Cheryl Strayed argues that choosing a partner based on shared purpose matters more than compatibility or attraction. Many couples drift apart when challenges hit because they never aligned on what they actually wanted to build together. Most people skip this step because they haven't figured out their own purpose yet.
Chapters
You do not pick Partnerships based on pleasure. You pick Partnerships based on purpose. And I think that's where a lot of people get messed up. There are a lot of people you can be compatible with, but they're not going the same direction as you. The pleasure wears off when you get in a pit. Like when. When it ain't working, when we lost the money, when you used to dress up for me. And now you looking like a grandma, like all of those things. that's when you have to pick partners that you remember. Why did we get together? What was the purpose of this? What did we say we were going to do? And so a lot of times when people are starting to date and have fun and do all the different things, they're not thinking purpose. And it's hard to think purpose when you have not spent enough time with yourself personally.