What Is Your Purpose? — Issue #9: Fritz Coetzee
Living with Purpose, Guided by Principles
Hello dear community!
Welcome to a new edition of What is Your Purpose?, our biweekly series where guests share what moves them, what guides them, and what sparks their work.
This week has brought even more good news. I know, I know — I already shared some last weekend. But thanks to your support, it keeps compounding: we’ve reached #37 Rising in Philosophy!
When I started writing, I wasn’t thinking about rankings or visibility. I just wanted to become more disciplined. Life clearly had other plans for this community. I’m grateful that together we’re making an impact, spreading a new approach to discipline, and showing others there’s another way forward. Thank you for being part of it.
Now, to today’s guest.
He hasn’t been on Substack for long, but his work beyond it has been making a real difference: helping students and parents navigate the path to choosing the right career.
’s project, ALIGND, has a simple mission: to bring your work back into line with who you are and what truly matters.Through his PATH-2-PURPOSE framework, he turns traditional career advice on its head. Instead of starting with what the world needs, what you should do, or what you can earn, he begins with deeper questions: Who are you? What do you care about? What is your purpose?
That last question is what brings us here today: What moved Fritz to pursue this path? What is his why?
Let’s hear it in his own words.
My early years
Growing up, my Dad included me in all his DIY projects. He was always fixing stuff or figuring out how to do something he’s never done before. I loved it!
My first job was part of my training to qualify as a CPA (Certified Professional Accountant). I always had a sense of figuring out where I fit into this world and where I can contribute in a meaningful way by adding value and help other people.
I remember saying to myself: “Optimisation - Yes, I am going to optimise things.”
The problem is that in every job I ever had, I experienced the same frustration. I was expected to follow the prescribed processes and there was never any time to improve anything. None of managers ever had the vision, appetite or patience required to innovate, let alone improve anything.
My defining moments
My first defining moment came in the form of a “tragedy”. I will never forget the night my car was stolen. I remember the intense sense of responsibility I felt and saying to myself: “I will find a way to prevent this from happening to anyone else."
Not too long after this, out of the blue, a friend handed me a serving tray and said: “I know this might seem strange, but I felt I needed to give you this tray and tell you that one day you will be serving many people.”
I felt this was a sign to pursue a different path and this is where my journey into entrepreneurship started.
My why
Traditional success never motivated me and I am not super competitive. However, when someone tells me that something cannot be done or that I cannot do something, it’s like a switch going on inside of me which says: “Watch me, I will find a way!”
The simple things in life are important to me and I am content with little. Therefore my inspiration and motivation comes from the people I care about in my life. My passion is human potential and to improve and create things to help people discover and achieve their purpose in life.
It breaks my heart to see young people living aimlessly and without purpose. Many are stuck in dead-end jobs and many keep themselves occupied with entertainment to ease the pain of the lack of fulfilment.
The worst part is that they do not know that they can change the world for the better, while loving what they do by simply just being themselves.
This is the burden I have deep inside of me that keeps me showing up every day and working to open the eyes of one more High School student, to see that they have been created to live a life of purpose.
Initially my purpose was to be self sufficient, pay off my debt and to build assets & passive income for my family. However, over the years my focus has shifted from "what do I want” to “what can I give” and “how can I serve others”.
Losing my way
I never lost sight of my purpose completely, but I did experience times where my own survival became the focus. When I started my last corporate role, I remember thinking to myself and saying to my wife: I am just going to focus on my job and not do anything else on the side.
But despite my success, the lack of fulfilment in my job led me back to my purpose.
Finding my way back
Everything that is worthwhile, takes time to achieve. It’s a process and it is supposed to take longer than we think. It is a marathon (42km), not a 100m dash.
What helped me find my way back to my purpose, was to immerse myself in a world of purpose-driven people who don’t live for themselves. They share with others, they solve problems for others and they serve others.
Staying aligned to my values
I have always been a person with strong principles and I live from a place of conviction. I do not compromise on my values. And I have always applied a principled decision-making process, which involves making choices based on a set of core ethical values and principles, rather than solely on personal gain or external pressures.
This approach emphasizes the importance of consistency, fairness, and accountability in the decision-making process, allowing me to align my decisions and actions with my moral beliefs and standards.
Staying disciplined
My discipline comes from making principled-decisions and prioritising my long-term goals and objectives over my short-term comfort.
My encouragement and challenge to you
Clarifying your purpose is the most important thing you can do in your life, because everything else will flow from there. The challenge is that it is not as easy as asking yourself: What is my purpose?”
It is simple, but not easy, which is why I created the PATH-2-PURPOSE Framework, which consists of 7 key elements to consider in order to clarify your purpose. It is a process, but I recommend that you start with the first element today, which is Understanding Yourself.
Written by
Fritz Coetzee is the founder of Your Path To based in South Africa, with a background in business and finance and a sincere passion for human potential. He equips students and parents to make intentional career decisions, so they can change the world, while loving what they do every day.
Through his newsletter, ALIGND, he shares his convictions on understanding yourself, discovering your passion and clarifying your purpose — rooted in the PATH-2-PURPOSE Framework and his own journey from an employee to a business owner and entrepreneur.
His goal is simple: To help High School students align their work to who they are and what they value most.
FREE Resources
You can download Fritz's free resources here.
Thanks so much, Fritz, for sharing your story with us.
What resonated the most with me was the marathon analogy that Fritz talked about:
“Everything that is worthwhile takes time to achieve. It’s a process and it is supposed to take longer than we think. It is a marathon (42km), not a 100m dash.”
That hits home. Maybe sometimes you’ll find exceptions, but exceptions prove the rule.
To get anywhere worthwhile you have to sweat the sweat and walk the walk. The real problem comes when we don’t know why. Without that, the weight feels heavier, and we convince ourselves there’s something else we should be doing.
Purpose is what clears the fog. It turns effort into something bearable, even meaningful. What once looked like a burden starts to feel like a path you actually want to walk.
I believe deeply in this: purpose isn’t only discovered. It can be built. Manufactured.
It can be defined by you.
It's an uncomfortable truth, but you don’t need to wait for a sign before moving. Start moving, and purpose will meet you there. Everything will start feeling aligned once action is set in motion.
It’s the ultimate catalyst.
So next time you step into something new, ask yourself: why am I doing this?
Have a wonderful week!
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very interesting! thanks for sharing!