As we start 2017 I am thankful for you: the subscribers, readers, and visitors of Purpose Speaks.

Whether you’ve simply skimmed a few posts or shared meaningful and helpful posts with friends and family, you’ve played an important role in furthering the mission to cultivate a society in which purpose is central.

As I’ve reflected on this past year, I’ve compiled the top 5 most read and shared posts in case you missed them or want to re-read them.

If you have some down time over the new year, I invite you to give these a read and share with friends to spread the message!

1. 4 Powerful Ways to Awaken Your Life’s Purpose

If you’re feeling tired, burned out, or just stuck, awakening your sense of “why” can be a powerful way to build resilience and thrive. A strong sense of purpose is the everyday awareness and conscious acknowledgment that you exist for a reason. It’s the pervasive belief that your life is worth living and that whatever you are spending your time doing is worth doing.

This article focused on 4 research-backed ways to start awakening purpose.

2. How Your Anxiety can Make You a Better Leader

Remember, if you are breathing, there is more right with you than there is wrong with you. You are okay. You will be okay. You are a better person, and a better leader because of this. You can lead with and through Anxiety. In this post I open up about generalized anxiety disorder and how to lead with it.

3. 7 Scientific Reasons Why You Matter

Once you start believing in your capacity to change the world in a conversation, in a glance, in a smile, and in a moment you start awakening your purpose.

You simply can’t not matter. This article provided the science to back it up.

4. 18 Life Lessons from a College Senior That Can Change Your Life

I asked a college senior, Nikki, from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado to reflect on the top lessons she learned while in college.

Whether you’re about to start college in the fall or are nearing retirement, her answers and advice (if enacted) are life-changing. This was one of my personal favorites from 2016 and gives so much promise to our upcoming generation.

5. Why “Find Your Purpose” is Terrible Advice, and I’m Sorry

Through my research on what purpose actually is, I’ve found that the popular idea of purpose has become reserved for a select few. The ones who have the money, fame, or flexibility to pursue it. Just one look at the participants and settings in the vast majority of studies on meaning and purpose and you are sure to find social privilege.This mainstream conceptualization of purpose leaves out one important variable: Where we all are, right now. Many of the most inspiring and purpose-driven people I’ve met do ordinary things with an extraordinary perspective.

This post was definitely controversial, however it opened up the conversation about purpose as “elite.”

If you haven’t done so, I personally invite you to subscribe below and join the movement in 2017.

Zach