Finding Your Life Purpose

When you hear the term life purpose, what does it mean to you? “Life purpose” is really a commitment or resolve to live in a certain way and achieve specific objectives. Realizing and living your life purpose will be a comfortable and enjoyable process. Little by little , you’ll create life circumstances that are totally suited to who you are, your likes and dislikes, natural talents, and much more. It’s the kind of inner journey that changes everything – from emptiness to satisfaction, from boredom to passion, from aimlessness to unbridled joy and beyond!

Finding your life purpose is a misleading concept because it’s not something you have to go out and “get,” but rather something you need to turn within and claim. You’ve already got it – even if you haven’t consciously realized or chosen it yet. Of course, whether you believe it is already within you or not, you still need to “find” it in some sense. How do you do that? By looking in the most obvious places – your passions and interests.

Your purpose will always be something that:

• You feel passionate about
• You are naturally good at
• You already love to do
• Is important to you

When these things come together, you’ve got a virtual explosion of passion, meaning, fulfillment, empowerment – and purpose!

It’s important to understand that you may face a few challenges while you’re working toward your life purpose.Sometimes these challenges will come from inside your own mind (negative thoughts, doubts, and the like), and sometimes they might be external obstacles you didn’t expect to encounter. These challenges might include:-

1. Fear of Change -This is a common challenge for people who are firmly entrenched in their current life circumstances. If you’re in your forties, fifties or older, you may think it’s too late to conceive a new life purpose now. No matter your specific situation, it’s never too late to make changes that will contribute greater value to the world and create greater meaning and fulfillment in your own life. The only thing you have to consider is what you want and what you’re willing to do to have it. Small changes or big changes, it’s completely up to you.
   

2. Lack of Belief - Whatever lack of belief you may have right now, it’s okay. Understand that inner conviction usually comes from doing, not necessarily from trying to convince yourself. If you have completed the worksheets on the things that are important to you, you are passionate about, interested in and naturally good at; you’ve already got a sense of the right direction to move in. If you also took the time to identify some clear steps that will move you toward what you want, there is nothing left to do but start taking those steps! As you do, you’ll begin to believe little by little. With every success, every challenge you stare down, every obstacle you overcome, you’ll begin to believe in yourself and the importance of what you’re doing. Eventually, momentum will take over and the process will become a lot easier.
   

3. If You Do What You Love, Will the Money Follow? - This challenge applies to you especially if you intend to turn your life purpose into a career. One of the biggest obstacles people in this situation face is uncertainty about how to transition from their current career to a new one that relates to their life purpose. If you really want to turn your life purpose into a paying career, you need to find a way to monetize your passions. Depending on your personal situation, this may be something you can do right away and quit your existing job, or it might be something you’ll have to build up to gradually. It will be different for everyone, so take some time to determine what will work best for you.
   

4. Charging Money for Your “Gifts” - Many people believe that gifts and talents (usually referred to as “God-given”) should be shared freely with others and never exchanged for monetary gain. But, if you don’t charge money for your talents and services, you will have to earn an income some other way unless you happen to be financially independent. In most cases, that means you’ll have less time and energy to devote to your true purpose. At my view, there is nothing wrong with charge for your talents, it just depends on what your objective is.
   

5. Slow Progress - As you begin moving toward your life purpose, you may feel like you are moving through molasses. Maybe you’ll bump into plenty of obstacles that will slow your progress, money might trickle in when you desperately need a waterfall, or you might simply seem to be moving at a snail’s pace for no apparent reason. Well, you need to understand that you are likely undergoing some major changes both within and without. There may also be external influences affecting your progress, and you have no control over those influences. No matter what is happening, do your best to make the journey itself the reward. In other words, don’t get hung up on expecting a specific outcome in a certain time frame. As long as you are taking the steps that you know will lead to your chosen destination, you are on the right track. Instead, make it your mission to feel good about what you’re doing right now. Trust that everything will work out exactly as it’s meant to and focus only on doing your part. When you do that, you avoid wasting time and energy on fear, doubt and frustration. You stop worrying about the end result and enjoy each step between here and there.
   

6. Balance and Responsibility - When you first conceive your life purpose, you may find yourself wanting to hurry up and make it all happen overnight. Whether there are many people who need what you can provide or you feel desperate to change your own life circumstances, remember to take it slow. Keep balance with the rest of your life. Make time for proper self-care, rest and recreation. You won’t be serving anyone if you end up burned out and exhausted.
   

7. Keeping Those Fires Burning - Self-motivation can be a tricky thing, no matter how passionate you are about your activities. Sometimes without realizing it you may find your attention waning or outer distractions interfering, which can throw you off track in a hurry. You may find it helpful to come up with a mission statement to keep you on track. Whatever kind of mission statement you choose, make it something meaningful to YOU. Something that will fuel your inner passion and keep you focused on your ultimate objectives.

There are other possible challenges that could arise; it’s impossible to cover all of them in these few pages. But no matter what kind of challenges you may face on your journey toward greater purpose and meaning, know that your attitude is going to make the biggest difference in the magnitude of the obstacles you encounter.

Rather than seeing these obstacles as threats, learn to see them as opportunities. Opportunities to strengthen yourself from within; opportunities to stretch your limits; opportunities to grow and develop as a person, and more. Challenges can be your best friends if you’re willing to learn from them. When you believe that your life has meaning and make it your purpose to infuse that meaning into everything you do, you make every moment and every activity meaningful. Consequently, you are able to live with purpose no matter what you do, no matter where you go, and no matter how you and your life purpose evolve over time.

You’ll simply turn your entire life into a vehicle for positive change, growth, healing, awareness or anything else you decide to adopt as your mission.