When you discover your personal purpose in life, you will have more clarity, direction and passion. It makes decision making a simpler process as well as acting like a compass on your journey through life.
While it may not easy to just state your life's purpose with just a few moments thought. It involves probing your innermost thoughts and beliefs. Something that can be frustrating, painful or down right scary. It is however worth it.
Developing your personal purpose is not a problem to solve; it is more like a voyage of discovery and self-learning. It is a every evolving process that can take countless hours of reflection to determine what is truly meaningful in your life. You can be assured that this purpose will be linked to your values and dreams. Because the meaning of our life is related to our purpose.
The process of finding our individual purpose involves asking and honestly answering lots of questions:
- What activities and work thrill and enthuse me?
- What are my own unique talents and strengths?
- When am I at my best, my happiest and most alive?
- What is on my bucket list, those things that you really dream of doing?
- What does this list tell me about my inner desires, dreams and direction?
An activity that I found to be most enlightening, is to write your own obituary. How do you want to be remembered when you die? What stories and memories are your children and grandchildren going to have of you? What legacy are you going to leave? What are your family, friends and peers going to say about you at your funeral and beyond?
Once you know your purpose, consider how it can influence your destiny. Below are just some areas that knowing your purpose could impact upon:
Your work:
Does your career, vocation or job support your purpose? Make a list of all the ways that your work offers you to stay aligned with your purpose. Do you need to find new responsibilities or maybe a new position or whole new direction that gives you the opportunity to live the life you desire.
Your family:
Have a family discussion about shared values. What is everyone's ideas for what they what for the future. Find common ground and ways to make these ideas a reality.
Setting goals:
Goals are just stages on your journey through life, a tool to help you fulfill your potential or a lesson of self-improvement and self-knowledge. You have to set goals to make your purpose a reality, but these goals are a vehicle on your journey not the destination. Goals have a beginning and an end, while the process of finding your purpose is never-ending.
Being yourself:
Your purpose is as individual and unique as you are, it is yours and yours alone. So do not let external forces influence it. It is about your life, not what anyone wants or thinks you should be. If you have any negative feelings about sharing it with others, then keep it to yourself. It's not about impressing others, and should only positively affect you.
Ideally, you want your whole life to reflect the expression of your values, dreams and purpose. Finding and living your purpose is something we should all aspire to, it should be our strongest motivator and guide to being our best. And the greatest thing about finding your purpose, is that you are in control of it.
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