In this talk, the speaker—drawing on a background in behavioral economics—explores the spectrum between purpose and pleasure as two dimensions of happiness and success. He argues that individuals should locate themselves on this spectrum and consciously choose a balance that aligns with their personal values. Using examples such as parenting, Jon Krakauer’s rejection of happiness‑as‑the‑goal, and the growing consumer preference for experiences over material goods, he shows how purpose‑driven choices can enhance both personal fulfillment and social impact. The talk links purpose to entrepreneurship, emphasizing that products infused with social good provide experiences that satisfy innate human drives. He outlines essential impact skills—communication, collaboration, cross‑pollination, and creative problem solving—and challenges the myth that altruism must be pure, encouraging the integration of personal and altruistic motives. The speaker introduces Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow model (intersection of what you love, what the world needs, and what you’re good at) as a practical framework for identifying purpose. He then discusses responsible consumerism, the triple‑bottom‑line, and the sizable market opportunity for purpose‑centric startups, illustrated with community projects in Ethiopia and Guatemala that empower indigenous youth to tell their own stories through media. Drawing on entrepreneurship metaphors (building doors when opportunities don’t knock) and the importance of authentic connection, he concludes with Joseph Campbell’s insight that saving oneself is the path to changing the world, urging listeners to become the most vital version of themselves.
Chapters
Okay, so, you know, another thing to think about, again, my background's in behavioral economics, this idea of purpose v. pleasure. So when we're talking about this idea of happiness, success, and impact, in behavioral economics we look at happiness or success on a scale. On the one hand we have purpose, on the other hand we have pleasure. And everyone is kind of somewhere on that spectrum, and the idea is to decide for yourself where you are. So just as like one example, as it turns out, this is awkward, Having kids doesn't make you happy. Awkward, I know. However, there is so much purpose in reading to and raising a tiny human that over a lifetime, of course, it creates a lifetime of happiness. So the idea is figuring out, and again, I teach redefining success, so this idea is top of mind, but where on the spectrum your happiness, your success, your version of, you know, I nailed it is. For example, Jon Krakauer, is anyone familiar with him? Into the Wild. He wrote Into the Wild. OK, Into Thin Air. Yeah. So he wrote this great Atlantic— he's like this awesome mountaineering star. I love all his work. He's also like a really irascible dude. And he wrote in this recent Atlantic article, he was like, screw happiness. Like, who said our whole job was to be happiness, to be happy? My thing is I want to have purpose. So the whole point is to figure out what that means for you. And this is why it's critical in terms of entrepreneurship and social impact. So it turns out that people are looking for experiences over things more and more. American consumers, when we're talking about customer retention, and this is why this matters for what we're talking about. The first thing is when you think about what you want to do with your life, right? What experiences you want to have, what will make you the most successful, happy, purposeful version of yourself, however you want to define that for yourself. That's the first thing. The second thing is guess what it does when you add social impact or social good into your product? It gives people an experience in addition to a thing, right? So if you're creating a product that lives on beyond just an actual product, you've now given people what we are biologically trained to want. So that's critical. And then of course, I love this by Ray Goford. This is kind of the crux of what we're talking about. There are 2 types of people who are going to tell you that you can't make a difference in this world, right? Those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you might succeed. So that's important to remember when we come up against all these obstacles to making a difference. And this is just kind of a short list that I've created of things that are critical for what we're talking about when we're talking about making an impact. Communication, collaboration, cross-pollination, and creative problem solving. So just kind of one of many ways to think about what it's going to take to make a dent in the universe in your way, to make a difference, to make an impact in your way, in your company, in your startup. And I just kind of, as we start to wrap up and it starts to get really fun, we're about to do something really fun, and then I open it up to questions, I just want you to think about this, and we get into this a lot deeper in the workshop I teach on this, but what are some altruistic and some personal reasons you have for wanting to make an impact? So one of the stopping points for a lot of people is that, well, if it also feels good or if I also make money, then it's not really doing good and it doesn't count. We're living in an age where it's not just about dropping your life and being Mother Teresa anymore. It's not even just volunteering. It's not just charity work. There are so many ways from the micro to the macro that we can make a difference. And what's so wrong with having personal reasons to do so? What's so wrong with it feeling good? What's so wrong with it looking good on the brochure? There is nothing wrong with that, but notice how that might stop you from doing it. And there— I mean, life is lived in the gray area, not the black and white. And when you think about some altruistic and some personal reasons you have for wanting to make an impact, what's so wrong if it does both? You know, frankly, it's more efficient if it does. So again, optional homework if you want to just think about, you know, some altruistic and some personal reasons you have for wanting to make an impact and where they might overlap. So we won't get into this too much. We talk about this a lot in the workshop, but I want— it's important because I think people really tap into this idea when we talk about it, which is what type of world changer are you? So when you're thinking about your purpose, it's important to think about who you are, right? We each have a unique set of skills and a voice that if we don't share it, no one will. And there's lots of different ways to make a difference, to have an impact, to be a world changer, to make a dent in the universe. And one of many ways to think about this, and this is taken in part from Flow. Is anyone familiar with Flow? So Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a positive psychologist out of UChicago. And he talks about flow in the business context. It's— we use it a lot in mindfulness and in business. But when you think about your life, your purpose, what you want to do, you know, it can be interesting to think about the intersection of what you love, What the world needs and what you're good at. And oftentimes people forget to think about one or more of these. So if you can think about in this little Venn diagram situation, you know, what lies at the intersection of that for you, you might be getting really close to figuring out exactly kind of what your values are. And here's the idea kind of bringing it all the way around to business is that responsible consumerism is in. So it's hot. It's on trend in addition to, of course, you know, being my life's work, but this idea of marrying ethics and economics, profit and purpose, having a double or even a triple bottom line. And again, we have a huge opportunity here. We have a huge— there's a huge business opportunity, especially if you're thinking about starting a startup, being in entrepreneurship now. There's a huge business opportunity and a huge gap to be filled. And there's a lot of industries where this still hasn't been filled. So it's a really exciting opportunity and you're in like this really exciting space right now because you're right there. And ultimately, this is what we're talking about. We're talking about working with communities. So someone had said connection in— when we did one of our shoutouts earlier. These are just some pictures. This is me with one of my teammates in Ethiopia. These are 2 of my little friends, these little adorable best friends in Ethiopia. And these are my friends in Guatemala. This is a really interesting story. So this organization works with indigenous youth and trains them in things like photography, blogging, videography. So that indigenous youth can tell their own stories in their own way. Because how many of us, especially people, you know, for example, in indigenous communities have had their story told for them by other people? And so this is a perfect example of a very creative, very simple way to get people telling their own story in their own way. And yes, you know, this is what he wants and this is him. He was— I actually— he was part of my team in Guatemala. He is part of my team and this is him working with these kids at this amazing school called Mayan Families. But it's these very simple ways that are really, really scalable, powerful, and they kind of tap into what we all want to do, which is we all— this idea of telling our story. So again, it's all about working with communities. And that can be communities right near you or communities really far away via technology. And you're already building one in this room, which is what it's all about. And then this is kind of what for me entrepreneurship is, which is if opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. And oftentimes it's not gonna knock. Has anyone read Big Magic by Liz Gilbert? I highly recommend it. Whether or not you love Eat, Love, Pray, this book is so kick-ass. She's so awesome. But this idea is that often it's not gonna knock. And she tells this story about, you know, and Brené Brown tells the same story. You know, she's sitting around her kitchen table like, I wrote something amazing, just gonna wait for the publishers like to come on down. And of course they don't. So even if you've built something amazing, you still sometimes have to build your own door. And that's what entrepreneurship is. So ultimately, it's brilliant that someone said this earlier, but it's all about authentic connection. That's what everything is. That's business. That's building your network. That's building your company. It's all about authentically connecting with others and with yourself. And that's kind of the crux of what we're talking about. And then before we get into something really exciting, just to wrap up, I'm going to start to close with this quote from Joseph Campbell, which I love. I love his work. Is anyone familiar with Joseph Campbell? I highly recommend his work. He's a— he was a great mythologist. He worked at Sarah Lawrence for 25 years. He did this awesome, sweet, like, '80s PBS special too with, like, these sweet '80s glasses. But essentially, he studied the world's myths, cultures, and societies. And he found something very profound, which is all cultures, all societies across all ages and all time all have the same myths. No matter how remote or isolated they are, we all have the same stories. And Joseph Campbell says, we're not on a journey to save the world, but to save ourselves. But in doing that, you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes. So, as I start to wrap up, I just kind of want to drop this little truth bomb, which is there's no such thing as changing the world. There's no such thing as saving the world. Right? No one saves anyone else, and you've probably experienced this maybe in professional and personal situations. There's no such thing as saving the world. There's only saving yourself and kind of really taking initiative in that tiny little, you know, corner of the universe you might call home. And that's the only thing we can do. So it turns out there is no such thing as changing the world, but when we change ourself, we do change the world. So how can you become the most kind of vital version of yourself? It's really the only question you have the power to answer, and it's also the most important one. Thank you.
