What Happens When Purpose Leads Profit

The beginning of a new year has a way of sharpening our focus. We set goals, refine plans, and quietly ask ourselves the same question we do every January: What am I building next?

But this year, I want to pose a different question—one that goes beyond personal milestones and productivity metrics. What if the thing you build this year isn’t designed to benefit only you?

So much of modern success is framed around individual gain: scaling faster, earning more, optimizing everything. And while ambition isn’t the problem, isolation is. When we build solely for ourselves, the impact is limited. When we build with others in mind—clients, communities, teams, future generations—the work takes on a different kind of power. It lasts longer. It matters more.

Purpose doesn’t replace profit—but it should lead it. When profit is the only goal, decisions become narrow and short-sighted. When purpose is the driver, profit becomes a byproduct of real value created. Building with purpose means designing businesses, careers, and ideas that solve meaningful problems, respect the people they serve, and contribute something lasting beyond the bottom line.

Building something bigger than yourself doesn’t require a nonprofit, a massive platform, or a perfectly articulated mission statement. It starts smaller and braver than that. It starts with intention. With asking who else is affected by what you’re creating—and whether they’re better off because of it.

As this year unfolds, my focus is on building work that creates value beyond the transaction, leadership that multiplies rather than extracts, and systems that make room for other people to thrive. Not because it’s trendy or altruistic—but because it’s the most sustainable, meaningful way forward.

The most transformative things we build are rarely just for us. And the best time to start building them is now.