Find your life purpose: the 3 things you actually need to consider

The question of how to find your life purpose is one full of both torment and hope.

What is mine? How can I find it? And how can I experience the deep fulfillment that comes from knowing I am walking my true path?

The questions often come with the hopeless (and subconscious) suggestion that we should be somewhere else, doing something different, which ironically keeps us far from discovering what we most long to find.

If you don’t know how to find your life purpose, you may feel like a failure, especially when you’re surrounded by so many happily successful faces that almost taunt, “I found my passion. See how easy it is?”

Only it’s not easy and many people take long roads to discover some type of work they feel connected to. Even if you have found something to which you feel connected, maybe things aren’t moving as fast as you would like or you periodically doubt your direction.

And while this blog post will mostly discuss how to find your life purpose as it pertains to work, I would like to add that not all callings are related to occupation.

A woman once told me some people believe their purpose is spreading kindness. That’s so simple and beautiful, and maybe that resonates with you.

 

Step 1: The problem isn’t you don’t know, the problem is you don’t think it’s good enough!

The real purpose of life is to be who you really are.

To give your truest gifts to the world and live in a such a way that brings you joy.

The trouble is, most people don’t feel like they’re good enough, or their gifts are good enough, and feel too much pain or fear to let themselves feel happy or at peace.

Many adults spend their lives running around trying to figure out how to receive love they never got as a child.

It’s true.

We think we need normal office jobs and to live safe, practical, boring lives and hide our quirky, creative, eccentric sides because everyone has to grow up eventually!

This is bullshit.

You never wanted to do these things, yet at some point you found yourself following the guidance of people whose opinions you valued more than your own.

Sometimes shifting out of this is a simple matter of becoming aware, and other times it requires deeper shadow work or inner child healing.

Expanding this conversation beyond just work — what DOES the fullest expression of you look like?

How do you express yourself? What feels fun or cool to create? Not just to make money (more on that in a minute), but because there’s an idea that keeps popping up or there’s something you’ve always wanted to do.

Also begin creating awareness around every single area of life where you’re doing something because you think you have to.

Purpose is about living in alignment with your soul, who you really are, and that means in all areas of life.

Don’t worry, we’re getting to the career piece. I know it matters, but it’s important to put this conversation in context because nothing is a vacuum.

 

Journaling prompt:

If you fully trusted yourself and your desires, what would an average day look like?

 

Step 2: Life purpose is a path and not a destination.

When pondering how to find your life purpose, many people want to see the end result, the final picture of how their lives will turn out.

This comes from a deeper fear of the unknown, and of loss.

 

Navigating the path toward life purpose requires the ability to take the next step without seeing the whole staircase, like Martin Luther King Jr., said.

 

The next step is often a blind step, fueled by little other than curiosity and hopeful excitement.

So much magic comes from that combination.

My blog and business started simply because I wanted to express myself. It was initially going to be a wellness site, and I was going to have a monthly column with my stories and thoughts about life.

As soon as the site started, the “column” aspect took over and soon I was doing the exact thing I’d always wanted but never really thought was possible.

I had no idea how I was going to make money from it, I just knew this was my next step after doing random things like taking a jewelry making class and going to yoga teacher training.

Those random things didn’t lead anywhere, but they did get me into a spirit of experimentation after a life spent suffocating the magic out of life by trying to control it.

 

Just how a tree wild in the forest will grow how it wants to grow, we will also mature into our wild selves, unique and beautiful, once we stop letting fear stifle our growth.

 

That’s why, if you wait to know how you’ll get paid or how it’ll all look in the end, you’ll be waiting forever, my friend.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making money from your greatest gifts — I encourage it! — but chasing or forcing money repels purpose.

Finding your purpose isn’t an escape route to quit the job you hate tomorrow.

It’s a process and a way of living that allows you to be the fullest expression of you, in all areas.

It requires you to heal the deeper wounds blocking you from trusting life.

You are meant to be abundant, I promise. But purpose has to come first. Know that you will be supported, you will evolve and grow, and ultimately tap into gifts you didn’t even know you had.

Each step will build on the last, giving you important skills or perspectives that will support you as you give your truest gifts to the world.

 

Journaling prompts:

>> What do you want to do NEXT?

>> What doubts or fears rise up when you answer that? Write them down, then ask — is that true? Where did it come from? What would I rather believe instead?

 

 

Step 3: Create s p a c e.

If you want to find your life purpose but aren’t not clear on a next step  or feel unsure about what you even want, it’s very important to create space. A lot of times people hold on to what IS, even if they’re not happy because they aren’t clear on an alternative.

People often require themselves to HAVE that clear alternative in order to consider making a change, and when that alternative doesn’t exist, it’s easy to get lost in negative thoughts about how much you hate where you are.

And even if you don’t fall into negativity, a lot of times people end up rushing the process because they’re eager to get somewhere.

Rushing things or resisting the flow will never take you where you need to go.

Rather than spending your energy in negativity about what’s happening in your life, or obsessing over what’s next, consider opening up to not knowing.

To knowing that you want something else, but you’re not sure what that is yet, and that’s okay because you have faith something else is out there. Your perfect solution exists.

When negative thoughts of what you don’t like fill your head, there’s no room for inspired guidance or ideas to guide you to that perfect solution of the highest good.

That’s why one of the most important things you can do is accept your life as it is right now, which will free your energy from resisting it, and step into a space of not knowing.

It can feel scary to let go of what was, step into the unknown or allow an old chapter to die, and that’s why it’s easy to feel negative about this phase of life instead of hopeful.

To admit that you don’t know, but are open to guidance is a really powerful, positive step in the right direction if you want to know how to find your life purpose.

 

I believe the visions for our lives are something we receive from the divine. It’s something from beyond us. Most people obsess with figuring it out, but this means the idea is coming from the mind.

 

If you believe in a purpose, then you also likely believe in some sort of a higher power, whether the Universe or God or source or whatever.

That higher power speaks to you through your heart and desires. Most people block out this wisdom and intuition by filling their days with technology, other people’s opinions, overwork, and a range of other things that could ultimately be considered busyness.

To receive your divine vision, your next step, your life purpose, create space.

Journal. Meditate. Be in nature. Be still. Lie on the couch and stare at the wall or ceiling and be with yourself.

If this feels scary or you feel like you can’t deal with your thoughts or feelings, then it’s important to deal with that first, to learn how to truly be with yourself, because this is the only way you’ll hear the deeper stirrings of your heart and find true fulfillment.

 

If this resonated with you, please spread the love by sharing with a friend! thank you <3

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