Purpose – Grandpa Bob Encouraging Leadership

Elon Musk once said he challenges requirements because they’re usually wrong. His warning is simple.

Don’t work hard to get the perfect answer to the wrong problem.

This idea goes far beyond engineering. It shows up in leadership, careers, relationships, and the quiet choices that shape our lives.

We’re trained to value effort. Be disciplined. Follow through. Execute well.

All great instincts, but we can spend months optimizing something that never really mattered.

We inherit assumptions, accept the framing, and start solving before asking whether we understand the problem.

Strong leaders question the premise.

What are we trying to accomplish?

If we succeed, what actually changes?

What are the real constraints?

There’s a related engineering mindset that captures this perfectly: the best part is no part at all.

Before improving something, ask whether it should exist in the first place.

This creates a simple hierarchy:

Delete — try to remove the requirement or part

Simplify — if it must exist, make it simpler

Optimize — only after you’re sure it belongs

Automate — last step, not first

Most organizations do this in reverse. They automate and optimize things that never needed to exist.

This is what gives us tools to manage our tools instead of time to do the work.

Finding Purpose at Every Age

From thirty thousand feet, the land below looks like a patchwork of roads and fields. Each marks a choice someone once made about where to go. Some stretch straight and steady. Others twist through hills or fade out of sight. Together they form a map of movement and direction, a living story of people who kept choosing the next road.

Life feels the same way. The routes change, but the invitation stays the same. Keep moving to find greater meaning.

The most rewarding paths often pass through three places. Serving others, staying curious, and daring to pursue new goals.

Service opens our heart. When we give to something beyond ourselves, our life expands. For the younger generation, it teaches them that purpose grows through generosity and connection. Helping a friend, joining a cause, or showing up for someone who needs encouragement builds an identity rooted in contribution. Later in life, service transforms experience into legacy. It turns lessons into guidance and presence into impact. Every act of service whispers that we still matter.

Curiosity keeps that whisper alive. It invites discovery and reminds us that wonder never expires. For young adults, curiosity shifts attention from comparison to possibility. It fuels creativity and builds resilience (because nobody said it would be easy). For those further down the road, curiosity revives joy. Learning something new, exploring unfamiliar tools, or asking deeper questions renews their spirit.

Big goals complete the trio. Ambition alone can fade, but big dreams shaped by purpose bring hope to life. For the young, bold goals turn uncertainty into motion. For the experienced, they rekindle the thrill of becoming. The thrill of pursuing. Every goal, whether to build, create, teach, or grow, reminds the soul that movement still matters. Hope rises with every goal we dare to pursue.

Many people never take these paths. Fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of losing face…they each build fences where we can hide. Quiet excuses convincing us to play small and call it wisdom.

Fear says, “Stay comfortable.” Curiosity says, “Let’s see what happens.”

When fear wins, both young and old lose sight of their forward motion. The young adult who fears being judged easily drifts into hopelessness. The older adult who hesitates to dream again slips into quiet surrender. The reasons sound different, yet the root feels the same. Fear has taken the wheel. Stagnation and hopelessness follow.

Purpose waits just ahead. It lives in the next act of kindness, the next mystery to be solved, the next dream still worth chasing.

The pathways to a rewarding life have no finish line. Every act of service, every curious step, every daring goal breathes new life into our soul.

When we explore these paths, joy and fulfillment will be our companion.

Photo by Line Kjær on Unsplash – I wonder what’s in the next valley. Let’s go find out.