Purpose synonyms are other words that have a similar meaning to purpose. And this is a great way to deepen our understanding of the meaning of purpose.
It seems like everyone is using the word purpose. It’s a buzzword as more people look for meaning in their lives.
But what is purpose?
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Most people think of ‘purpose’ as life purpose or business purpose and fail to think beyond this.
When you use the same word over it loses its meaning. Plus it can get a little boring. It would be like putting chilli on every meal you ate. How would you like chilli toast, chilli coffee, chilli cereal, chilli fruit salad and a chilli cupcake for breakfast? Everything would taste the same.
Instead, add some different spices to your life by using these purpose synonyms… Here are nine words that are similar in meaning to purpose.
But which of these purpose synonyms is the most important? I’ll answer that too.
Plus, I’ll share how you can use these other words for purpose to spice up your life.
1 Objective
A purpose can be something you want.
Your purpose is an objective. It could be something you want For instance, it could be to earn a million dollars. Or it could be who you want to become, eg I want to be a leader. These are both objectives.
2 Goal
Your purpose can be a desired outcome or result.
We don’t normally think of a purpose as a specific result. It’s often thought of as being abstract or conceptual. For instance, to end hunger. But that’s also a specific goal.
3 Intention
Your intention is the purpose or reason behind an action or decision.
You can have an intention in any situation. This could be a big intention, such as your life purpose. Or it could be a little intention, to eat an apple.
An intention is also why a purpose statement is a form of manifesto. A manifesto is a public declaration of your intention. When you declare your purpose you are also declaring your manifesto.
4 Mission
Your purpose can be a special task that you take on.
Your purpose can also be a mission – a special long-term task. But, I think of a purpose as a context – a place you come from or an attitude you bring. In contrast, a mission has a specific outcome.
5 Function
The purpose of something is the role it was designed to fulfil.
Normally, we think of a functional purpose as the domain of a designed object – for instance, a house. But you can think of your life purpose in the same way. For instance, if your purpose is to lead your community – that is a role you will design to fulfil.
6 Design
We can plan or arrange things to achieve a specific purpose.
Like ‘function’, design is often thought of relative to things. But we also design our lives. And your purpose is one powerful tool you can use to design a powerful life (or a powerful business). In this way, your purpose is a design tool that declares a future you then live into and aim to fulfil. For instance, Tesla’s purpose to ‘accelerate the shift to sustainable energy’ is a statement for designing the company around.
7 Ambition
Your purpose can be expressed as a strong desire to achieve something.
This definition of ambition – a strong desire to achieve something, is ideally how you need to act to live a purposeful life. The purpose sets the direction and then you express yourself according to that principle or aim.
8 Destination
Your purpose can be a place you want to reach.
We normally think of destinations as places we arrive at. That’s like travelling on holiday and you reach your campground or grandma’s house. You arrived. A personal purpose may be a personal destination of who you become. But may also be impossible to reach. For instance, I can reach the goal of being a father. But to be a good father is only a temporary destination.
9 Drive
Your purpose can be used as a motivaton to take action.
Your drive or motivation may result from acting true to your purpose. But not the other way around. In this sense, your purpose gives you drive. It can be the thing that gets you up and out of bed each day.
The Best Purpose Synonym
Which of these nine purpose synonyms is the best one?
That depends on your context. They’re all useful.
Most people talk about purpose as ‘life purpose’ or ‘business purpose’ – the umbrella context for our entire lives or business. But these other words for purpose show there’s more to it than that.
If I had to pick one it would be intention. Your life purpose is your life intention. Your business purpose is your business intention. And likewise what I’m going to do in the next ten minutes is also an intention.
The Best Way to Apply Purpose to Your Life/Business
The best way to use this is to have an overarching purpose. Think of it like an umbrella and as the overarching context, you live by.
Then inside that, you can use the other words to define your actions.
For instance, my purpose is ‘to create new worlds through sharing ideas’. This is the overall context for my life and my business. Inside that, I have various projects. For instance, my YouTube mission is to attract one million views. That’s a long-term project. I also have a goal to be prolific in the next 90 days – a short-term project.
More on Purpose Synonyms
If you want more on Purpose and Purpose Synonyms then check out these other posts:
- What is a manifesto? 21 Synonyms for Manifesto
- Purpose for Business Experts – Four Levels
- 11 of the best Purpose Statement Examples to inspire you
- 13 of the best Social Purpose Statement Examples
