{"version":"1.0","provider_url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu","provider_name":"Warpwire","is_public":true,"duration":0,"has_caption":false,"views":0,"upload_date":"2024-11-07T21:07:12+00:00","description":"Rudi, Nicole, \u00c4ngela and Kai talk through their experience and help you define and discover your purpose.\r\n\r\nTranscription:\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tHello, and welcome to The What's Career Got To Do With It? podcast, where we hope to provide a space for honest conversation and information that encourages the listener to take the next steps in their career journey. Wherever you're at in this process, we hope this episode will meet you with affirmation, guidance, and maybe some laughs along the way. On today's episode, we will discuss an answer or many to the questions of, \"What if I haven't found my purpose?\"\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tQuestion of the day.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tHave you guys found it?\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tI'm still working on it and that's okay.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tI feel like that could be a response to a lot of things to say, \"And that's okay.\" Well, it depends.\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tAbsolutely.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tYou need to make money, then yes, you need to find your purpose.\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tAnd it's okay.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tBut for real, though, maybe we begin with a little bit of sharing surrounding that, and our understanding of purpose and the work that we're doing, and what the meaningful work we're doing. So what is your why of the work that you do?\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tYeah, I think, for me, it was definitely wanting to give back what was given to me. So I was a sophomore in undergrad. I had no idea what I wanted to do career wise. I was a pre-med major for a semester, and then got all that chemistry on my schedule and said, \"Mm-mm. Nope, not going to do that.\" So then I switched to pre-law and actually fell in love with it. But randomly, I had a roommate and she got work study in the athletic department. And one day, she came back and she was just miserable and I was like, \"What's going on?\" She's like, \"I hate my work study.\" I was like, \"Okay, well, tomorrow, I'll go with you.\"\r\n\tAnd I went with her and I fell in love. It was media relations. We were doing all of that. And I had some amazing mentors along the way. And essentially, that led me to finding my purpose of being a servant leader, wanting students to be okay with plan B, C, and D, and hoping that in some way, I could inspire students to have comfort in knowing they don't have to have it all planned out right when they hit 19 and 20. I had people along the way do that for me and I've always felt it my purpose to give that back.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tWell, how about you, Kai?\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tI was thinking about it [inaudible]\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tKai is over there in deep thought.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tI honestly was. I was in a trance and it was just about what is our why behind what we do. I think for me, it comes from a couple of different places. I think when I look at my family background, a lot of the way that we treat one another and how we look at our community through service of either through faith or education, I think that informed in the background, what I decided to do as a profession. But intentionally I wasn't thinking of it that way. It was just always something that you had to do to be a decent human being and community member through service, whether it be advising, having conversations, being a listening ear for somebody. And so for me, I took it from that standpoint. I didn't know I could turn that into a purposeful career. So I think that's what I was zoning out about, and I was thinking about Chick-fil-A.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tNot sponsored, not sponsored, but Chick-fil-A. Not sponsored.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tWe just like the food. We'll discuss their mission and purpose later, but we love their food.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tWow. Kai, I think we were kind of on the same wavelength, which is why I'm looking at you like that. I think for me, I come from a family of servants, and it's just what you do. And I think during my process in undergrad, I knew what I wanted to do and I did it. But then I had to think about what Nicole was talking about, playing A, B, and C. I like to call it a parallel plan. I have athletic training background and I knew I didn't want to be 50 years old picking lineman up off the field. So I needed to figure out what else was going to be next. And I think that background of my family and us being servants, it just morphed into a servant leader, like you all were talking about, and just being able to help somebody along the way. Somebody helped me, so let me go ahead and pay it forward to the next set of students or whomever I interact with.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tI love that. I love that. I think for me, it was a meandering journey. And the simple thing would be if I didn't like something, I put it down. And I wish I could say that was an easy process of putting stuff down and trying it, but that was a rigorous process to figure that out. And in that time, I had a ton of different things. I couldn't get out of school. I kept going back for more and more education, but that helped me to find something along the way. One of those degrees is divinity degree. So it had me think about theology and there's this thing in theology called [inaudible] so this end point or end goal of what we want to do. And I look at this endpoint or end goal, and I think so often we have a specific occupation, job, or title in mind that we want to get to.\r\n\tAnd for me, I was like, I don't have any of those things. I don't know what that is. I don't know what my skills really align with, but I know what I really enjoy doing. So there's this quote from Howard Thurman that I love. And it's \"Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.\" And so for me, things that make me come alive and what I see others coming alive, it really helps me to feel like I'm making a difference in the world and in the lives of others.\r\n\tWhen I see them come alive with excitement about this opportunity that they have, or they really want to talk and work with people from a clinical standpoint, or they want to go out and become a lawyer and they see that actually advocating for justice can make a difference. And rather than just using that title, they use these different bits and pieces of justice, advocacy, empathy, and they apply that to some job along the way. And that's how I am myself. That's how I found myself here. So yeah.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tPound it out.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tWith all of that in mind. What does purpose mean to you?\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tThat's a loaded question, I think. Even as I've gotten older, I think I can give you what I think purpose is, but I think I hope to not discover fully what my purpose is, in fear that I will not be able to continue giving back. So, I think, at times, purpose is very personal, but it also evolves as you evolve as a person.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tI would add that evolution piece again to that. It's that feeling of, am I fulfilled? Have I hit a sweet spot? Am I doing what I'm supposed to do? And you know that feeling, you know when something's right. But as you change, as your environments change, your purpose changes, so I don't think that that purpose is ever set in stone. It may have arms and legs that grow, branches that grow, leaves that grow. Leaves are only for a season. So just thinking about that, I think it's ever changing, but in a good way. But if you feel fulfilled at that moment, you're where you're supposed to be at that time.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tYeah. I've always thought of purpose of it's what you feel like you're supposed to be doing. And I think of the way I feel when people talk about purpose, it's hard to figure out how do I get to that big thing? And when you all were talking about purpose being something you grow into and you either realize it or not. And then you were talking about, you started off basically by picking it up, seeing how it made you feel. That didn't feel good. Put it down. And I think purpose instead of it being an end goal, it's just a process.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tSure.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tAnd that you're figuring out, okay, I like this. And then learning how to find it each and every single time. I think that's what I figured out purpose was.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tI'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's like when you eat ice cream or that food that you like. Man, I like ice cream and I'm going to eat cookies and cream every day. And then 30 days later, like, ooh, maybe we should switch to cake.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tRight.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tI dip you dip we dip.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tWe're not getting any sponsorship right now, but come talk to us if you'd like to.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tI do want to put a plug in for the Keenan Institute for Ethics and the purpose project. From current policy debates about ethics of migration, cyber security, artificial intelligence, to historical interrogations of the rise of post-secular society and nature of genocide to philosophical puzzles about the limits of individual responsibility or foundations of happiness... I could keep going on, but they are having these conversations regularly and they are constantly putting out information and content to explore all of these questions. And so, don't just take it from us. We're taking this from more of our individual basis and from a career centered perspective, but there are great resources out there, like the Keenan Institute for Ethics that are doing some great work surrounding this topic. And so we encourage you to check them out. But with that in mind, this is an action piece, definitely, this institute itself and the work that they're doing through this project. So what does purpose look like in action? What is purposeful work?\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tI would say literally getting your hands dirty and getting involved, whether it's here on campus. If you like to dance... I ran into a colleague who likes to dance. Well, maybe that you getting in with a group, maybe being an advisor, just actually getting engaged in what you feel like your purpose is, so that you'll know if that's it or if it's time to switch.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tYeah. Practicing commitment, dedication, persistence, just keep trying at it. Whatever that thing is that brings you purpose. Again, picking it up, trying it out, like Rudi was saying. That's not it. And just consistency in that process.\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tSure. And I think when it comes to tying all that back into our idea and thoughts on career, here's a resource you can check out. So if you have that question, what is my purpose? What interests me? What gets me up and going? What can I see myself potentially doing in the long run? We have a resource on our website called Focus to Career. It is available on the career hub, and it's a career and education planning system. It's interactive, self-guided; it's an education planning system designed to help you make decisions about your future career goals and education plans. And one of the great things that I think, and I have to puppet because I am a certified strengths finder, assessor person. My words aren't coming to me. But within this Focus to Career website, there are some self assessments that you can do and it'll help you discover work interests, personality assessments, leisure assessments, values assessments, skills assessments.\r\n\tAnd one of them is the strengths finder where you can go in there and learn about your top five strengths, your top five unrealized strengths. Talks a little bit about weaknesses, but I love this assessment because it does not focus on the weaknesses. That is not the focus of this assessment. It is really focusing on your strengths and unrealized strengths. And the beautiful thing that I love about unrealized strengths is it opens up a whole new door to things that you would've never thought about, because unrealized strengths often come to us as second nature. So if you were asking yourself those questions while you were listening to us talk about purpose and meaning, I highly encourage you to check out that resource on the career hub. Again, it is called Focus to Career.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tAnd thank you for that plug. I think that's super important to think through, to have those tangible things and tasks that we can do. But with that in mind too, when we are performing in action or we're going to work, and maybe it's not completely fulfilling to us, is that problematic? Is not having purpose in what we are doing an issue at work? Or can you find purpose elsewhere and that be sufficient? Those are all questions that I think come to mind when I meet with students as they're like, \"This job only fills this in part, but I need a little bit more of this.\"\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tI think that's the fun of exploration, which is a theme within our career center, definitely a theme in the discovery and exploration career community. But I think that's the whole purpose behind exploration. You are going through and you are trying to find the things that inspire you, that give you purpose, and figure out ways to combine those things into your \"ideal career.\" So I think it's okay to not feel completely fulfilled in understanding that you're still exploring and that's okay.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tAnd I also think it's good to not compare yourselves to others' process of figuring it out, just because you may be coming upon a job or opportunity that's not even out there. Think about seven years ago. There are a lot of jobs that did not exist, but there were a few people who were thinking about it. So stay outside of the box. It's all good. Stay outside of the box.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tYeah, and I think you hit the nail on the head with that, Angela. As we think about looking at the intentional work we're doing and in comparison with others, sometimes can be something that is intrusive in our minds. It comes into our life and it tells us that we have to do it this way and it has to be done like this person's doing or the way that they've done it. And I'm curious about that. I am deeply curious. I'm under the mindset of identify language, identify bits and pieces, but know that that whole makeup and that whole pathway or that whole process doesn't have to be what you do. It doesn't have to be the same thing for you. I want to identify language that works for me. I want to identify a pathway that works for me as opposed to taking the exact pathway of someone else. What do you all think about that?\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tThe first thing that came to my mind is take it as an opportunity to network, right? So embrace the understanding of your journey is going to be different, and your journey is something that you get the opportunity to create. Tap into some of these additional resources that we have, whether that be the Duke Alumni Directory, or Ask a Blue Devil, whether that be networking during a career fair or learning about informational interviewing, which by the way, all of these topics can be found for you as a resource on the career hub. But I think that's an awesome opportunity to start getting inspired from different resources or helpful humans as we like to call them, and start to develop out your journey that way.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tNicole just took all of my thoughts, because I was definitely in my head. Oh, that alumni directory, you get yourself an alumni that wants to help you, oh man. I mean, if somebody called me from my alma mater right now, \"Hi Angela, I am a Seahawk. I need some help.\" \"Okay, great. What you need? How can I help you?\" So I was all on an alumni directory in my head.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tYeah. I mean my mind went right to, like you're saying, career hub. My mind went to the career development process portion of the website, figuring out where you're starting there, maybe know yourself, look at those reflective questions, think through some of those, journal if that's your thing, write it out, and then map out a plan that way.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tAnd here's the cool thing too. If the process is not working, if you're going and looking at these resources and they're not working, that's okay too. We don't necessarily say that these are one size fits all, that this is going to be prescriptive, and this is the only way you have to do it. We want to brainstorm with you. We want to figure out what continues to work for people who continue to be successful and then adapt and evolve and make it something that can work for everyone. As we think about all of our answers in this session, we spent so much time looking at that big, broad... Almost want to use the word esoteric.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tOh Lord, GRE. We have bypassed SAT, ACT, GRE words here.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tBut this one will require a short response. And I just want this to be a bit of affirmation. As I look around the room and as I have these people joining me, we are a diverse set of people and that's not just the traditional standards of demographics. We have different processes, the way that we think about things, the way that we operate in our day to day lives, our family, our thoughts, our beliefs, all the things. And yet, I think I come back to the question of, do you have it figured out?\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tAbsolutely not.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tIt's not perfect, and it's okay.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tHalf yes. Half no. It depends on the day.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tDepends on the day.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tIt depends on the day.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tSo with that, we're going to close out with our rapid fire section.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tHey y'all.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tWhat if I haven't found my purpose?\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tTake it as a opportunity to get excited about exploring new potentials, new horizons, meeting new people, really being able to put yourself out in this world and be okay with: you're going to like some things you're going to not like some things, and that is part of your journey. It is yours; nobody else can dictate it unless they're paying for it financially. That's a whole other conversation. But it is yours to really grab hold of and decide where it goes.\r\n\u00c4ngela Bonner:\tI would say that there's no deadline, per se, because it's going to change. And again, like you heard me say, and that's okay. So just take the time to explore. Take the time to make good decisions that work for you in your journey, in each step of your journey.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tTake some time to leave it alone. Go outside, take a walk. Go get you something good to eat, if that's your thing. Play a game. Talk to a friend. Watch Real Housewives of Atlanta.\r\nNicole Mitchell:\tListen to some music.\r\nKai Kelley, Jr.:\tLaugh a little bit, and then come back to it. See yes, come back to it.\r\nMichael \"Rudi\" ...:\tAnd I'm along those lines, as well, as putting it down. I had a professor that once told me that we are meaning-making creatures. And sometimes they just is no meaning and big oh no, that's terrible. But also, we have to stop asking those questions sometimes in order to go find the answer to the question. And getting out and going and doing and living and being in the world can help us get there. So thank you for joining us today. We look forward to having you next week and tuning in. This is What's Career Got To Do With It podcast, and we hope to see you next week.","author_name":"Sandhya Pakala","html":"\u003Ciframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/w\/eZIIAA\/\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media; camera; microphone; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E","height":360,"width":640,"thumbnail_height":360,"thumbnail_width":640,"url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/w\/eZIIAA\/","type":"video","title":"Replay: What if I Haven't Found My Purpose","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/img\/10ED13AE-DB77-4E78-BDAA-21F9B14D30E1\/F613732A-19F1-475E-8C94-1096EDDDB384\/large\/"}