Discovering Your Life’s Purpose: Dr Brooke R. Envick of the University of Nebraska On How to Align Your Goals with Your True Self

Finding and living in alignment with your true purpose can be a transformative journey. Yet, many struggle with identifying their life’s purpose and aligning their goals with it. In this series, we aim to explore how individuals discover their purpose and create a life that reflects their authentic selves, leading to greater fulfillment and success. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Brooke Envick, Ph.D.

Brooke Envick, Ph.D., is the Dean of the College of Business & Technology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the author of True Ascension: The Power of Faith, Fortitude, and Foresight. Drawing from her own journey of personal loss, trauma, healing, and professional breakthroughs, she developed the True Ascension Mindset — a spiritually grounded framework that blends neuroscience, biblical wisdom, and leadership principles to help people realign with their higher purpose. With nearly 30 years of experience teaching and mentoring students and professionals, and over 30 peer-reviewed publications, Brooke is passionate about guiding others to unlock their potential, transform adversity into growth, and align their goals with their true selves.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

I grew up in the Texas Panhandle, where community, faith, and hard work were the cornerstones of daily life. I come from a family of educators. I’m a third-generation professor, and that legacy instilled in me both a respect for learning and a responsibility to serve others. From a young age, I was deeply curious about people: what motivates them, why some keep going until they find success, and why others quit at the first sign of adversity. That fascination drew me to the people side of business management, where I could explore human behavior in organizations and, more importantly, help people unlock their potential.

About ten years into my career, I experienced significant personal loss and trauma. I never doubted my purpose, but I did question whether I had the fortitude to endure the hardships I was facing. At times, I even felt unworthy of the roles and responsibilities in front of me. Yet my faith gave me strength, and over time I developed the foresight to see how even painful seasons could prepare me for greater impact. Those experiences didn’t derail me. They refined me.

Over nearly thirty years of teaching, research, and mentoring thousands of students and professionals, I’ve seen how faith, fortitude, and foresight can elevate lives and align people with their higher purpose. Today, as Dean of the College of Business & Technology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney and as the author of True Ascension, I draw on neuroscience, biblical wisdom, and leadership principles to guide others in transforming adversity into growth and manifesting success through alignment with their true selves.

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person that you are grateful for, who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

The person I am most grateful for is my dad. He has been my fiercest advocate and my most faithful encourager. From childhood through today, his belief in me has never wavered. He showed me what faith, fortitude, and foresight look like in daily life, not through grand gestures, but through quiet sacrifices and a steady commitment to family, work, and purpose.

I also admire the way he lived out his profession. As a professor, he built what many consider the world’s premier industrial distribution program, not for recognition but because he believed students deserved the best. He modeled humility, excellence, and integrity in everything he did, and his example has shaped both my leadership principles and the values behind my book, True Ascension.

What makes this especially meaningful is that I now serve as Dean of the very college where my dad built his industrial distribution program. In many ways, life has come full circle. I carry his legacy forward every day, both in how I lead and in the messages in my book.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

I would highlight gratitude, perseverance, and perspective.

Gratitude has shaped the way I approach both life and leadership. Even in difficult seasons, I’ve made it a priority to notice the good and appreciate the people who walk alongside me. One example is the Above and Beyond recognition program I recently launched in our college. It celebrates faculty and staff who live out our core values. In just six weeks, nearly 50 awards have been given. The award itself is simple. They receive a sticker for their office door and a $5 coupon to our student-managed coffee shop. But the impact has been profound, because the real gift is the gratitude behind it. Our college culture is shifting into one where people are energized to contribute more, not because they’re tasked to, but because they feel seen, valued, and appreciated. Gratitude has a way of reminding people that what they do matters, and that reminder creates a ripple effect of positivity, excellence, and purpose.

Perseverance has been essential in my academic and professional journey. One of the most defining seasons was when I was preparing to step into the role of Dean while also caring for my mother in the last year of her life as she battled cancer. Balancing professional responsibilities with the emotional weight of caregiving was incredibly demanding. There were moments when I felt stretched beyond what I could handle, but perseverance gave me the strength to keep showing up, both for my college and for my mom. That experience taught me that perseverance is not just about pushing through challenges at work. It’s about faithfully carrying the responsibilities you’ve been entrusted with, even when it hurts, and finding purpose in both duty and love.

Perspective has carried me through seasons of profound change. Several years ago, I left behind my career and life in Texas to begin again in Nebraska. It wasn’t simply a relocation. It was a spiritual surrender, a deliberate choice to release what was holding me back and step fully into God’s plan. Less than a year later, I was confronted with a serious health crisis that could have felt like confirmation that I had made the wrong decision. Instead, perspective reframed the moment. What looked like a setback became a season of refinement. Viewing pain as preparation rather than punishment gave me the strength to press forward, and that mindset continues to shape how I lead and live today.

Ok, fantastic. Let’s now turn to the crux of our interview. Was there a defining moment or experience in your life when you felt a clear sense of your purpose? How did it influence the goals you set from that point forward?

Yes. During my first year as a professor, I had a student named Jesse who was failing my class. His grades were poor, and I grew frustrated. Eventually, I dismissed him in my mind as someone who wasn’t trying. Then one day, I assigned my students to write about their childhood. Jesse’s essay changed everything.

He shared that he had been abandoned by his parents as a baby and raised by relatives who never treated him as their own. He wrote about always feeling like he was two steps behind in life. In that moment, I realized how quickly I had judged him, and how much I had failed to see the story behind the struggle.

I invited Jesse to meet with me and asked him what he loved to do. His answer was karate. I encouraged him to take the lessons he had mastered in karate, like discipline and focus, and apply them to his schoolwork. That connection lit a spark. His mindset shifted, his effort grew, and his grades began to improve.

That moment became a turning point for me. I understood my purpose wasn’t to measure students against an arbitrary standard, but to meet them where they are and help them see what is possible. From that point forward, the goals I set as a professor, and later as an administrator, were never just about academic success or institutional progress. They were about transformation. My goal is to believe in people, even when they doubt themselves, and to help them turn their struggles into strengths.

What practical steps can someone take to begin uncovering their life’s purpose if they feel lost or unsure about their direction?

This may sound counterintuitive, but purpose reveals itself through pain, not joy. Many people assume they’ll discover their purpose by chasing what makes them happy. While joy is important, our ultimate purpose is not about our own satisfaction. It’s about how we serve others. And very often, it’s the struggles we’ve endured and the pain we’ve walked through that give us the wisdom, empathy, and strength to help others. Some practical steps to help find your purpose are to:

1. Reflect on pain points. Our deepest struggles often hold clues to our higher calling. Pain can be a teacher, pointing us toward what we’re meant to heal in ourselves and often what we’re meant to help others overcome. By looking back on the moments that tested us most, we can begin to see how they prepared us for impact.
2. Look for patterns. Purpose isn’t always discovered in a lightning-bolt moment. More often, it reveals itself in consistent themes. Pay attention to what people naturally seek you out for in terms of advice, encouragement, problem-solving, or guidance. These patterns are often signals of where your gifts and calling intersect.
3. Create space for reflection. Purpose won’t shout over the noise of a busy, distracted life. It requires quiet moments. Practices like prayer, journaling, and meditation open us to insight we can’t access in constant motion. When we step back, we gain clarity about what truly matters and where we feel called to invest our time and energy.
4. Experiment with where you give your time and energy. Purpose doesn’t arrive fully formed. It emerges through movement, not just thought. Don’t wait for a perfect plan. Start small. Follow what sparks your curiosity or stirs your heart. Through each step, notice what fuels you, what drains you, and what feels true. Over time, those small steps connect into a path, and that path becomes your purpose.

How do you differentiate between external pressures — like societal expectations — and the inner calling that aligns with your true self?

I use my Grind to Growth Realignment Tool™ as a guide. External pressures usually show up as “grind”, which are activities that feel depleting, obligatory, and reactive. They are also typically driven by urgency or someone else’s agenda. An inner calling shows up as “growth”, which are activities that feel energizing, purposeful, and aligned with your deeper values.

A simple way to discern the difference is to reflect on your past few days. Write down your main activities, then ask yourself: Which ones felt like grind, and which ones felt like growth? It is even possible to take the grind tasks and turn them into growth tasks by reframing them through three lenses: Identity (who am I becoming through this?), Connection (who does this enrich?), and Elevation (how is this helping me rise?). External pressures keep us reactive, but inner callings move us toward growth and our higher purpose.

Can you share an example of a time when you adjusted or abandoned a goal because it no longer aligned with your deeper sense of purpose? What did you learn from that experience?

Several years ago, I started a golf simulator rental business because I thought I needed to be actively entrepreneurial while teaching entrepreneurship and directing an entrepreneurship center. It seemed logical, but instead of enhancing my purpose, it distracted me from what mattered most, which were my students, my leadership responsibilities, and my professional growth.

I kept it going longer than I should have because I had already invested so much time and money. This was a textbook case of escalation of commitment. Eventually, I realized it wasn’t a failure to let it go. It was realignment. Closing that chapter gave me the freedom to focus fully on my true calling, which has shaped my work as a professor and academic leader.

What I learned from that experience is that success isn’t just about adding more. It’s about having the wisdom to release what does not fit or add value. Letting go creates margin for what truly matters, and alignment always produces more impact than busyness or adding lines on your resume.

What advice would you give to people trying to pursue their purpose while managing the demands of day-to-day life, such as work, family, and other responsibilities?

Life rarely pauses to hand us a perfect runway for purpose. We have to weave it into the everyday. That’s why I lean on the pillars of faith, fortitude, and foresight, which form the foundation of my book, True Ascension. Faith reminds us to trust that even in the busyness and uncertainty, God can use every moment to shape us. Fortitude empowers us to show up with strength and consistency, even when life feels heavy. And foresight allows us to see beyond the urgency of the moment, aligning today’s choices with the bigger picture of who we are becoming.

When we live this way, the demands of daily life stop competing with our purpose and instead begin fueling it. Every responsibility, challenge, and small decision becomes part of the calling that shapes us. Purpose will never be discovered outside of daily life. It is revealed through the way we live our daily lives with faith, fortitude, and foresight. The heartbeat of True Ascension is turning everyday life into a pathway toward the person you were created to be.

This is the main question of our interview. What are “5 Ways to Align Your Goals With Your True Self”? (please share stories or examples)

I open Part IV of my book with this quote: “Feed what moves you forward. Starve what holds you back.” That phrase captures the essence of alignment. When your goals reflect your true self, they stop draining you and start propelling you. Here are five ways to live that out:

1.Anchor in Faith. Faith is the compass that keeps you steady when the path feels uncertain. It is what grounds you in something bigger than yourself. When I left behind twenty years of my life in Texas, I had only a half-filled U-Haul, my two dogs, and a tested-but-unbroken faith. To an outsider, it looked like a loss or a failure. In reality, it was freedom. That move was not just relocation, it was spiritual surrender. I chose to trust God’s plan over my own illusion of control.

Anchoring in faith means you don’t set goals based on fear, comparison, or external pressure. You set them out of conviction and trust. Goals born out of faith will always carry you further than goals born out of fear.

2. Clarify and Stay True to Your Core Values. If your goals don’t align with your values, they’ll eventually feel hollow. When I pursued the Dean’s job, I leveraged foresight grounded in my core professional values, which are Authenticity, Service, Stewardship, Excellence, and Transformation (ASSET). Those core values kept me grounded and gave me confidence. Rather than being intimidated by other candidates with more administrative experience, I looked ahead and asked: How can my core values position the college for long-term growth and demonstrate I am the best candidate for this role?

By aligning my leadership goals with my core values, I gained clarity in how to prepare, how to communicate my vision, and how to carry myself throughout the process. That alignment strengthened the job opportunity, giving me a stronger platform to lead with vision, clarity, and impact.

3. Reframe Adversity as a Training Ground. Adversity is not a detour. It is part of God’s plan for you. Less than a year after I moved to Nebraska, I landed in the hospital for what should have been routine surgery. Instead, it turned into a painful, drawn-out health crisis that tested me in ways I never expected . At first, it felt like a setback. But perspective revealed something much deeper. It was a season of spiritual refinement.

Reframing adversity means choosing to see pain as preparation, not punishment. Your challenges are shaping you for the very purpose your goals demand. When you stop asking “Why me?” and start asking “What is this teaching me?” adversity becomes your greatest ally in alignment.

4. Routinely Visualize Your Future Impact. Your brain believes the pictures you give it, which is why visualization is so powerful. When I was writing True Ascension, I didn’t imagine the finished manuscript. I envisioned my readers discovering clarity, courage, and hope through its pages. That vision energized me to keep writing.

Neuroscience calls this process neuroplasticity. Every time you vividly imagine the life you’re called to live, your brain begins wiring itself to create it. Visualization isn’t only about what you want to achieve. It’s about who you want to become and the impact you want to have on others. When you routinely visualize your future clearly and consistently, it acts like a magnet, drawing your present thoughts, decisions, and actions into alignment with your higher purpose.

5. Regularly Audit and Adjust. Alignment isn’t “set it and forget it.” Life evolves, and so must your goals. For many years, I loved being a professor. Teaching and mentoring students is deeply fulfilling, and I saw myself continuing in that role indefinitely. But over time, my vision began to expand. I realized I could extend my impact even further by stepping into administration.

Making the adjustment to pursue administration was not as much about ambition as it was about alignment. It allowed me to extend my influence, empower faculty and staff, and shape a college culture where students and professionals could thrive. Letting go of the identity I had built as “just” a professor was difficult, but it created space for something that reflected my purpose on a larger scale.

That is the power of alignment. You must regularly step back, ask honest questions, and have the courage to adjust. Oftentimes the best choice isn’t holding on to what’s comfortable, but pivoting toward something more purposeful. Realignment doesn’t diminish your past contributions. It elevates your future impact.

How can our readers further follow your work?

My book, True Ascension: Unlocking Greatness through Faith, Fortitude, and Foresight, can be purchased through my website: www.trueascension.com. It is available through major book retailers as well. On my website, I also share a blog featuring one-minute inspirational pieces, which are short reflections designed to give readers a quick lift and a practical takeaway for their day. I welcome readers to connect with me on Facebook as well, where I regularly post short purpose-driven leadership and personal growth messages.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!

About The Interviewer: Dr. Bharat Sangani is a cardiologist and entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience, practicing in Gulfport, Mississippi, and Dallas, Texas. Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology, he specializes in diagnosing, treating, and preventing cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease and hypertension. In 1999, Dr. Sangani founded Encore Enterprises, a national real estate investment firm. Under his leadership, the company has executed transactions exceeding $2 billion, with a portfolio spanning residential, retail, hotel, and office developments. Known for his emphasis on integrity and fairness, Dr. Sangani has built Encore into a major player in the commercial real estate sector. Blending his medical and business expertise, Dr. Sangani created the Life is a Business mentorship program. The initiative offers guidance on achieving balance in health, wealth, and relationships, helping participants align personal and professional goals. Now based in Dallas, Texas, Dr. Sangani continues to practice cardiology while leading Encore Enterprises and mentoring others. His career reflects a unique blend of medical expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, and dedication to helping others thrive.