Are you an aimless wanderer in life? Do you ever wonder what you’re meant to be doing with your life? If you feel like you’ve lost your way, then perhaps it’s time to find your purpose.
Purpose: ‘the reason for which something exists’
What’s all the fuss about?
‘Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose’ Helen Keller
Understanding why we do things is pretty fundamental to ensuring something is really worth it. If there’s no purpose behind something you are doing, whatever you try will likely be futile or unfulfilling.
How many of you really understand what your purpose is? Why you do what you do? How many of you use it consciously to frame your actions in life?
Finding your purpose is finding your motivation — it energises you to live your life with identity and intention.
If you have no passion behind why you are doing something then, frankly, don’t be surprised if you miss the mark. You are most likely wasting your time.
Having a purpose is critical to change.
Finding your purpose is not always easy.
Some of you may find the concept of purpose hard to grapple with.
Struggling to dig beneath what you do for a living to identify your personal why of why you do stuff.
Perhaps even why you do anything?
Some of you might even wonder, why do I need a purpose? Or how is this relevant?
Whatever you are thinking, hopefully you are asking yourself something you have not really considered before.
What is purpose?
To me purpose is a bit like the hand on the rudder of a ship. Steering you to a destination of your choosing. If the seas get rough, the strength of that purpose will steer you through. If it’s not strong enough, it could result in you turning back or meandering your way to some other place. You know, the easier place of least resistance.
Purpose is your resolve. Your passion. Your calling.
Yet how many of you forget to steer your own direction? How many of you are passengers in a destination not of your choosing?
How many of you are defined by what you do and not necessarily by that underlying why — that which is truly important to you?
You’ve ended up somewhere or with someone. But you are singing a tune not of your own making. Instead, you spend your time wishing you were this or that or with someone or some place else.
Where the grass is greener.
And perhaps you end up spending your precious time hopping about like a mad bunny in the headlights of life.
Who are you? What do you stand for?
It’s important to spend time working that out.
Why? (And I am not being ironic when I say that)
Well fast forward yourself. I’m a death bed kind of girl. Slightly morbid but I find it a really strong and clear way to keep me in check with how I live my life. So bear with me.
Fast forward yourself to the day you find yourself on your death bed.
Will you be ready to depart this world feeling good about the life you’ve lived? You may not be exactly ready to die (who is) but at this point in your life you will likely look back and think ‘what did I achieve’?
But not only that, was what you did with your life meaningful to you? Were you truly satisfied with how you lived your life? Will you have no regrets? Did you live it true to your own identity?
If your answer is no, well, then it’s time to look beneath the surface and dig into discovering who you are, why you are here and what it is you are meant to do.
There is no dress rehearsal. You owe it to yourself to set yourself some life goals that really matter to you.
So what are you here to do?
What should be your legacy? Find your passion. Find your fire. It is never too late.
‘I believe that if you don’t derive a deep sense of purpose from what you do, if you don’t come radiantly alive several times a day, if you don’t feel deeply grateful at the tremendous good fortune that has been bestowed on you, then you are wasting your life. And life is too short to waste’.
Srikumar Rao
For me, my purpose is ultimately to help people be the best version of themselves.
When I work in corporate roles my goal is to help people achieve the things that are important to them, to help them develop and grow their skills. In some ways, perhaps a bit of an empty or dead end goal given some of those people I am helping are probably on the hamster wheel doing stuff that isn’t lighting their own fires.
Am I helping someone get better at something they’re not necessarily passionate about? Some times.
But since getting sick, my purpose has altered. And who knows, perhaps those unique set of circumstances that led to me getting sick appeared for a reason?
You see my purpose is still about helping but it has become about something much deeper. I am now focused helping people who are also sick or desperate to slow down to adjust their lives and to live the best they can. How passionate do you think I now feel about that? Hugely.
The core of my purpose is still to help but the focus I have now in terms of what I’m doing to live it is so much richer and more meaningful.
So think about where you’re at.
Is it really nourishing your soul? And I mean REALLY nourishing your soul. Enough of the ifs, buts, maybes and excuses. Are you genuinely fulfilling the underlying reason you exist? What is your life’s work meant to be?
Find your passion, feel it and carve it into something to make a difference. Identify it, understand it, grab on to it and set it as your life beacon.
And be purposeful about it. Don’t flip flop or dilly dally. Get into yourself and search for the answers.
Why?
Because being clear about your purpose and then living it, means you won’t need to keep asking yourself if you are happy or fulfilled.
You can also stop doing your grass is greener dance.
You’ll be doing just what you were meant to do instead.
So be purposeful about finding your purpose.
Be purposely purposeful.
Wake up and truly live.
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Originally published at medium.com