The Sentence That Set My Life in Motion
When I was in my early twenties, I wrote down a sentence that would quietly shape every chapter of my life that followed:
“The purpose of my life is to live my dreams so I can inspire others to live their dreams.”
At the time, I didn’t know any purpose frameworks.
I hadn’t heard of Simon Sinek.
I had never read about ikigai, the Japanese concept of meaning.
All I knew was this:
I loved adventure.
I loved taking pictures.
I loved being out in wild places — skiing down untouched slopes, climbing big mountains, kayaking wild rivers.
And I loved communicating those experiences to other people.
By the age of 20, I realized something important about myself:
It wasn’t enough to experience life’s beauty — I wanted to share it.
I wanted to bring people with me — through photographs, through stories, through whatever medium I had.
That instinct — to live boldly and then use creativity to inspire others — became the thread that would tie my entire life together.
I didn’t see it clearly then.
But looking back, it’s unmistakable.
How Filmmaking Became My First Purpose-Driven Career
I didn’t choose filmmaking because it was practical.
I chose it because it was the perfect fusion of everything that lit me up:
- My love of adventure
- My love of photography
- My desire to communicate
- My instinct to inspire
Documentary filmmaking gave me a vehicle to live my dreams and a platform to help others imagine theirs.
Over the years, that purpose carried me:
- Across the Himalayas and Alaska filming climbers
- Down unexplored rivers with kayakers
- Onto remote ski slopes
- Into more than 30 countries documenting stories of courage, grit, and possibility
When someone watched one of my films and said,
“Your movie inspired me to chase a dream I’d buried,”
I felt my purpose confirmed.
I was doing what I loved.
I was good at it.
It helped others.
And it supported my life.
That is the formula for purpose.
Purpose Doesn’t Change — Only the Expression of It Does
Today I stand on stages instead of glaciers.
I use words instead of cameras.
But the purpose is identical:
Live my dreams.
Inspire others to live theirs.
Filmmaking was one chapter.
Sailing around the world for 17 years was another.
Keynote speaking is the next evolution of the same thread.
Purpose is not a job title.
Purpose is a direction.
Once you know yours, every major decision becomes simpler:
- Is this aligned with who I am?
- Does this move me toward meaning or away from it?
- Does this express the best of me?
If the answer is yes — you are on-purpose.
What Simon Sinek Tells Us About Purpose
Simon Sinek famously teaches:
“People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.”
In leadership, this is everything.
Teams don’t commit to tasks — they commit to meaning.
They don’t stay engaged because of rules — they stay engaged because of purpose.
They don’t follow you because of your title — they follow you because of your why.
When leaders lose their purpose, they lose their people.
But when leaders articulate purpose clearly, especially in turbulent times, teams reconnect to:
- energy
- resilience
- loyalty
- and possibility
A team with purpose outruns a team with perks every time.
What My Friend Gabrielle Bosché Says About Purpose
As my friend Gabrielle Bosché likes to put it:
“Your purpose is the best of what you have to help others.”
Not the most impressive version.
Not the version the world says you should want.
The true version — the one that emerges from your strengths, your passions, and your patterns.
When I heard her say that, it clicked instantly:
The best of what I had — curiosity, storytelling, adventure, optimism — had always been in service of helping other people believe something bigger was possible for themselves.
That’s purpose.
The Japanese Concept of Ikigai
In Japan, they have a word for the reason you get up in the morning: ikigai.
It lives at the intersection of:
- What you love
- What you’re good at
- What the world needs
- What you can be paid for
During our 17 years at sea, Dee and I saw ikigai everywhere — not in big, dramatic achievements, but in quiet daily devotion:
A fisherman repairing nets just before sunrise.
A woman weaving baskets in the shade.
A boatbuilder shaping wood with quiet pride.
None of them were chasing purpose.
They were living it — skill, joy, service, and sustenance in perfect alignment.
Purpose doesn’t have to be glamorous.
It just has to be true.
Your Purpose Leaves Clues
People often ask me, “How do I find my purpose?”
Here’s the truth:
You already know it.
It’s been following you for years.
Purpose leaves breadcrumbs:
- What were you drawn to as a kid?
- What activities absorbed you completely?
- What did you create, practice, or explore without being asked?
- What do people come to you for?
- What patterns show up again and again across your life?
Your purpose isn’t hiding.
It’s repeating.
How to Find Your Purpose (Starting Today)
Step 1: Identify the best of who you already are
Write down the strengths and passions that have been consistently true across your life.
Not what you wish were true.
What is true.
That list is the foundation of your purpose.
Step 2: Identify who benefits when you are at your best
Purpose always points outward.
Ask:
Who gets better when I show up fully?
Whose life improves when I use my strengths?
Your purpose sits at that intersection.
Step 3: Look for the pattern that has repeated through every chapter of your life
Purpose rarely appears through introspection alone.
It reveals itself through repetition.
Look back and ask:
What was the through-line?
What activities or values kept resurfacing?
What motivated your biggest decisions?
Your purpose is in the pattern — not the position.
Final Thought: A Purpose Lived Is a Life Expanded
The sentence I wrote at 20 — “to live my dreams and inspire others to live theirs” — still guides my decisions today.
It guided:
- My filmmaking career
- My adventures
- Our 17-year sailing journey
- My transition into speaking
- The work I do with leaders, organizations, and audiences
Purpose doesn’t expire.
It evolves.
And here’s the beautiful thing:
You don’t need to find purpose.
You need to recognize the one that’s already been shaping you.
Live from that place — and everything else gains clarity.
Meaning deepens.
Fulfillment grows.
And the world gets the best of who you are.