Discovering your purpose...

to drive your messaging and invite connection

I have written heaps of educational or “how-to” posts. People appreciate these posts because they help them with solving an immediate issue or help them to do something better straight away.

However, since I have aligned my writing with my purpose, more people are connecting with me and they are connecting on a different level. More of the “right” people are connecting with me, more people who are not only receptive to my message but are aligned with my message, more people who are ready to work with me.

The key for messages that connect on a deep level is to send messages that matter

Messages that matter are not about the quick wins that teach you how to write a better headline or how to get into creative flow quicker.

Messages that matter are messages that contribute to your audience’s personal development and their self-actualisation.

Messages that matter tap into the deep desire of living a meaningful life, of leaving a legacy, of becoming a better person or a better leader. In other words – a person who creates change that makes this world a tiny bit better.

Messages that matter come from your purpose

Of all the brand statements that you should have in place (mission, vision, values…), I believe that your purpose statement is the most important of all.

Your purpose statement doesn’t only justify your existence, it also defines how you want to change the world for the better.

Your purpose statement dives deep into who you are as a person and what really matters to you. Writing your purpose statement is a bold act of declaring who you are and how you want to serve and contribute to the greater good.

That goes way beyond all the SMART goals and mission statements that you could ever set. And the important part is - that your purpose statement is not focused on you and your needs but solely on the needs of others. It comes from a place of contribution and service.

A clear purpose drives you and every action that you take.

Once you have gained clarity on your purpose, things are starting to fall into place. And you find your place too.

Purpose leads to positioning

When you are clear on your purpose, you need to take a stand. You need to decide or discover what you stand for, what you believe in, what people come for when they reach out to you, who the people are that find and align with you, what common goals you have, what and how you can help them to achieve their goals.

How you show up is an expression of how you position yourself. It is common knowledge that in order to connect with people, you need to show them who you are and share details about yourself.

You need to “allow people in”.

There are different ways of sharing yourself with your audience – the self-centred posts that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and even on LinkedIn.

People posting about themselves, what they have achieved, how they look, what they eat, whom they’ve met, what brands they wear, or how they spend their vacations, how many figures they write...

These “look at me” posts often create a large following and are quite marketable. They are generally aimed at making money and not at serving others.

But when you come from a place of service and contribution and follow your purpose, then your sharing of stories, views, and values allows people to align with you because you share common ground.

When you share your authentic self, then you show your imperfections but also your strengths and potential for empowering others to create endless opportunities.

Finding clarity to positioning yourself for connection

Positioning is not just about price and benchmarking. It is much more about the clarity that you gain from understanding yourself and what your position is in your environment and your trajectory of where you want to go in the future.

Apart from your purpose, your positioning is derived from your strengths and talents, your experience, capabilities, and your passions or rather obsessions. It is about all the knowledge that you have gathered around who you already are to become that person that you want to be.

Often that involves struggling and learning things that do not come easy to us. Your strengths are just a starting point and in order to grow, you need to move beyond that and develop skills that do not come “natural”.

As an example - for a long time, I struggled with sales calls. Sales conversations were incredibly painful for me because I didn’t know how to sell in a way that feels good to me and is aligned with my values. Sales is something that I am continually working on because I am aware that I there’s still lots to learn that I can improve on.

I also learned that for selling, I need a clear message and that my messaging is not only important for selling but also for connecting with people (which naturally comes BEFORE selling).

Where messaging clarity comes from

Ask yourself the question: “What must your audience believe, feel, and think to be aligned with you?”

If you truly want to connect with people, then you have to find alignment in your needs, beliefs, values, feelings, and thinking.

If you want people to connect with you, then you need to show people how you think and how they must think if they want to align with you.

That also means that you need to take responsibility and become comfortable with the idea to assume thought leadership.

You also need to become comfortable with the idea of continuous learning and development. Of adapting to new situations and contexts that you find yourself in, of exploring new ways of thinking and absorbing knowledge and wisdom from other people who share your values.

And finally, you need to understand who you are, who you want to become, and how you are going to grow into that person.

When you understand that and how you can share your gifts and knowledge to help others to grow and succeed – you will notice that people will connect and align with you.

Find clarity about all this and you find messaging clarity.

I’d love for you to share your purpose statements with me – and if you’d like a little help with your purpose, positioning, and messaging, then drop me a line and we can explore how we can work together.

Categories: Brand Messaging, Customer Avatar, Engagement