We don’t talk about purpose enough. What’s your purpose?

If you want to answer, I have an anonymous survey here. The results are here.

My purpose comes from…

Over time I’ve come to discover that I’m deeply drawn to the space between personal change and social change. It’s my playground. And I’ve learned that I’m driven by two primary forces: curiosity and altruism.

So, what is it?

My purpose in life is to do as much good as humanly possible. I call this my mission.

I wear two primary hats to pursue this mission: social entrepreneur and social scientist. I’m fundamentally a very, very curious change agent.

But I also draw upon my inner positive psychologist, social psychologist, philosopher, ethicist, strategist, and social innovator to advance this mission.

This complexity is a function of my polymath “virus”, meaning I have a strong tendency to immerse myself in both breadth and depth. It will admittedly take me many more years to serve in each role well. I’m a lifelong student.

Living my purpose.

I’m currently:

Building Self Spark, a global community that helps people achieve life goals through science-based events and new technologies. Our events are fun, open source, and achieve measurable results. Ultimately, we’re trying to advance the science of self-actualization/transcendence.

Spreading globally. We’re recruiting for the team.

Helping Polymath Foundation create a new bricks and mortar university for 10,000 modern day Leonardo da Vincis. We’re working to redefine higher education around a “polymathic portfolio” of accomplishment instead of a piece of paper. Ultimately, we hope to help catalyze a 21st Century Renaissance.

And…

I also do emotional intelligence (EQ)-based coaching with an instrument that predicts 54% of life success factors. I care about measurably changing lives.

I sometimes serve as a freelance social entrepreneur (i.e., I help others build their startups), consult for Singaporean social enterprises, speak at local or regional events, write, teach, teach/train, design events, research, and volunteer. Almost all of this is directly tied to creating social change.

And I spend a good deal of my time on personal growth, self-education, and connecting people and enterprises.

This sounds like a lot, but it’s not really that much. I am nearly full-time with Self Spark and advise Polymath Foundation (founded by Michael Barnatham) and OnHand Agrarian (founded by Shannon Lim) as my schedule allows. Everything else happens ad hoc, as I can.

I actually maintain a reasonable work-life-sleep balance.

I have big plans for the future.

Be warned: I’m from Texas–I can’t help but think big!

Long-term, I will move into venture philanthropy and impact investing to strategically scale social innovations and social enterprises, especially in the area of behavior change.

I would like to experiment with what might be considered a new type of job: a freelance social entrepreneur meets active venture philanthropist. In other words, someone who invests his or her time, money, skill, and resources into multiple social enterprises in parallel or serially, working side-by-side with the teams as a co-founder or very active board member. Besides providing seed capital, I would hope to help shape culture, grow people, and directly contribute at an operational level, albeit for specific time spans (e.g., 1-4 weeks at one time).

At a hyperfocus level, I am working to develop the means to create self-actualized polymathic youth and young adult changemakers, especially through globally scalable events.

What would a Social Silicon Valley look like?

In time, I also hope to do my tiny part to help spark several Social Silicon Valleys (SSVs) around the world. I see SSVs specializing in different areas of social impact and competing with each other to develop and scale the newest social innovations.

Ultimately, I envision a world of complete human flourishing. It’s not enough that people are fed, safe, healthy, and minimally educated–that is merely the beginning. In the end, every person deserves a real chance to self-actualize. Developing the scientific, technological, and social framework necessary to create such a world is my long-term focus.