According to this 2013 Malibu TED Talk, Adam Leipzig, an American film and theatre producer, found at his 25th class reunion from Yale, that 80% of his privileged classmates were unhappy with their lives.

Putting aside my skepticism at a Hollywood producer soliciting such brutal and humble honesty from so many apparently successful people at a class reunion, I was interested in his promise to help others know their life purpose in just 5 minutes.

• Who you are?
• What you do?
• Who you do it for?
• What they want and need?
• How they are changed as a result?

These are the five questions that, when answered quickly, will reveal your life’s purpose, says Leipzig.

How the spontaneous answers to these questions will reverse one’s disappointment, like the disappointment of his Yale classmates, into satisfaction, he does not say.

Take Time to Think

We can all answer these questions quickly, thoughtlessly, based on our current reality.  But to answer these same questions with aspiration, with an acknowledgement of personal, deeply held values, and, perhaps, an admission of one’s secret but burning desires and a recognition of one’s place in the kaleidoscope of life, requires more than five minutes. It requires a willingness to go deep, to know oneself and to embrace whatever truths one finds there.

Your life is not a Hollywood story. It is unique and precious, and it is your story.  Do yourself the honor of thinking hard about Leipzig’s questions.  I suggest you follow the process in my book.  Leipzig’s questions, answered in five minutes, will take you around in a circle and you will end up exactly where you started.  The same questions, addressed in a coaching process, will reveal unexpected new possibilities.  Isn’t that worth a few more minutes of your time?

Photo by Tachina Lee on Unsplash