6 Steps to meaningful change: How to build a life with purpose & impact

There comes a moment in many careers, often on the commute, sometimes in the middle of a meeting - when a quiet voice asks, “Is this it?”

You’ve ticked the boxes: the job title, the promotions, the salary, the reputation. Yet a sense of discontent lingers… a feeling that somewhere along the way, your work stopped feeling like you (or it never did in the first place…)

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The good news? That question, “Is this it?”, is not a dead end. It’s an invitation, and is what was the start of what I call the Social Starters journey.

Who are the Social Starters?

Social Starters are people who want to make changing the world their business. They do it by creating social or environmental change in their communities, in their companies, or in the world at large.

They’re professionals who make money working toward a mission that matters to them, while still finding time for what matters most - family, travel, creativity, community.

Finding this level of purpose isn’t necessarily a religious experience (though some describe it as spiritual). It’s more like Vocation 2.0: committing to yourself and your life in a new way. Exploring a life that invigorates, inspires, and gives you a truer sense of meaning.

Many Social Starters also make working less and living on their terms a reality, and you can too.

The Search for Meaning

“There is a myth in our culture that the search for meaning is some esoteric pursuit - that you have to travel to a distant monastery or page through dusty volumes to figure out life’s great secret. The truth is, there are untapped sources of meaning all around us - right here, right now.”

Emily Esfahani Smith

Purpose doesn’t require a pilgrimage. It begins in the quiet moments - a Sunday walk, a conversation that stirs something, a book recommendation (which you actually buy and read, for once); it’s a sense, initially, that crystallises into one single belief - that your work could matter more than it currently does.

This adventure is a personal development journey. And it unlocks a whole other world that you never knew existed. To help you become a Social Starter: someone who makes changing the world their business, you are guided through six steps identified as the 6 P’s of Purpose.

Each step builds upon the last, helping you reconnect with who you are, what matters, who you care about most, and how to bring that into your work and life:

• Personal (Identity): Who am I really?
• Passion: What do I care about the most?
• People: Who do I want to show up for and serve?
• Principles: What values make me feel most alive?
• Prioritisation: Where do I start?
• Profit: How can I make a living from doing what matters most?

These six simple, but critical questions form a map, one that can guide you from uncertainty to clarity, from feeling stuck to stepping forward with purpose.

Purpose in Practice

There are an increasing number of businesses - from start-ups to multinationals - where your green belt in Lean Six Sigma, mental health first-aid qualification, or passion for permaculture can be applied to the creation of new products and services that seek to change the world and solve some of the greatest challenges of our time.

These are organisations evolving toward what Giles Hutchins and Laura Storm, authors of Regenerative Leadership: The DNA of Life-Affirming 21st Century Organisations, call “the next stage in leadership consciousness.”

It’s proof that purposeful work isn’t limited to charities or social enterprises - it’s happening across industries, in boardrooms and design labs, where people are re-imagining how business can serve life, not just the bottom line.

A New Kind of Success

Working through the 6 P’s of Purpose often leads to surprising realisations. You may not need a total reinvention; you may just need to redirect what you already do toward impact.

You might join a purpose-driven company, start a side hustle, freelance with social enterprises as a consultant, or simply set new boundaries that honour your wellbeing, as well as rethinking who (and what) you give your precious and finite energy to. When you audit your capacity, you start to make incremental changes that free you up to do new things, more of the stuff you love, and dive deeper into self-awareness - developing the muscle for change.

When you begin designing your career around purpose, you start designing your life around joy, balance, and contribution.

So if you’re hearing that whisper… “Is this it?” … know that it’s really asking, “What else could this be?”

Take a pen and your favourite notebook, and jot down your answers to these two questions:

1. What do I really, really want?
2. Which of the six P’s feels most alive for me right now, and which one needs my attention?

How satisfied are you in your career? Check out our 2 minute Quiz

Want to go deeper into the 6 P’s of Purpose and work with us to support you in your career change? Watch the free 6 P’s of Purpose Masterclass or exploreThe Inner Quest course: a 6-week self-guided journey that helps you move from reflection into action.