Want To Find Your Unique Purpose in Life?
Do you know what your life purpose is? Are you searching for a clear, detailed idea about who you can and want to become?
Your life purpose is what you are meant to take with you from this life -- what you want to experience, understand or learn. Discovering it creates a lifetime filled with meaning, joy, clarity and centeredness.
Finding your life purpose starts with discovering what captivates your heart and runs like a thread through your life. A golden thread that weaves your destiny into a beautiful tapestry.
(If you are not sure whether you want to find your life calling or life purpose, come learn the difference.)
Why Find Your Life Purpose?
If you don't know your life purpose, a lot of life decisions are really guesses -- and guesses, like guessing on the multiple choice test of Life, can get you into trouble.
You are basically guessing at what would make you happy. And that makes as much sense as guessing from the yellow pages who you are going to let perform open heart surgery on you.
Important things should not be decided with a guess -- especially life defining and shaping choices that directly determine your level of happiness.
What is a Life Purpose?
A life purpose is a simple statement of the reason you exist, the purpose behind you living now on this planet. It is the reason you came into being and the way you will decide if your life was worth it.
While a life calling focuses on what you will do and become ... your life purpose speaks to what you will take from this life ... what you came here to experience, learn and understand.
Why Do I Need A Life Purpose?
It is easy to get lost in modern life, to lose your way. You can fall asleep at the wheel as your life gets consumed with the mundane details of life. Or, joy and meaning can start to evaporate when life starts to get hard.
Having a clear idea of your life purpose keeps you motivated, focused and able to tap into a pool of energy when you need to face challenges, because you understand the why behind the events in our life.
To get an idea of how powerful this can be, check out these examples of a detailed life purpose statement.
Life Purpose Statement Example - Writer
Life Purpose Statement Example - Bush Chef
What Can I Do With My Life Purpose?
Once you know your purpose for living, it takes the guess work out of making important life decisions. When combined with your life calling, your area of mastery and your life path -- you can know what you are supposed to be doing with your life, instead of guessing. And that can save you a lot of money, headaches, heart aches and time.
For instance, once you know what you are supposed to do with your life, you can make those all important decisions about ...
- where to go to school, what to major in and which classes to take
- the career you will excel at and love
- the best industry and companies for you to work at
- which job titles and promotions to go after
- the best places to work and live in
- how to spend and invest your money to maximize your happiness
- the kinds of books,TV shows and movies that will feed your soul and improve your life
- the kinds of friends, co-workers, clients, bosses and mentors you want
- how to spot and nurture a kindred spirit
- who is the "Love of your Life" (because you have one to share)
Guessing versus Knowing
If you do not KNOW what you are supposed to do, then you are just guessing at what will suit you ... or you are settling for what you (or others, the media, culture or your generation define) think is best for you. Here are two examples of a life ...
Not Knowing What You Are Supposed To Do
Figuring Out What Supposed to Do with Your Life
Guessing at who you are meant to become and what you are meant to do, is a lot like when you were learning the multiplication tables and you kinda knew you should know the answer but didn't. You could guess, but you would never have bet your favorite toy or tonight's dessert on being right.
Well, going through life guessing .. is a lot like betting your career, your income, and your future happiness -- all on a not so good guess.And a guess, no matter how well educated -- is still a guess.
My guess is most people wouldn't bet more than $50 bucks they knew their life purpose. Would you let your kids bet more than that? What about the cost of a college education?
If the answer is no, then isn't it about time to get serious and figure out what you are supposed to be doing?
Why Haven't I Found My Purpose in Life?
Sometimes we hold ourselves back from the very things we want to find most ... often because we fear how it will change us.
Finding answers to life's Biggest questions can be scary ... partly because once you find an answer, now you know what you want to do with your life ... and that can give you a whole new perspective on your life.
No More Excuses
If you have been hiding from life and feeling like you can skate by and not really try hard because you do not know what you are supposed to be doing ... you may feel uncomfortable with the responsibility of following through and going after what you want.
Mistakes Become Clear
Knowing your life purpose can reveal how well you have made choices in the past as well as challenge you to make better -- or different -- choices in the future. Like airing dirty laundry, your illusions of how smart your past choices were may become all too clear in the sunlight of understanding what you can here to learn and experience.
Changes To Your Current Life
Some people worry that knowing their life purpose may mean you have to give up your current life and leave your family and friends. If you have the wrong job, are living in the wrong city, or hanging out with the wrong people ... you may feel very uncomfortable with having to say goodbye and move on.
Not all change is bad ... but most of it is uncomfortable. we cling to what we know and what feels safe.
Is it Hard To Find My Purpose in Life?
Given all this, it might seem like a hard thing to do, but it is not that hard to discover what your life purpose is. Why? Because your life purpose is hiding right beneath the surface of your life. Like a golden thread it snakes between the major events of your life and opens windows of opportunity.
So to find it, all you need to do is see your life with new eyes. To take a close look at the events, challenges and lessons of your life ... and see what life is teaching you ... or trying to.
How Do I Find My Life Purpose?
This simple four step plan helps you find your life purpose. It works by helping you explore a list of universal life themes and ingredients of mastery to discover your own, and them transform your personal life themes into a statement of your life purpose.
This process helps you begin to know yourself and can start a process which transforms your life.
Step One: Identify Your Life Themes
Start by exploring what you care most about in life. To make it easy to get started, I have a list of 28 themes of life that represent the areas we come to learn about and experience.
Each of these life themes reflects a way of seeing the world. By reading a brief description of each, you can quickly find the ones that resonate with you or interest you.
Now you have a good starting point for defining your life purpose. If you cook, consider it grabbing some of your favorite ingredients of a dish to be named later.
If you want to try it, follow the steps in How To Find Your Life Theme.
Step Two: Reflect on Your Life Themes
Next, you want to focus on the life themes that resonate most with you. It is time to see how they are already a part of your life in the movies you watch, the books you read and the conversations you have.
It is also nice to see where they are in your life -- your weekend hobbies, flipping through the channels during a few free moments or are they a major part of your career? It is also worthwhile to think about how they would be a part of your life if you had the time, money and resources you dream of.
Step Three: Find "The Why" Behind Your Themes
Now, it is time to get look "behind the scenes and find the why behind why your themes".
What about these themes grab and hold your attention, get your riled up or make you happy? Finding the Why is a critical step most miss -- but it is where you start to hit pay dirt.
Why? Because this is what turns your world, tweaks your psyche, and reveals what makes these universal life themes unique and personal to you. It is not a step to missed.
Step Four: Explore Your Mastery Ingredients
Once you know what your life themes are, it is time to explore the specifics of how you are to live out your life purpose. To do that, you want to explore and identify the ingredients of your area of mastery -- the things, people, places, activities, experiences, talents, problems and ideas you love to work with and think about.
Think of these are the tools in your toolkit that help you do everything you need to, to fulfill your life purpose -- and they make how you manifest your life purpose unique to you.
Check out this life purpose list of mastery ingredients to see how much this can help define and clarify your life purpose.
Step Five: Create A Life Purpose Statement
Finally, you are ready to craft a life purpose statement which reflects your own personal ideas about why you are here and how you will fulfill your unique life purpose. The reason behind
You start by writing down your life themes and then adding in your mastery ingredients. Then start creating a statement that reflects what you want most, care most deeply about and want to leave this life having experienced, learned or understood.
To get an idea of what is possible, look over these life purpose examples.
Life Purpose Books
If you want more help finding a purpose in life, here are my personal recommendations ...
Life Purpose Journals
These journals can help you get started by giving you a place to jot down your thoughts, ideas and insights ...
Or you can use some of these books and tools to develop a statement of your life purpose.
Life Purpose For The Second Half of Life
If you are reaching the midpoint of your life, you may have a different focus when it comes to discovering and living your life purpose. Often, when the kids are grown and you have reached your major career goals or a plateau in your profession -- you are looking for more meaning.
Here are a few books I recommend ...
A Faith Based or Soulful Approach To Finding A Purpose in Life
If you want a more spiritual approach to finding your life purpose, you might try ...
Need More Help Finding Your Purpose in Life?
Want to learn more? If so, check out ...
Quiz: Discover Your Life Purpose
