5 Easy Steps to Find Your Purpose: Craft a Vision For Your Future (U2.0 Series)

What gives meaning to all your struggles and triumphs as a father? Purpose. Without it, you're just reacting to life instead of leading it with intention.

In this powerful finale to the first part of our YouTube 2.0 series, we bring together all the elements we've explored – from self-awareness to overcoming adversity – and focus on finding your purpose as both a man and a father. This isn't about abstract philosophies; it's about crafting a clear, actionable vision that transforms your daily interactions with your children and family.

The episode breaks down three fundamental pillars that should guide every father's purpose: self-mastery (becoming the best version of yourself because your kids mirror who you are), relationship mastery (creating deep connections that matter more than career achievements), and legacy building (focusing on the impact you leave, not just material possessions). We then provide a practical five-step roadmap for developing your personal mission statement and vision.

Perhaps most importantly, we challenge the notion that purpose requires dramatic overhauls. Instead, we emphasize how small, consistent actions aligned with your values create lasting change. As Jim Murphy says, "clarity of purpose creates clarity of action" – when you know why you're here, making decisions that reflect your mission becomes natural.

Ready to stop simply going through the motions and start creating the legacy your children deserve? Write your fatherhood mission statement this week, and take the first step toward becoming the father you've always wanted to be. Visit 15minuteswithdad.com for additional tools and resources to support your journey.

Chapters

• 1:44 Introduction to Purpose
• 3:34 Defining Purpose in Fatherhood
• 5:54 Three Pillars of Purpose
• 9:52 Self-Mastery and Personal Growth
• 12:13 Five-Step Vision Roadmap
• 16:09 Final Challenge and Series Conclusion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:53

Welcome back to another episode of 15 Minutes with Dad, the podcast. That's all about real conversations, real strategies and real growth for men and fathers who want to lead with purpose. I'm your host, lyric Williams, and for the last eight episodes, we've been diving into what it takes to build a strong foundation as a man and as a father. How do we do it? We talked about self-awareness, emotional resilience, authenticity, deep connections, co-parenting and overcoming adversity, but today we're bringing it all together. This is the final episode of this part of the YouTube.0 series, and we're gonna continue the YouTube.0 series after this, but it's gonna be a different part with a different framework, and we're closing to continue the YouTube.0 series after this, but it's going to be a different part with a different framework, and we're closing with one of the most important conversations yet Finding your purpose and crafting a vision for your future as a man and as a father. Purpose is what gives everything else meaning. Without it, we're just reacting to life instead of leading it. So what kind of man, what kind of father do you want to be? What kind of life do you want to create for your children or your future, and what legacy do you want to leave behind? And if you've ever felt stuck, unmotivated or unsure of what your next step should be, this episode is for you. Today, we're going to define what it means to have a purpose as a man and a father. We're going to break down how to craft a vision that aligns with your values. We're going to give you five-step roadmap to start living with intention every day, and by the end of this episode, you'll have a clear, actionable vision for the future and the confidence to make it a reality. So let's get started Now.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Whenever we hear the word purpose, it can sound overwhelming, but let's break it down. Having a purpose simply means knowing what you stand for and where you are going. It's the difference between waking up every day just going through the motions and waking up knowing that every moment, every interaction and every decision you make is moving you towards something greater. Jim murphy and in excellence, kind of defines it as clarity of purpose creates clarity of action. Essentially, the clearer you are on why you are here, the easier it is to make decisions that align with your mission.

Speaker 1: 3:23

So what does it take to make it apply in your life and what does it look like as a man or as a father? It means being intentional, choosing to show up fully, even on the hard days, whether it be for your kids, for your spouse. It means showing up intentionally, it means leading by example, so modeling the values you want to pass on to your children or to your family, or to your partner. You want to model those values and it means staying focused on what truly matters and not getting caught up in distractions, drama or ego. When a person is living in their purpose, they move a little bit different. When you see them on the street, you know that this person you don't mess with because they are focused on their purpose. They're not about the ego, they're not about the drama. They have no desire to engage with things that does not align with their purpose. That requires discipline and that discipline brings freedom.

Speaker 1: 4:34

And your purpose is unique to you, but it starts with asking yourself what kind of man do I want to be, or what kind of father do I want to be, and what kind of impact do I want to have on my children's lives or my family's lives, or my spouse's life? Now, before we create your personal vision, let's look at three key areas that should be at the heart of every father's and every man's purpose? The first one self-mastery. You have to become the best version of yourself. Why does this matter? Your kids don't just listen to what you say. They mirror who you are and if you're growing, learning and evolving, they will too. Okay, so how do you apply that? You want to commit to personal growth, whether it's reading, working out or improving your mindset. You want to develop emotional intelligence, learn to respond and not react. You want to set goals for your health, your finance and career that aligns with the life you want to create for your family, being in person and being in that place of self-mastery. You're wanting to be the best version of yourself.

Speaker 1: 5:58

For me, I read the book Inner Excellence and it literally changed how I apply life, apply my self-mastery to life. I work out differently now. I train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It's improving my mindset. I read a lot and it's helping me learn to respond and be emotionally intelligent and emotionally mature for my family. I work on my mental health. I work on my actual personal health, my cholesterol, my heart health, my finances. I have a budget and we have savings account. I make sure that my family's taken care of on all of those fronts and in my career, I am pushing and thriving in my career. I'm high performing in my career because of the self-mastery is outside of yourself.

Speaker 1: 6:57

It's the relationship mastery and you want to create deep and meaningful bonds with people family, friends, children, spouse why does that matter? There is no child that ever says I wish my dad had worked more. I wish my dad had put more hours in at work in order to provide for our family. I wish he would have just worked harder, because kids don't care about that. They care about your presence, your love and your connection. The same thing goes with your significant other, with your family. It's the same thing.

Speaker 1: 7:41

Working hard is a necessity. It's a task that you must do to live, but it is not the thing that defines you as a person. It is simply you giving time to pay the government and to make that business money, but what matters is those deep and meaningful bonds that you make with your family. So how do you apply this? The way that you would apply this is by making one-on-one time with your kids and make it a priority and give them all your time. This is not being on your phone while they're talking to you. Get engaged with their world and their conversation and how they process things around them. Be vulnerable and share your experiences. Admit mistakes and teach them that growth never stops. And if you're in a co-parenting situation, focus on cooperation and not competition. Your child's well-being comes first.

Speaker 1: 8:44

Now we talked about self-mastery. We talked about relationship mastery. Now let's look toward the future a little bit. How does your legacy look and this is what we want to work on next or also, is the legacy building the impact that you leave behind? It is not the things that you leave behind, the money that you leave behind. It's the impact, the way you made the people in your life feel. So why does that matter? Your influence will last long after you're gone. The lessons you teach today will shape who your children become. It will shape who your family, what your family becomes your spouse becomes.

Speaker 1: 9:38

Define your family values honesty, respect, perseverance, kindness, things like that and be intentional about the stories, the traditions and experiences that you pass down. Those things make people feel a type of way, and that's what they remember. And if you are a dad, ask yourself this question how do I want my kids to remember me and start living that way right now? Why wait? Living that way right now? Why wait Right? Why wait, ask yourself. How do I want my kids to remember me For me? I want my kids to remember the lessons that I taught them. I want them to remember the memories that we've made. I want them to remember me as a dad that's happy, like a dad that's joyful, that wants to give them his all and always sought the best for them and was discerning and wise and caring and emotionally aware and intelligent and emotionally mature. That's what I want my kids to remember me by.

Speaker 1: 10:58

So let's get on to the five-step roadmap to crafting your dad vision, your man vision, your self vision. We've laid the foundation right. We've already laid the foundation. So the first step we're going to get into we want to define our core values. We want to define what matters most to you, that guide your life and that guides how you parent your fatherhood. If you are a dad, for example, integrity, growth, love, presence and resilience those are mine and you can use those, but define it. Make a list of your top five values that guide your life and your fatherhood. If you're a dad, then we're going to take the next step. No-transcript, an example of this would be. My purpose as a father is to be a consistent, loving and intentionally present dad in my children's lives. I will lead by example. I will show patience and prioritize our connections over everything else. Right, a quick example of a fatherhood mission statement. And if you're not a dad, you can still define this as a man, just a person.

Speaker 1: 12:33

But next step, step three, is to set clear and achievable goals, and we want to break it down into small wins. So a daily goal is something simple like spend 15 minutes of uninterrupted time with your kids, like 15 minutes with dad, go figure. You can create a weekly goal like do one meaningful activity together as a family and then have a long-term goal, create a lasting tradition that your kids will carry on. So for us, we do Elf on the Shelf. That's something that's cliche but it's actually pretty fun and my daughter, my teenage daughter, likes it. So it's something that we will carry on. But break it down into small wins.

Speaker 1: 13:19

Don't try to tackle your mission in one whop. It's not going to work. You have to break it down into actionable items that you're going to commit to, and when you commit to it, you have to stick to it. When you commit, you stick. So step four let's create a visual reminder of this visual, this vision. So if we take our vision, our mission statement, our core values and our goals that we're trying to achieve, we want to write it down and keep it somewhere that we can see. You could put it in your phone, a journal or even a vision board. Seeing it daily helps keep you aligned and focused. You can use your notes, take a snapshot of it, put it on your front screen until you get used to it, but you got to see it every day. And then step five take daily aligned actions. You have to actually take actions that are aligned with these goals that you set out aligned with your daily goal, your weekly goal and your long-term goal.

Speaker 1: 14:27

But purpose is built. Let me reiterate that Purpose, your purpose, is built through small, consistent actions, not big dramatic changes. I want to say that one more time for those that are quick to jump I'm going to change because it's going to be magical. No purpose is built through small, consistent actions, not big dramatic changes. So ask yourself every morning what's one thing I can do today that aligns with my vision as a man or my vision as a father, one thing I can do today that aligns with my vision as a father? Now. Fatherhood isn't about being perfect. It's about being purposeful.

Speaker 1: 15:23

Today, we talked about why purpose is the foundation of a fulfilling life. We talked about three key pillars of strong, strong vision. We talked about a five step roadmap to define and live out your mission. So here's your challenge Write your fatherhood or man mission statement this week. Start small, keep it simple, but make it real. If you're enjoying this series, visit 15minuteswithdadcom for tools, exercises and guidance to help you stay focused on your journey. This wraps up the first part of YouTube.0 series, but this is just the beginning. Stay connected, stay intentional and keep growing as a father and as a man. Subscribe to 15 Minutes with Dad on your favorite podcast platform and follow us at 15 Minutes with Dad for more fatherhood insights on all social media platforms. Until next time, lead with purpose, love with intention and build the legacy your children deserve.