subject: 3 Steps In Finding Your Life Purpose [print this page] Everyone talks about the need to discover their life's purpose yet many people get stuck and confused in how to do this. As life has become less predictable and people are more and more dissatisfied with life, there is renewed conversation about finding a purpose to life.
Without a purpose a person can lose interest in life and want to give up. People spend time aimlessly watching television, surfing the internet, eating, drinking, etc. Because they do not have a defined purpose life feels empty - a void exists.
Are you a person who thinks that finding a purpose to your life is impossible? It definitely is not impossible! It can be as simple as looking in different places than you have been looking.
Here are three steps that might be of help to finding your life purpose:
1 - Define where you have been looking
If where you have been looking has not lead you to your purpose - look somewhere else. Many times people are "told" they will be good at being a teacher, counselor, attorney, doctor, fireman, business owner, etc. Ask yourself what makes you happy, what would you do if you did not get paid, what are you really good at and love to do, what is your dream life, etc.
It is your responsibility to determine what would make you the happiest and then do whatever it takes to point yourself in that direction.
2 - Try on different "purposes"
Once you have taken the time to identify what you would really be happy doing, try each idea on for size. If your purpose might be to teach; create an opportunity to teach, go to a school and talk with other teachers, look into what it would take to get a teaching degree, etc. Give yourself permission to try on different "purposes" until you find one that fits perfectly. You have spent a lifetime trying to find your purpose, before jumping into one identified purpose, do more exploring.
3 - Discover who you really are
Going through a discovery process to find out who you really are will support you in discovering your life purpose. Who you are is not another persons definition of whom you are - it is your definition. We hear messages throughout our lives that come from well-meaning people who think they know best - parents, teachers, bosses, friends. The only person who knows who you really are is you - great news - right? Yes, it is!
This is a personal decision and you are the only one in charge of your purpose. At the end of your life, having and living your purpose will have made life worth living. There are so many people who die unhappy and unfulfilled. We all come into this world with a purpose; it is our job to find and live that purpose.
