Sentinel personality types: Logisticians (ISTJ), Defenders (ISFJ), Executives (ESTJ), and Consuls (ESFJ)
Some Sentinels may dismiss the idea of a life purpose, written on a piece of paper or otherwise memorialized, as not being all that important. According to our research, there’s no doubt that most Sentinels believe in a life purpose. But turning it into an abstract concept or an aspirational definition may seem unnecessary to many. Life’s purpose is likely seen more as something you do rather than something you discuss or spend a lot of time thinking about.
“The purpose of life is to realize that life itself is the purpose, for life is the ultimate expression of love.”
But there may be plenty of excellent reasons for Sentinel personalities to define what their life purpose is. Here’s what we’re looking at when we’re talking about a life purpose: a life purpose is a guiding vision that is the core reason for all the significant activities in a person’s life.
A life purpose is a self-organizing principle based on passions, beliefs, and competency. It’s mostly different from a goal in that it’s not detailed but more a guiding umbrella concept that covers all the specifics. A goal might be something specific like “Get a degree in accounting.” A life purpose might be broader, along the lines of “Create an ethical yet successful business that I can pass on to future generations of my family.”
Of course, nobody can tell you what is important to you, so there may be some overlap between your goals and your life purpose. A life purpose might change several times in a lifetime or may stay the same from cradle to grave, depending on the person and the purpose.
Life is full of distractions, and it’s easy for even the most conscientious Sentinel to wander off course, pushed by the winds of everyday disruptions. Allowing life to define itself by the tasks at hand alone can leave a person at the mercy of circumstances. Musician George Harrison said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” A life purpose provides a compass that can help you find your way back to a preferred path, even when life seems to have other temporary plans for you.
If you’re a Sentinel personality type and decide that it might help to develop a purpose-filled road map for your life, here are suggestions to get you started.
Start Where You Are
For Sentinels, there is often an elevated regard for their values. They are principled personality types who tend to believe, more than any other Role, that their values are important enough that they feel they must pass them on to their children. So, right in this moment, what principles are important to you? What value are you willing to stand up for if you needed to?
The details in life can change dramatically, but for Sentinels, guiding principles are likely to remain relatively steady. They are the personality types that are most likely to say they don’t change their beliefs often. That doesn’t mean that they never change their thinking as they live and grow, but, mostly, Sentinels’ values are likely to be part of their lives for a while and influence most of what they do.
So it may help to list what you value most in life. The things you value can be anything that matters to you and is likely to matter to you for the foreseeable future. Pick the two or three that are more important than the rest. If you pinpoint which ones are most important to you, you are likely to find clues as to how you want to spend that precious commodity known as the rest of your life.
Pie on the Table Is Tastier Than Pie in the Sky
All this values talk, alone, can seem empty to many Sentinels. It may be important for you to decide what you need or want to do to express these values. The key word in this step is do. Such and such is an important principle for you. Okay. So what do you imagine you might do about it? What would you really like to do about it? Such doing can be anything from starting a business empire to raising a family in a certain way.
The need to be practical may be Sentinels’ greatest strength, and it may be unwise to ignore it when developing a life purpose. What will your values look like when they live in the world beyond your thoughts and feelings? A formal life purpose for Sentinel personalities will probably die on the vine if there aren’t practical things attached to it.
To connect the things that are important to you to your practical skill set, list activities or tasks that might interest or fulfill you as you let your values and principles come out to play in the actual world.
Commit
Sentinels are the Role least likely to be anxious about long-term commitments. They are the personality types most comfortable dedicating themselves to someone or something. Sentinels may need to embrace this tendency and set firm intentions, lest their purpose get lost in the daily hubbub of life. A deliberate commitment is likely to solidify their sense of having a life purpose and may be an important part of establishing one.
Write a personal vision statement, and reduce your plan and purpose into a brief “elevator pitch.” The mission statement should be relatively short (aim for three to five sentences), with the elevator pitch being shorter (a 15- to 30-second sound bite). The mission statement is a succinct definition of your purpose, and the elevator pitch is, in this case, less about networking and more like a motto or affirmation. Keep them uncomplicated and something a 10-year-old might understand.
Place these statements in a spot where you will review them, or at least see them, often. Mirrors, refrigerators, bulletin boards, and desktop pads are perfect for this purpose. Commit your elevator pitch to memory and recite it in your mind each morning as you brush your teeth or perform some other habit that takes little conscious thought. Make it an addition to your routine. Then when life throws you off course, as it usually does to all of us at some point, you’ll have your life purpose nearby to help you return to your chosen course efficiently.
Putting It All Together
While we’re talking about commitment, a good life purpose is likely to be sustainable and have staying power. But Sentinel personalities may want to avoid the trap of becoming too rigid about theirs. There is a difference between being strongly committed and being completely inflexible when the times call for a change. Everyone walks this line, but perhaps Sentinels more than most. Be willing to review your vision periodically to make sure that you’re still following your best course in a rapidly changing world.
We know Sentinels for their salt-of-the-earth style of dealing with life. This can fit perfectly into a long-term plan that includes a mission statement. In fact, it might even help these practical personality types avoid getting caught up in busy work and help them create an even more consistent and broader vision. Once they decide on a direction, they will probably be more steadfast in traveling their chosen path than most.
Are you a Sentinel who is figuring out your life purpose? What other ideas might help you define and pursue it? Share your thoughts below!
Further Reading
- Not sure how your life purpose might fit with potential careers? Our two-part series on Sentinel career compatibility offers some ideas.
- When you make a resolution or set a goal, your personality traits can give you an edge in seeing it through. Find out how.
- As a Sentinel, you are determined and persistent, but you might sometimes struggle with stubbornness. Check out our article on stubbornness and personality types to learn when stubborn tendencies can get in the way and how to let them go.
- The better you understand yourself and your personality type, the easier it will be to identify a life purpose. Our Premium Profiles for Logisticians, Defenders, Executives, and Consuls can help.