We are all born with a specific purpose to fulfill while living our life here on Earth. Hard questions like “Why are we here?” and “What’s the meaning of life” have been contemplated by scientists, psychologists and philosophers for millennia.
Wisdom traditions like Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and others claim to know the answers to these hard questions, and I do not disagree with them. While wisdom traditions and various religions have different paths one can take towards enlightenment or self-actualization, the end goal is basically the same – an understanding that the we-are-all-one concept is actually the true reality of our universe.
When we understand that we are, in fact, all connected, we can be more open and accepting of others and from this comes love. I truly believe that the purpose of all conscious human beings is not only to self-actualize, but to love unconditionally, which will help to awaken the collective unconscious and propel our species forward in a positive way.
As a graduate student in a doctoral program in psychology, my research is focused on consciousness, spirituality and human potential. In my research I have come across, over and over again, evidence that the soul is real and manifests in human bodies to carry out a specific purpose while here on Earth so that it can advance to the next level.
While the nature of the soul is a very complex topic, it can be understood simply as the true essence of who you are. Your ego, or that ‘monkey mind’ that chatters away at you all day with negative thoughts is not who you truly are.
When you understand that the true Self – your essence or soul – is separate from your thoughts and emotions, you can learn how to quiet those thoughts and listen for your inner voice, which will guide you towards realizing your life’s (and soul’s) purpose.
Now, you may not uncover your purpose right away. For some people, this can take years, or never happen at all. However, if you try different methods and pinpoint themes or patterns that come up for you, you’ll be well on your way to discovering your life’s purpose. One powerful method is what I call the Ideal Experiences method.
This method is a simple and easy process that does not take long to do. Before you begin, make sure you are in a quiet place and give yourself about thirty to forty minutes to contemplate or meditate on the following questions:
What experience(s) do you most want to have in your life?
How would you feel if you could experience this all the time?
What experience(s) do you most want others to have?
How would you feel if others were able to have this experience?
What experience(s) do you most want to give to others?
How would you feel if you could give others this experience?
What does this look like – what actions are involved?
Here are some examples of experiences: freedom, prosperity, joy, love, enlightenment, security, awareness, clarity, fulfillment, safety.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of experiences, but it should be enough to get you thinking about the ideal experience or experiences you want for yourself and others. This is powerful because the ideal experiences you want, that you can not stop thinking or talking about with others, and that you want others to have along with you are clues to your life’s purpose.
When you see the experience you want others to have more than anything you will see that this is the experience you most want for yourself too. By giving this experience to others you will be living it yourself.
For example, my ideal experiences are freedom, awareness and enlightenment. I carry out these experiences through the work I do as a life purpose coach, consciousness and spirituality researcher, and scholar.
All of these experiences are ones my clients and I have together. I help them realize their life purpose so that they can create a life of balance, impact and prosperity, which helps them experience freedom, awareness and enlightenment alongside me. Do you see how that works?
When you can articulate the ideal experiences that keep nudging you from within, you can pair them with what you are passionate about. What you spend the most time doing with enjoyment and when you are in the flow state is where your passion lies.
Purpose is the vehicle and passion is the fuel. Without passion, you cannot carry out your life’s purpose in a fulfilling way and without a purpose, your passion is wasted. When you put these two together you have a recipe for a fulfilling, happy and prosperous life.