The Power of Purpose: Find Meaning, Live Longer, Better [Paperback]

Richard J Leider (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2010

What really matters?  How should we grapple with the many political, economic, medical, and spiritual crises we seem to encounter on a daily basis?  What can we count on when everything around us seems so ephemeral?  Coach, leadership legend and vitality expert Richard Leider argues that purpose is the answer to all of these questions.  When all else seems unknowable or fleeting, purpose give us the will to live.  In the end, it's all we can control.

Leider examines the critical importance of a sense of purpose in achieving a full, productive, and contributory working life, and explains how finding purpose is the key to living both longer and better.  He offers a detailed, practical process for finding your calling. Concise and easy to read, based on many interviews with people of all ages, and including numerous stories of people living on purpose, The Power of Purpose guides readers toward discovering the purposes they already have within them.

The second edition of this bestselling book has reworked multiple chapters to include powerful new stories and lessons learned by the author.  It also emphasizes new techniques and methods for detecting and determining purpose, research demonstrating the documented medical connections between purpose and longevity, and survey results of fulfilled individuals who discovered that, in retrospect, meaning trumped money (and everything else) in their lives.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Power of Purpose: Creating Meaning in Your Life and Work, by respected life/work planning specialist Richard Leider, is a lofty yet down-to-earth guide for people struggling to find their true professional callings. Developed through the author's considerable personal experience and extensive interviews conducted over the past 20 years, it's designed to serve as a jumping-off point for those who'd truly like to combine their "own unique gifts" with "the needs of the world" to carve out a vocational niche that's both individualized and highly rewarding. A helpful guide to using the material in a reading group is included. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

As we enter the new millennium, most of us are searching for deeper meaning in our lives-some reliable compass point to guide us ahead.... The Power of Purpose teaches you to embrace the complex questions life is asking you. Find your 'why' and your 'what' and your 'how' will become clear. -- Frederic M. Hudson, Ph.D., Founder and President, The Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara

Dick Leider draws a road map for a life of service and improving the lives of others. -- Walter F. Mondale, former United States Vice President

The Power of Purpose addresses the key issue for many people's lives these days: wanting to feel that their life here on earth is not meaningless. I commend this book to all those seeking help in identifying their mission and calling. -- Richard N. Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute?

What are your gifts? How can you best serve? What are you here to do and be in this life? These are the questions Dick Leider raises and helps you answer in The Power of Purpose-a practical guide to finding and fully embracing your calling in life. -- Eric Utne, Founder, Utne Reader --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; Second Edition edition (May 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605095230
• ISBN-13: 978-1605095233
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Obstacle2, January 3, 2007

By 

Good Intention "Jo" (Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power of Purpose: Creating Meaning in Your Life and Work (Hardcover)

I agree with other reviewers about positive points in this book, but what bothers me is the examples given : they all seem to be very special people : trainers, founders of training centers, vice-presidents of companies,....
This confirms obstacle 2 as given by the author : "only a few special people have true purpose in their lives". I think we have a need for purpose in our lives, even if we are a gardener, a pizza boy, a cleaning lady, a sweatshop youngster sewing T-shirts in Laos, an office clerk doing standard routine work. It is a pity that we find no such examples in this book. From the book we get the impression that the only way to find a purpose is to quit our present job and to become a trainer, writer, etc... but there are also other jobs to fill, I think. Moreover, if everybody goes into training and/or writing, these jobs will loose their financial attractiveness, I suspect.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Can/ Deserve to Rise Above The Worst PossibleTrauma, August 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Power of Purpose: Creating Meaning in Your Life and Work (Hardcover)

I happened upon the 1985 copy of this book, in a used bookstore, and have read this 3 times, to draw out more of my worthiness, more of my hidden strengths, and to do some things that up to reading this, I secretly believed that I couldn't do. This book is for every human being. I had spent years asking myself what my mission in life was, and years denying myself my right to my mission. Now I have a mission that defines everything that I do, and don't do. It empowers me to separate who I am from who my interlocutor is, to seek kindred spirits, and to never stop growing, according to who I am, and where I am "traveling." I am eternally grateful for this book, for being my guide to my rising above a level of betrayal that others would have prefered I define myself as being limited to.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Effort!, May 31, 2001

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Power of Purpose: Creating Meaning in Your Life and Work (Hardcover)

Richard J. Leider believes everyone needs to find an individual sense of unique purpose. When you have this sense of purpose, you can use it as a central core of direction to guide your life and give it meaning. The book is simply written, easy to understand and targeted to a general audience. However, it also seems quite repetitious, in that the same ideas are explained many different ways. Some of these concepts are quite familiar, echoing some basic ideas about the importance of having a sense of mission, path, and goals, much like Laurie Beth Jones' book, The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement.... Finally, while some readers may respond deeply to Leider's spiritual and religious references, others may find them problematic, given the split in the business community about spirituality in the workplace. We... recommend this book for readers who have not yet considered this mission-focused dimension of life planning and for managers who wish to understand this perspective.