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3x3: Three Questions to Help You Uncover Your Short Term Purpose

Summary

This episode of Developer Tea focuses on the concept of purpose, specifically short-term or immediate purpose. Host Jonathan Cottrell argues that while long-term purpose provides direction, it’s equally important to understand what drives your daily decisions and actions. He challenges the notion of purpose as a static, unchanging entity, suggesting that purpose evolves alongside your values and grows with you.

The core of the episode presents three questions designed to help listeners uncover their short-term purpose. The first question, “What will generate the most important relationships today?” emphasizes that long-term success and purpose are built on positive relationships. The second, “What part of my ego is limiting my ability to progress?” addresses the tendency to wait for perfect opportunities, using the analogy of a poker player who only plays a royal flush, which leads to stagnation and wasted time.

The third question is “Where’s my greatest opportunity to help someone?” Cottrell posits that creating value for others is the central engine for career growth and achieving any long-term vision. He argues that focusing on helping people transforms your career and counters the limiting effects of an ego-driven focus on personal advancement alone. The episode concludes by encouraging listeners to apply these questions to shift their perspective and find purpose in their current circumstances.

Recommendations

Podcasts

  • Developer Tea (previous episode) — Recommended for listeners wanting to shift their thinking on getting unstuck with big problems.
  • Developer Tea (upcoming episode) — Previewed as the next 3x3 episode, which will be about psychology and ‘brain hygiene’ with three actionable tips.

Tools

  • Linode — Promoted as a cloud hosting provider with SSD servers, a simple setup process, and a $20 credit offer for listeners using a specific promo code.

Topic Timeline

  • 00:00:00 — Introduction to purpose and the focus on short-term purpose — Jonathan introduces the episode’s theme, distinguishing between long-term and short-term purpose. He explains that purpose is not static but shifts and grows over time. The episode will focus on finding your immediate purpose to guide daily decisions.
  • 00:03:45 — Sponsor segment for Linode cloud hosting — The host reads a sponsorship message for Linode, detailing their SSD cloud servers, pricing, and developer tools. A promo code is offered for $20 in credit. This is a practical interlude before diving into the core questions.
  • 00:05:33 — The challenge of pursuing purpose and the need for perspective — Cottrell discusses how early pursuit of long-term purpose can feel restrictive due to responsibilities or difficult work situations. He frames the show’s goal as understanding hard things and coping by changing perspective rather than trying to change circumstances directly.
  • 00:06:47 — Question 1: Generating important relationships — The first question to uncover short-term purpose is presented: “What will generate the most important relationships today?” The host explains that long-term purpose relies on good relationships, making this a key daily heuristic. Positive relationships are foundational to progress.
  • 00:07:39 — Question 2: Identifying ego limitations — The second, more difficult question is introduced: “What part of my ego is limiting my ability to progress?” Cottrell uses a poker analogy to describe developers who ‘fold’ by waiting only for perfect opportunities (frameworks, jobs, managers), which wastes time and stems from ego. The solution is to change your relationship to the current situation.
  • 00:10:24 — Question 3: Finding opportunities to help others — The third question is “Where’s my greatest opportunity to help someone?” The host argues that creating value for others is the central mechanism for long-term career momentum and growth. Focusing on helping people daily will transform a career, whereas a focus solely on personal advancement will limit it.
  • 00:12:37 — Conclusion and episode preview — Jonathan concludes by encouraging listeners to apply the three questions. He recommends the previous episode on getting unstuck and previews the next 3x3 episode about psychology and ‘brain hygiene’. Final thanks are given to the sponsor, Linode.

Episode Info

  • Podcast: Developer Tea
  • Author: Jonathan Cutrell
  • Category: Technology Business Careers Society & Culture
  • Published: 2018-03-21T09:00:00Z
  • Duration: 00:13:35

References

Podcast Info

Transcript

[00:00:00] What is your purpose today? If you’ve been listening to the show for very long, then

[00:00:10] you’ve probably thought a little bit about purpose, especially this year, because we’ve

[00:00:15] been talking about the purpose of this show, actually, which is to help you as a driven

[00:00:21] developer uncover your purpose. But purpose is a big word. And very often, I think we

[00:00:28] attach the idea of purpose as a static thing, as a singular, you know, kind of identifiable

[00:00:35] and unchanging thing, kind of like your name or your DNA. And the reality of purpose is

[00:00:42] that it does shift over time. Your values and your purpose grow with you. So it’s important

[00:00:50] to understand your long-term vision, your long-term, hopefully your long-term purpose

[00:00:56] to some degree.

[00:00:58] Have a way of setting out your direction. But it’s also important to understand what

[00:01:04] your shorter-term purpose is. And we’re going to talk a little bit more about why it’s so

[00:01:08] important in today’s episode.

[00:01:11] You’re listening to Developer Tea. My name is Jonathan Cottrell, and I am excited for

[00:01:15] today’s episode because it’s right in line with the purpose of this show, the long-term

[00:01:20] purpose of this show.

[00:01:21] This is a three-by-three episode. It’s Wednesday, so this is the second of three episodes. We

[00:01:28] have practical takeaways, practical things that you can use in each of this week’s episodes.

[00:01:35] In the last episode, we did questions that can help you get unstuck with big problems.

[00:01:41] In today’s episode, we’re talking about finding your short-term purpose, finding your purpose

[00:01:47] for the short-term. Now, how do we define short-term? Well, it’s kind of relative, isn’t it?

[00:01:52] You could define long-term as 20 years, or you could define it as 20 months.

[00:01:58] It all depends on your situation. But for the sake of today’s show, really, we’re talking

[00:02:04] about the immediate purpose. How are you going to make decisions that are driven by purpose

[00:02:11] today? And the problem that we face so often with finding purpose, and finding the long-term

[00:02:18] purpose more specifically, is that it’s difficult to draw out how our daily actions are actually

[00:02:24] stepping us towards that purpose. Because very often,

[00:02:28] especially for people who have entrepreneurial mindsets, for example, it’s very difficult to

[00:02:33] see how working in your current job and working with fervor and passion and dedication in a job

[00:02:40] that isn’t necessarily directly advancing your purpose will eventually advance your purpose

[00:02:46] anyway, right? So building blocks to something that is greater and beyond today can help you

[00:02:53] understand your purpose for today. But it makes sense to set your

[00:02:58] sights on doing something great where you are now. Doing something with as much passion as if,

[00:03:06] well, as if it was your real purpose. So in today’s episode, we’re going to focus on three

[00:03:11] questions that can help you uncover your short-term purpose. We like to use questions

[00:03:16] for these three-by-threes because questions often generate better thinking than mandates do.

[00:03:22] And this is kind of a side note, but if you aren’t generating more questions than you are answers,

[00:03:28] then you’re probably limiting the possibilities of your work. So it’s important to generate

[00:03:33] questions and then react to those questions in order to answer them, rather than trying to

[00:03:39] generate answers before you’ve acted. So we’re going to do these three questions right after we

[00:03:45] talk about today’s sponsor. Today’s sponsor is Linode. With Linode, you can instantly deploy

[00:03:50] and manage an SSD server in the Linode cloud. Simply choose your Linux distribution, your

[00:03:56] resources, and your node location. And then you can start generating questions. And then you can

[00:03:58] and you’re off to the races. This is so simple. It’s essentially three clicks and then a submission

[00:04:04] button and you’re ready to go. With Linode, you’re going to get $20 worth of credit for being a

[00:04:09] developer t-listener. And this is equivalent to four free months on their one gigabyte of RAM

[00:04:14] plan. Now, if you’re doing the math, you realize that even after that four months, that’s only

[00:04:19] $5 a month. And this is one of the best deals that you can get as a developer. One of the highest

[00:04:24] yields of value that you’ll ever have as a developer, because you’re going to be able to

[00:04:28] $5 a month is such a no-brainer cost if you don’t have a cloud provider yet, especially if

[00:04:35] you’re a new developer. But beyond that, Linode is providing you excellent service at higher tiers.

[00:04:40] For example, high memory plans start at 16 gigabytes of RAM. Now, this isn’t just any

[00:04:46] kind of hardware. They’re running everything on SSDs. They’ve got a 40 gigabit internal network

[00:04:52] and everything is run on top of Intel E5 processors, which is the fastest processor

[00:04:57] in the cloud.

[00:04:58] So Linode is providing you the state-of-the-art hardware. They’re providing you a free $20

[00:05:05] credit. They’re also providing you a bunch of developer tools to integrate with their systems.

[00:05:10] For example, they have a version 4 beta API, including an officially supported Python

[00:05:17] command line interface. And there’s a ton more for you to learn about Linode. Have respect out

[00:05:22] of him slash Linode to get started today and use the code developer T 2018 at checkout to get $20

[00:05:28] worth of credit. Thank you again to Linode for sponsoring today’s episode of developer T.

[00:05:33] So we’re talking about uncovering your short-term purpose. And as it turns out,

[00:05:38] most people who endeavor to uncover their long-term purpose, they end up feeling restricted

[00:05:44] in their early phases of pursuing that purpose. Most of the time, this has to do with some kind

[00:05:50] of other responsibilities. Very often, a young developer feels like they’re having to work on

[00:05:56] the kinds of projects that they’re going to be working on. And they’re not going to be able to

[00:05:58] really want to work on, or maybe they’re having to clean up after other people, or they have a

[00:06:03] difficult boss, or there’s plenty of other things that you may run into when you’re trying to

[00:06:08] uncover your purpose as a developer that on the path, make it difficult to pursue. Now, this show

[00:06:15] is not about making things easy per se. Instead, it’s about understanding the hard things and

[00:06:22] finding ways of coping with things that are difficult rather than letting them defeat us.

[00:06:28] In order to win, we have to be able to cope. We have to be able to

[00:06:32] approach these things from a new perspective. Rather than trying to change the fundamental

[00:06:37] nature of what you’re going through, very often the best way to handle it is to change your

[00:06:41] perspective, the way you’re relating to what you’re going through. So today’s episode, again,

[00:06:47] is covering three questions that will help you uncover your short-term purpose. Number one,

[00:06:51] what will generate the most important relationships today? What will generate the most important

[00:06:56] relationships today? Number two, what will generate the most important relationships today?

[00:06:58] So your long-term purpose in almost every single case is going to rely on your relationships.

[00:07:05] If you have poor relationships, you’re going to suffer. Your long-term purpose will be very

[00:07:11] difficult to achieve if you haven’t built good relationships along the way. So this is a very

[00:07:18] simple heuristic. If you’re not generating positive relationships with people, then you

[00:07:23] probably need to change something about what you’re doing. So in order to uncover your purpose,

[00:07:28] consider what positive relationships you could generate and what it is that you’re doing

[00:07:33] when you’re generating those relationships. Number two, and this one’s a very difficult one, but

[00:07:39] we have to cover it. What part of my ego is limiting my ability to progress?

[00:07:45] What part of my ego is limiting my ability to progress? Is it possible that you feel so beholden

[00:07:51] to your own aspirations, right? Your own desires, your own wishes, your own visions,

[00:07:58] that you are allowing that to hold yourself back from making progress, from moving forward

[00:08:06] in some direction rather than stagnating because you’re being stubborn or holding out for the best

[00:08:13] thing. Very often people end up making poor decisions or making no decision at all because

[00:08:20] they see something that is not everything that they wish it was. You can think of this as someone

[00:08:26] who is playing a game of chess. You can think of this as someone who is playing a game of chess.

[00:08:28] You can think of this as someone who is playing a game of poker or any game of cards where you bet.

[00:08:32] And whenever they get a hand that isn’t a royal flush, whenever they get something that’s

[00:08:36] not perfect, not absolutely the best hand in the deck, they fold. Now the unfortunate reality for

[00:08:44] these people is that by constantly taking the path of inaction, by constantly waiting only for

[00:08:53] the perfect hand, they’re continuing to deplete their money, right? They’re continuing to deplete

[00:08:58] their value. And even if the hand was imperfect, very often they could still win the hand because

[00:09:07] the hands that are being dealt out to the other players are often also imperfect. Now we as

[00:09:14] developers can end up folding far too often because we’re waiting for the perfect opportunity.

[00:09:20] We’re waiting for the perfect framework. We’re waiting for the perfect situation to arise,

[00:09:25] the perfect salary, you know, the perfect coworker, the perfect manager, the perfect

[00:09:28] manager. And unfortunately, this is going to limit us because we’re wasting our time. We’re

[00:09:34] wasting our time. We’re wasting our effort. And this isn’t going to lead you anywhere. And

[00:09:38] unfortunately, this is so often just the result of an ego. We believe for some reason that we

[00:09:45] are entitled or perhaps we’re destined to end up with that perfect situation. Again, I want you to

[00:09:52] think about how you can change the way that you relate to your situation instead.

[00:09:58] Change your perception, change your mindset, change your positioning first, and then look for

[00:10:06] more perfect opportunities. Don’t look at it as a black and white decision, only waiting for the

[00:10:11] perfect opportunity to fall on your lap. Take the opportunity you have and make the most of it.

[00:10:17] So don’t allow your ego to hold you back from progress. Finally, and this is number three,

[00:10:24] the third question that will help you uncover your short-term purpose.

[00:10:28] Where’s my greatest opportunity to help someone? So often, and this one goes right along with

[00:10:38] number one, what will generate the most important relationships today? Where’s my greatest

[00:10:42] opportunity to help someone? Your greatest momentum as a developer, your greatest progress,

[00:10:48] long-term progress will come as the result of focusing on creating value for other people.

[00:10:57] If you can’t do that, then you can’t do it. If you can’t do that, then you can’t do it.

[00:10:58] If you can find a way to prove this wrong, then I really want you to reach out to me and explain

[00:11:03] to me how, because this market that we work in, no matter what market you’re in, you can call it

[00:11:11] a market or a system, maybe you’re a nonprofit or government work, wherever you are working,

[00:11:16] if you’re not creating value for other people, and this is true in education as well,

[00:11:20] if you’re not creating value for other people, and value very often quite simply means helping

[00:11:26] them.

[00:11:28] If you’re not doing that, then unfortunately, again, your career growth is going to be limited.

[00:11:34] Your ability to reach any kind of vision, any kind of purpose long-term will be stunted.

[00:11:40] You’re going to end up in a dead-end spiral because helping other people is the central

[00:11:47] understanding of creating value.

[00:11:50] You have to understand your opportunities to help other people. If you follow that,

[00:11:56] if you follow that,

[00:11:58] specific kind of mandate that you are, your number one goal on a given day is to help someone.

[00:12:07] If you follow that, I guarantee you, you’re going to see your career transform, especially if you

[00:12:12] weren’t following it before to any significant degree. This, again, it goes back to your ego.

[00:12:18] If you are focused on building your career more than you are on generating value in your career,

[00:12:25] on generating help for other humans,

[00:12:28] in your career, then very likely you’re going to be limited by that factor alone.

[00:12:33] Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of Developer Tea.

[00:12:37] I encourage you to go back and listen to the previous episode about getting unstuck in your

[00:12:41] big problems. I think it will shift your thinking a little bit. And also subscribe in whatever

[00:12:47] podcasting app you use because we’re doing the third episode of the 3x3 week. And this one’s

[00:12:53] kind of a fun one. It’s going to be about psychology and about brain hygiene. Three

[00:12:57] things you can do to help your brain. And I’ll see you in the next one.

[00:12:58] Thank you so much for listening. Thank you again to Linode for sponsoring today’s episode.

[00:13:06] With Linode, you can get a server up and running in just a few minutes. All you do is pick your

[00:13:10] distro, your resources, and the location of the node. And then you get running once again with

[00:13:16] just a simple submit button click. So go and check it out. Spec.fm slash Linode. Use the code

[00:13:22] developer tea 2018 at checkout. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, enjoy your tea.

[00:13:28] See you next time.

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