Finding Purpose at Work

Let me begin with the disclaimer that the following point of view doesn’t necessarily reflect the view of my employer, but what better place for me to share some personal thoughts than a personal blog post!

Our group purpose was defining our purpose! 

I'll reference another "Coffee with Champions" discussion group that I attended back in April. The subject was “Finding Purpose at Work”. What stood out most to me was how differently the attendees defined their purpose. The most memorable comments came from a woman named Mallory who said her purpose at work and in life was the same: to get to Heaven. That meant helping herself, her husband, and her children get there. For Mallory, the connection between her work purpose and life purpose is found in the values of the construction company that she and her husband built. Because they established those values themselves, she knew they aligned with what she believes. She also made an interesting point: she may or may not be able to fulfill that same purpose working for another company, because she doesn’t know whether another company’s values would align with hers.

Mallory’s comments that day reminded me of the company I work for and one of our five values: “We Believe Our Work Serves a Higher Purpose.” At first, I thought that value was exactly what Mallory had described as her purpose. However, as I drove home from the meeting, I thought about how our company value guides me in my work as a Human Resources Manager and how I personally define purpose. I concluded that purpose, for me, means the work I do matters beyond the individual task. My work creates value for a higher purpose - to be an advocate for our employees. In that sense, it’s my purpose to help my coworkers live their best lives.

The two different views of Mallory and mine aren’t necessarily contradictory. In fact, I think they demonstrate why purpose is so personal. Purpose at work is shaped by our individual beliefs and by the values we choose to align ourselves with. What gives one person meaning may be different from what gives another person meaning. For both Mallory and me, purpose starts with our personal beliefs and extends into the choices we make at work. We believe the people and companies we surround ourselves with should support the things that matter most to us. That’s also why company values are important. Values are more than words on a website. They tell us what a company believes is important. When we interpret and live out our values with our purpose in mind, we create an environment of growth and success for all.

-Craig

Four Thousand Weeks

"Four Thousand Weeks:

Time Management for 

Mortals" is a popular book 

by Oliver Burkeman

4,000 weeks. That’s about the average life span. 4,000 weeks will put you at almost 77 years old. If it’s accurate I only have 1,150 weeks left! That doesn’t sound like very much time “to get everything done.” Or so I thought... 

I regularly meet with a group in Sidney each Wednesday for a discussion called "Coffee with Champions". Our topic is different every meeting and several months ago, one particular meeting, the topic was 4,000 weeks. We discussed just how valuable and limited our time truly is. We talked about choices, priorities, and relationships. Our work lives occupy a lot of those 4,000 weeks, so I chose to focus on my personal life here are some takeaways I found useful for me.

• A full schedule doesn’t equal a full life
• Choose activities that light you up, not ones that simply fill your calendar
• You don’t need more hours, you need more awareness
• Focusing on fewer things makes each one more impactful
• When you slow down, you notice what actually deserves your attention
• Your best moments happen when you’re fully in them, not rushing past them
• Productivity isn’t about doing more, it’s about being fully engaged in what you’re doing

How do I make that work for me? Recently, I traveled to Indianapolis with my wife for a concert. After reviewing those takeaways above, here are my BLUNDERS and BRIGHT SPOTS with how I handled one of my 4,000 weeks.

BLUNDER: Doing house chores in the morning before we departed. The chores could have waited. I now realize I was distracted with believing I was being productive. In reality, I was instead disengaged from the purpose of the day.

BLUNDER & BRIGHT SPOT: I considered scheduling additional activities for the afternoon. Fortunately I didn’t and we decided to simply walk the city. By focusing on fewer things, it made the concert much more impactful.

BRIGHT SPOT: We visited friends. My wife discovered friends were on the other side of downtown. Instead of making excuses about a mile-long walk, one of our best moments was seeing them for 45 minutes.

What did I learn? When we quit trying to cram more tasks into our day, we discover a better way to live! 

-Craig

One of our 4,000 weeks and it was a good one!

Russia boys on course for big season

The Raiders return their entire state roster from 2025

It's not about how you start, it's how you finish. That cliché may be true, but for the 2026 Russia varsity boys cross country team, they will likely have success at both. Shelby County fans will find out soon enough. The season opening Shelby County Preview takes place this Tuesday, August 25th, at Russia Community Park. All seven SCAL schools, as well as Sidney and Lehman, will compete in both high school boys and girls and junior high. As has been the trend in recent years, the preview races have been shortened to just two miles for high school and one mile for junior high. Below is the schedule of events.

5:00 Junior High Girls

5:30 Junior High Boys

6:00 High School Girls

6:30 High School Boys

7:00 Youth Fun Run (Half Mile)

*Awards for the fastest runner in each high school and junior high grade level. Trophies for team champions and runner-up.

The preview course will cover all of Russia Community Park

The Division IV Raiders and head coach Zach Bell return their top seven runners from 2025. After winning the Shelby County Preview to start the season, the team later won both the SCAL and district championship for the first time in 11 years. They were also regional runner-up for the first time in 13 years. The boys capped 2025 with a 5th-place finish at the state meet, marking the third highest finish in 10 appearances throughout program history.

Paxson Bixler (left) and Samuel Phlipot are ones to watch this fall

Leading the way last season and most certainly this year is senior Samuel Phlipot. He was the 2025 SCAL Runner of the Year and a First Team All-Ohio honoree for his 8th-place individual finish at state. Last September, Samuel set a Russia school record when he blazed a 15:54 at Piqua to pass former record holder Luke Pohlman's 15:58 from 2010. On Samuel's heels this season will be sophomore Paxson Bixler who made quite a splash as a freshman. Paxson was a Second Team All-Ohio honoree at the state meet. His personal record time of 16:22 at last years regional meet ranks 6th all-time on the Russia record board. Paxson pushed Samuel the entirety of last season, making the duo one of the better 1-2 punches in Ohio.

The rest of Russia's roster includes guys that would lead other programs in the area. Senior classmates Owen Sargent, Eli Schmitmeyer, and Keagan Baldridge were all regulars in Russia's top seven last year. And junior Evan Smith was the Raider's #3 runner most of the season. Then there's junior Abe Hoehne and sophomore Lucas Borchers that battled for the final spot of the varsity roster much of last year.

Russia isn't the only SCAL boys team expected to do big things this season. For starters, Botkins will challenge the Raiders at the Preview and throughout the season. On the girls side, Ft. Loramie has won the last nine league titles and will positively dominate at the Preview on Tuesday. Enjoy the races cross country fans. 

The last time Russia hosted the SCAL Preview was 2020. Spectators were supposed to wear masks, but not everyone did.