, you know there was a large contingent of farmers and people cultivating their own crops. And now we live in a world where everything a click away, an Amazon purchase away, you know a trip to the grocery store away, which is great for a lot of reasons. And I you know i am very grateful for for those conveniences.
00:05:17
Speaker
But there is a consequence, an unseen consequence to that. and um You know, there's no purpose for some people maybe anymore. And so you have to fill that void and find, you know, we have to make a conscious effort as humans now to go fill that void and find out what our purpose is if we don't have a day-to-day struggle.
Discovering Your 'Why'
00:05:41
Speaker
I love how Frankel states that. He says, a striving and a struggling. for a worthwhile goal. Because you're exactly right. Even i think back to my childhood, I'm sure yours was similar where you had to listen to the radio for your favorite song to come on, right?
00:05:59
Speaker
Or you had to wait for 6.30 on Wednesday night for your favorite show to come on. And our life has gotten Better and better and better, right? It was way better in the 90s than it was in the 1890s, to your point. But in the last couple decades, you can scroll your phone for a perfectly curated reel of content that is designed exactly for you.
00:06:24
Speaker
I think ah my wife wasn't feeling great last night. and There was one thing she wanted to eat, one thing that sounded good. And DoorDash had it to her 20 minutes.
00:06:36
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Right. Life is so good. Yeah. There's, you probably don't have a in Alaska, but. not Not quite, but I mean, I can fly a plane to Hawaii in less than a day. Right.
00:06:47
Speaker
It's just when you put things into perspective, but yeah, to your point, we've even seen an evolution in our upbringing of this, of these conveniences. And, you know, don't get me wrong. I'm taking advantage of them too, you know?
00:07:00
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. yeah but I feel like most people have heard, you know, find your why or what's your why. You know, like why, there's certainly ways that we strive and struggle.
00:07:12
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I imagine most people can't articulate why they're doing what they're doing. Right? It might stop it. This is what I do or this is how I do something.
00:07:26
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But to actually go through the the thought exercise of, of why I'm doing the things in my life that I do every single day. What is that goal? What is that that deeper um purpose you know that gets me up every single day or that leads me to take this or that action?
00:07:52
Speaker
Yeah, Simon Sinek, Start, no, is it Start With Why? I believe that's the name of the book. But, you know, the idea of finding your why, it's worth reading that one, for those of you who haven't.
00:08:05
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But, yeah, making a conscious effort to determine what that is for you. um And Chris has shared through writing and and some things that he shares with me that, you know, to be a world-class firefighter, it may be,
00:08:20
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you know, your purpose or your why is providing for your community. Like I am doing what I do day to day for my family. I'm doing it for my community.
00:08:33
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And I think that most listeners and myself included, that's probably, that's probably, that's, you know, that's our why. um If you really, you know, do that thought exercise and and, you know, maybe you have to write it down or just meditate on it, think about it. Like,
00:08:49
Speaker
But it's important it's important to to remind yourself of that, I think. um And that's because it's just goingnna carry it's going to carry you through your day. you know It's going to um contribute to what actions you take, right? Because if you don't think about that why or you don't have a why...
00:09:14
Speaker
ah you know, you you're more likely to be sedentary and rely on those conveniences that we talked about, right? And not want to contribute anything to your community or things like that.
Creating a Life Purpose Statement
00:09:29
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Something that's been incredibly valuable in my life was, um I started this two years ago, actually writing out a life purpose statement. And i I say it every single morning. I get up, I do a little bit of stretching, um and I go through this purpose statement.
00:09:46
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And it is such a powerful thing when it comes to being um focused and um just having a sense of ah confidence and clarity in and what you're doing.
00:10:00
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And I want to share that framework with our our listeners. Absolutely. Absolutely. It starts with my purpose is.
00:10:11
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Whatever it is for you, Matt mentioned, my purpose is to be a world class firefighter. It might be my purpose is to be a ah supportive husband, um ah loyal son, an engaged father, whatever your roles are in life.
00:10:31
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What is your purpose?
00:10:35
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Next is so that I.
00:10:39
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Why do you want those things?
00:10:42
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So that I can respond confidently and capably wherever I'm called.
00:10:49
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So that I can return home at the end of my shift and ensure the same for those around me.
00:10:59
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So that i can create abundance for my family
00:11:06
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so that I could build a culture of this or that in my fire department or my workplace?
00:11:14
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Whatever it is for you. Why?
00:11:18
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what do you want ah ah out of those things?
00:11:23
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And then lastly, i will do this by.
00:11:28
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What are the specific action items that you're gonna take every single day to achieve your life's purpose?
00:11:38
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I will do this by taking consistent action. I will do this by leading by example.
00:11:49
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will do this by delegating or prioritizing this or that. wake um Waking up early in the morning, potentially. That's perfect. um There's things you want to accomplish, and that's ah maybe a goal you've set. you know I want to wake up at 4.30 every morning so Work on whatever you want to work on.
00:12:13
Speaker
To put that in your life purpose statement and to say that every single day, it becomes how you start to see yourself.
00:12:23
Speaker
That's a kind of a a thing that's root rooted in psychology. It's really interesting to me how your your conscious thoughts, saying your life purpose statement impacts your subconscious mind.
00:12:36
Speaker
Hmm.
Journaling and Affirmations
00:12:38
Speaker
And if you don't like to say it, you can also write it. As you say that, I think about Jordan Peterson. kind of He's a popular you know clinical psychologist, and he's a he's kind of a ah politically polarizing figure now because of some of the things that he says.
00:12:58
Speaker
um But i I've read both of his books, well, two of his books, not all of his books, 12 Rules for Life, An Anecdote to Chaos is the first one. And then the second one is Beyond Order, 12 More Rules for Life. But one thing he talks about maybe a little bit, yeah, a little bit and so a couple of those books is self-authoring.
00:13:18
Speaker
And he has, and there's a website that he has and I think it's like self author authoring.org or something similar to that. You could Google it. But, uh, anyways, he puts you through similar exercise that you talked about, like, um, not thinking through, but writing out essentially your purpose, um, and, and what you're going to contribute to the world and to your community. Um,
00:13:42
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Yeah, so just a very, very powerful powerful exercise, it seems. Yeah. And that's why people journal, right? And um who's who's another good figure? Ryan Holiday.
00:13:55
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Ryan Holiday writes about similar stuff. He Well, he takes a lot of what the so the the Roman Stoics have, you know, like Marcus Aurelius and and those that have written in their writings have been, you know, have survived time.
00:14:12
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um And he he repurposes all of those writings and a lot of the the same... the same thing, the same ideas apply. and But anyways, he talks a lot about journaling and the importance of value of that.
00:14:27
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And as I say this, you know I don't do that stuff. And, you know, i think that I would probably be better if I did.
00:14:34
Speaker
To write, you know, kind of a ah staple in meditation is is affirmations, right? Whether it's something you say or something that you write,
00:14:48
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You know, if you repeat, I am a ah world-class firefighter, you'll start to see yourself in that light and you will take actions that align with that identity or whatever your purpose is. You know, any of those things that that we listed.
00:15:10
Speaker
And ah I want to share um my personal life purpose statement, if that's okay. Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, this thing is jam packed with, um, with meaning for me.
00:15:26
Speaker
And, you know, when I, when I think about, you know, striving and struggling for worthwhile goals in my life, this thing kind of condenses, you know, the things that I care about. And so when I say it every single morning, um,
00:15:44
Speaker
It gives me energy, it gives me power, and I hope it inspires listeners to at least get a first draft of their life purpose statement down.
00:15:56
Speaker
My purpose is to be a high-performing husband, father, firefighter, and leader so that I can live this phase of life to the fullest and be a positive force in the lives of others.
00:16:12
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I will do this by... balancing work with relationships and physical health, empowering those around me, building teams, and staying laser focused on my goals.
00:16:31
Speaker
And so you say this every morning as a reminder to yourself to, I guess, to follow through with that purpose.
00:16:43
Speaker
That's right. Every morning where I ah remind myself of what's important in my life. And I kind of put it in order, right? To be a high-performing husband.
00:16:55
Speaker
Man, it's so easy to go day-to-day without prioritizing ah you know elements of the relationship I have with my wife. And to have that reminder every single morning of...
Purpose vs. Mission Statements
00:17:10
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This is a top priority to me. This is part of my life's purpose to be a high performing husband. ah Man, it's so valuable in just having clarity when I'm making decisions, right? Or when we're when we're communicating or going through a tough time.
00:17:33
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um Any of those things, the good things and the bad things that are going to happen in life, it it gives such um perfect clarity to why I'm doing what I'm doing and what my purpose is in life.
00:17:50
Speaker
it's It sounds similar to me. So for those of you who may seem, oh, this is very touchy-feely, I'd say you're not wrong. But maybe maybe it sounds better to you if it's sold as like ah an organizational mission statement or vision statement, right? Like the organizations that we're within, if you're in the Air Force, right? Fly, fight, win is our purpose, you know? And um Everything that we do should be in that pursuit, right? like It's important to remember that aim, um purpose and aim are important if if you're wanting to make meaningful contributions. And I think that most human beings want to make meaningful contributions, whether in their work in their lives.
00:18:37
Speaker
um So maybe if you paint it that way, um you know, like an organizational mission statement, you know, it would resonate more with you. think it's important for all of us to have, you know, that our mission and vision so that we have some kind of aim. And that's another thing Jordan Peterson talks about, having an aim.
00:18:57
Speaker
Because if you don't have an aim, then you're kind of aimlessly... going about your business, going about life. And when you're aimlessly going about things without a name, without a purpose, without a mission statement, that's when you have mental struggle.
00:19:10
Speaker
um That's when you decide to be sedentary. That's when you you decide to put fitness, mental health on the back burner. Like nothing matters. I'm trying to think of the word the the word to that that you use when you think that nothing matters and life is meaningless and we're just existing, right?
00:19:30
Speaker
um But what is it? Apathy. Yeah. Apathy is good word. There's another word that I'm, uh, that I'm ah at a loss for finding, but, but the point is, it's so important to have aim when you have aim and purpose. It's just, it's beneficial on so many more levels than I think we realize, you know, you're just a better contributor at work. You're a better father, mother, um, husband, brother, whatever.
00:20:02
Speaker
ye I like, you know, some people will have a ah different purpose statement for, you know, the different lines of effort in their life. Right. Maybe one for family, maybe one for the firehouse.
00:20:15
Speaker
um You know, I think there's value in an overall purpose statement. um But you can have multiple. And I encourage people to use that that framework and get a ah first draft down.
00:20:29
Speaker
My purpose is... so that i and I will do this by. doesn't have to be perfect. It'll evolve over time.
00:20:42
Speaker
But it's such a powerful thing in your life to have such such clarity on what your goals are. Again, the striving and the struggling that Viktor Frankl talks about. I recommend that book for anybody that is... ah Interested in this kind of stuff, in psychology.
00:21:04
Speaker
It's certainly a heavy one. It spends a lot of time chronic chronicling his time in the different death camps he was at. But um to have a book published the year after,
00:21:14
Speaker
ah you know, surviving such a crazy experience as a psychiatrist, it's such a unique ah read for anybody that's interested in it.
00:21:27
Speaker
Absolutely. And just the expert excerpt that you read, is it seems to me, or at least for me, you know, Knuckle Dragger, read, I'm like, wow, that'd be ah that's ah it's a tougher read, it seems.
00:21:38
Speaker
And they just spoke and wrote differently, I think, back then, or maybe he's just kind of on another level of intelligence. That's how Jordan Peterson's book is,
Spirituality and Happiness
00:21:45
Speaker
too. It's a bit challenging to read. um And I feel like it's important to also bring into this conversation spirituality or the idea of spirituality.
00:21:57
Speaker
you know And i'm not you know saying you know you need to be this religion, that religion, or religious at all. But one common thread I see with people who you know ah attend church regularly, a church regularly, or practice a religion regularly, they seem to me, people that are you know really devoted to that and consistent with it, seem to like you know their purpose is just...
00:22:25
Speaker
um it's so self-evident to them, right? like it's And you kind of see through their action. You see it through their day-to-day action. Like this person has just got a smile on their face and ah they you know they're just they seem you know maybe happier than the next person. And that's just my observation. you know There's no you know scientific or...
00:22:51
Speaker
um It's not an official thing, right? It's just something that I've observed. And I think that that's a thread that ties into what you mentioned. Yeah. That's another quote that stuck with me from the book is that happiness ensues when you have clear purpose.
00:23:11
Speaker
You know, like that. You hear, you know, what's in the Declaration of Independence, you know, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And people will say, you know, you've got to do what makes you happy.
00:23:23
Speaker
um And that's such short-term thinking in a way because happiness ensues.
00:23:32
Speaker
Happiness is not the destination. It's what comes after you have a clear purpose, something that you're striving and struggling for. And I think that's very related to you know kind of the the mental health crisis that you alluded to at the beginning of this episode, that we're werere told over and over and over to go find happiness.
00:23:58
Speaker
And I don't know that it works like that.
00:24:02
Speaker
No, I agree with you. um It's, I think the key word is pursuit. It's the pursuit of happiness. I think the pursuit is what gives you happiness and gives you meaning.
Comfort vs. Purpose
00:24:15
Speaker
um We were just talking to Master Gunnery Sergeant Martinez on on our previous ah episode 53, and we talked about doing hard things, and it's...
00:24:32
Speaker
It's where you find your meaning in doing those hard things. It's where you find your purpose. And that's all in the pursuit of something, right? um It's all the the enduring of hardships and enduring of the and during the path that you're on. um So yeah, I think that when there is a mental health crisis and people's answers are go are to go into a safe space, um a calming place where you can hang out on a, you know, recliner or a couch, comfortable be in a comfortable place where there's no chances of hardships or struggles or whatever.
00:25:09
Speaker
I think it's important to do those things, but that's not the only answer. That can't be the only answer. And if you only do those things... If you only look for those comfortable places, you'll never find that happiness.
00:25:20
Speaker
um And you'll always have that void that he talks about in his book.
00:25:29
Speaker
Well, love it.
Crafting Your Life Purpose Statement
00:25:30
Speaker
That's our our challenge to our listeners. get a ah Get a first draft down. Framework for a life purpose statement. My purpose is, so that I, i will do this by...
00:25:45
Speaker
That's a challenge to me as well to do the same thing. Chris, I appreciate you bringing this topic forward so we could discuss it man. it was a good episode. Awesome. Thanks, brother. Thank you for listening to this episode of Fire Dog Podcast. You can find more episodes like this on our website, firedog.us, or wherever you listen to podcasts. We're also active on social media.
00:26:02
Speaker
Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at the Fire Dog Podcast. That is the Fire, D-A-W-G podcast. Don't forget to subscribe, like, and follow to stay updated on every new episode. We'd appreciate it if you shared this podcast with your friends and coworkers, whether on social media or right there in the firehouse.
00:26:17
Speaker
This is Matt Wilson with co-host Chris Boikley. We thank you for listening to this episode of the Table Talk series. Until next time, stay safe.