For years I struggled to figure out my “why,” meaning my response to the question, “Why am I on this planet?”

For me, the why had to be more than money, or fame (wasn’t very good at achieving either), or even impact. 

Around 2002 I stumbled across a simple formula that pointed me in the right direction (by the way: the answer to this question can take years—and a fair amount of quiet listening—to uncover/discover), and continues to be a “north star” for me. 

It’s simply this: I found my why—or vocation, if you wish—at the intersection of my deepest joy and the great needs of the world. 

(“Deepest joy” is the reason that money or fame won’t get me there. Those things melt away. “Deepest joy” is a joy that is somehow immune or inoculated against the pressures of time and circumstance.) 

So what’s at that intersection for me? Just this: 

My deepest joy is creating, communicating, and teaching in order to serve people who desperately want to know that there’s Something More to life, and who are hungry for transcendence. 

That’s it for me. If you don’t know your why, I wouldn’t necessarily encourage you to take mine, but I would encourage you to do your own work, sit with your own story, and ask yourself what’s at the intersection for you.