Find Your Thing: The Power of Small Purpose

We were on our way to dinner. Nothing fancy—just a casual night out after a long week. But before we even made it to the restaurant, we’d already pulled over twice.

Why?

Because my wife has developed a new passion: picking up trash along our road. It started small—one bag here, a couple of cans there—but lately it’s become a full-blown mission.

And I’ll be honest—somewhere between stop number two and my empty stomach, I started to feel a little impatient.

But as I watched her jump out of the car (again) to clean up someone else’s litter, something clicked: there’s a lesson in this.

Find Your Thing

You don’t have to save the world. You don’t even have to fix everything that’s broken. But you can find your thing—the small, meaningful way you make a difference.

For my wife, it’s cleaning up our road. For you, it might be mentoring a student who needs extra encouragement or writing that newsletter that helps another teacher feel seen. Or just spreading a little positivity each day.

Whatever your thing is, claim it. Work it. Make it yours.

Focus and Flow

You can’t do everything, and trying to will only drain you. The key is focus—finding the one cause, project, or purpose that feels authentic and sustainable.

That’s where passion meets peace. That’s where you start to make real progress.

Because when you find your thing and go all in—whether it’s cleaning up trash, coaching, creating, or caring—you begin to move with intention. And that energy ripples outward in ways you can’t always see.

Final Thought

As annoyed as I might have been in that moment on the side of the road, I realized something: she wasn’t just picking up trash—she was picking up purpose.

And that’s the lesson for all of us.
Find your thing.
Go all in.
And watch what good comes from it.

👉 Want to stay inspired?
Join the STRONG Teacher Lounge — a community where teachers support teachers in becoming happier, healthier, and stronger, one purposeful step at a time.