The Truth About Purpose in 2025: It’s Not What You Think

There was a moment last year when I sat in my office, tea going cold beside me, Baxter asleep at my feet, and realized something that shook me in a surprisingly gentle way.

I didn’t actually know my purpose anymore.

And for someone who’s spent the last 15 years helping people find their purpose, that realization felt humbling. Liberating. A little like standing barefoot at the edge of an ocean I’ve known my whole life, only to realize it’s even deeper and wilder than I imagined.

Before COVID, I believed purpose was a fixed thing. A North Star. A calling you identified, committed to, and built your life and business around. And for a long time, I truly did know mine. I helped heart-led entrepreneurs launch their dreams, market with authenticity, and trust the voice inside that whispers, “You’re meant for more.”

But the pandemic shifted something in me. Not in a dramatic identity-crisis kind of way, but more like a soft, persistent tug on the hem of my soul. A whisper asking,

Are you sure that’s all there is?
Are you sure purpose is one thing?
What if it’s everything?

The Great Reassessment: Why Purpose Feels Different Now

COVID cracked us open. It broke the illusion that life follows a predictable, linear path. It showed us how quickly everything can change. Our routines, our work, our sense of safety. It reminded us that waiting for “someday” to choose joy or meaning is a gamble.

Then came the AI wave, reshaping industries, disrupting entire careers, and leaving a trail of uncertainty in its wake. People have been left literally holding the bag when it comes to what they can do next that has meaning or value.

We are now living in a world where the question is no longer, “What do I want to do with my life?”
The question has become, “What do I want my life to mean?”

And we’re not waiting to ask it. We’re asking now. Because we’ve seen that time is not promised.

The Illusion That Everyone Else Has It Figured Out

One of the hardest things about this season is the quiet loneliness it brings. We scroll through other people’s lives, compare ourselves, and assume that everyone else has clarity while we’re somehow floundering.

But here’s what I know to be true.

Most people don’t have it all figured out. They’re just moving forward anyway.

Behind the curated confidence, the clean logos, and the shiny strategies are people asking big questions. Questions like:

• What if I don’t want what I used to want?
• What if my values have changed?
• What if I’ve outgrown my brand, my offer, or my path?
• What now?

This isn’t a crisis. It’s a becoming.

What This Means for Entrepreneurs (Like Us)

If you’re building your business right now and everything feels a little blurry or in flux, you’re not doing it wrong.

You’re building while becoming. That’s what entrepreneurship actually is.

You’re navigating the space between what you thought you wanted and what your soul is asking for now. You’re holding a vision in one hand and uncertainty in the other. You’re creating from a place that is honest, evolving, and not always easy to explain.

And that’s exactly where your power lives.

The old way of doing business doesn’t work anymore. The formulas, the five-year plans, the copy-and-paste offers, they don’t fit the moment we’re in. Not when your business is meant to reflect the real you, not the outdated version you’ve already outgrown.

This season is asking more from us, but not in the hustle-harder way. It’s asking us to be honest. To get quiet. To stay aligned. To move forward in truth, even when we don’t have the full picture.

If purpose used to be a destination, it’s now a compass. It will need to be recalibrated again and again.

You might launch something, love it, and then feel called to walk away. You might build something successful, only to realize it’s no longer meaningful. You might find new inspiration in the smallest moments that never made it onto your vision board.

None of that is wrong.

You are not behind.
You are not confused.
You are evolving.

So, What If Purpose Isn’t One Thing?

Here’s the reframe I’ve been living into lately, and maybe you need to hear it too:

What if purpose isn’t one thing?
What if it’s everything?

What if purpose lives in your morning ritual, your messy drafts, your client calls, your days off, and your creative bursts? What if it’s found in presence, not pressure? In how you show up, not just what you show up for?

What if purpose is allowed to expand as you do?

Because the truth is, you don’t build your business once. You build it again and again as you become more of who you truly are.

And that, my friend, is the purpose.

Notes for Modern Entrepreneurs in Transition

Here are a few reminders to carry with you:

1. Let go of the pressure to define your life’s purpose. Start by asking what feels meaningful now, and follow that.
2. Revisit your offers. Do they still reflect your values and the version of you that’s alive today?
3. Permission to change your mind. You’re not flaky. You’re evolving.
4. Make space to listen. Slowness can be sacred. That’s often where clarity returns.
5. Uncertainty is not failure. It’s usually the soil where your next season is quietly germinating.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going

If this resonates, you’re not alone. I coach business leaders through these questions every day. If you’re in a season of “becoming” and want support building a business or moving a mission forward that matches who you are now, I’d love to support you.

Book a free clarity session.

You don’t need to follow the old map.
You’re here to chart your own.

You’ve got this. And I’m here for it.