Three Ways to Explore Your Life Purpose(s)

I just googled “life purpose”, and was given 1 billion, 20 million results; “how to find your life purpose” – 267 million offerings! Clearly, this is a topic of huge interest to many, many people.

I can understand why- having a sense of purpose makes life easier and more meaningful. It helps you focus your energy and attention in a world full of distractions, so you can make the difference in the world that only you can.

Let’s start with a question- what is a life purpose, anyway?

There are tons of great answers, but I like the idea that your life purposes are the places where your values, talents, skills, gifts, interests or passions intersect with something that the world needs.

Notice the use of the plural in the sentence above- you can have more than one life purpose! This takes the pressure off having to find the one thing. Searching for the one thing can take up a lot of valuable time and keep you stuck. You can have as many life purposes as are right for you!

Here’s an example of a life purpose: Sharon is an artist with natural talent, training and experience- in short, she has the skilled ability to create art. She has also been on a spiritual healing journey for many years. She discovered one of her life purposes is to use art and spirituality to facilitate others with similar stories to find healing and inner peace.

 

Three Ways to Explore Your Life Purpose

One.

Think about what you would say if someone gave you a megaphone or a billboard and you could speak to the entire world for five seconds, or for thirty seconds. Write down what you would say and what you would put on your billboard This will give you an idea of what’s really important to you (aka your values) and what difference you want to, or are here to, make in the world.

 

Two.

Write down your answers to these questions to give you some insights about what your life purposes might be:

What are you naturally good at? What’s easy for you?

What training or education have you acquired?

What do you enjoy? What’s fun for you?

If you could do absolutely anything today, what would you do? Who would you do it with?

What are your hobbies?

What did you love to do when you were a kid?

What values do you want to honour more?

What do you want less of in your life?

What do you want more of?

 

Three.

For each of the answers to the exercise above, write down as many ways as you can come up with of how each could respond to a need in the world.

Notice if any of these make you feel energized, enthusiastic or spark you- that’s a great sign you’ve hit something relevant and meaningful for you.

 

Finally.

From all the insights you gathered in the above exercises, come up with a life purpose that might be a fit for you. Keep it to a few brief words, for example, my life purpose is to help children learn to read. Jot down one or two specific actions you could take, for example, volunteer for the schools reading program, sponsor a child in a developing country to go to school.

Now try on your life purpose and see how it fits. Live in it for a while, own it. You can always refine, discard it or exchange it if and when things become clearer or your priorities change; your life purposes can evolve, just like you do. I encourage you to “act as if” and see where the journey takes you!

 

I would love to hear what you life purpose is,  how you are trying it on in the world and how it does or doesn’t fit. Leave a comment below and let me know!

I would love to coach with you! Check out my coaching packages or get in touch with me today to see how we can work together to~

Live your best life now and make your difference in the world!

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