What is your life purpose?

It’s an interesting question to ask yourself, and it’s one that almost everyone asks at one time or another. But what exactly is a “life purpose”? It’s our reason for being; it defines why we’re here in this world. And everyone has a different and unique life purpose – it’s our task to discover what it is and live it each and every day.

So how do you define your own life purpose?

It isn’t about questioning where you happen to be in your life now. Don’t ask whether or not you should be working hard to earn money now, or taking trips around the world. Don’t ask questions like “whether or not the time is right to get married and have children, or wait longer?” Those types of questions don’t deal with your life purpose.

Your life purpose gives your life significance, showing you and the rest of the world that your life counts, has meaning and is contributing to making the world a better place.

Your life purpose utilizes your talents, skills and unique gifts for the good of others. The truth is, once you start using your skills and talents to benefit other people, you will become the person you were meant to be. Your life will then take on meaning, and you will enjoy a fulfilling, enjoyable and memorable life.

You can’t simply pull your life purpose out of thin air. But you can start to discover what your life purpose really is, and begin to live your life to its fullest. You just need to develop a process to help you uncover it.

Start With Finding Your Passions

Sit back and think about things that are most important to you in life. Create a list and write down the things that bring you pleasure and joy. Are you happiest when you’re working with others? Would you rather spend time with your kids or spend time outdoors with nature?

Why is finding your passion so important?  Your passion is the engine that gives you the motivation to succeed.  It helps you do great things in life, because whatever it is, it brings you immense joy. Some people are passionate about helping others, while others experience joy by accomplishing things like painting portraits, or designing interiors, or giving care to the sick.

Your passion helps you fulfill your true potential. It also helps to excite and energize you, often to the point where you don’t even realize how much time has passed since you began your tasks or your work. Passion is what helps you accomplish truly great things.

Step Outside Your Own “Normal”

Everyone wants to look good, be successful and enjoy the finer things that life has to offer. That’s our “normal.”  It’s also called our “personal bubble.” We stay inside this “bubble” because it’s a comfortable place to be.

We all experience a fear of being uncomfortable, a fear of failing and looking bad in front of others. That’s why we often avoid taking on challenging tasks – it’s easier to just stay inside our “bubble.” But you have to realize that when someone does something to you or says something negative about you, it’s really not you they’re talking about – it’s about their own fear and pain that they may be feeling.

Once you begin to realize that your personal desires are really insignificant compared to the suffering of others in the world, you’ll start feeling compassion for others. You’ll want to make the world a better place. You’ll work to minimize the suffering of others and try to make their lives better. This happens when you step outside your personal bubble.

By doing this, you’ll experience eye-opening sights. You’ll begin to see the bigger picture, and stop looking at fulfilling momentary pleasures. And you’ll begin to see where help is needed, and how you can help. You’ll try to make other lives better and alleviate the pain and suffering others are experiencing. It’s not about solving the world’s problems. But the awareness you’ll experience is what will put you on the road to a better, more rewarding life; it will move you closer to finding your life purpose.

Taking the First Steps

So how do you find your life purpose? There’s no roadmap, or it would be an easy journey and everyone would have one. But there are steps you can take to discover what your life purpose is.

Throughout your life, you’ve developed patterns. They’re often called “should'ves” - It means you begin living your life according to other people’s rules. They could be your parents, teachers and siblings – they’re all telling you what you “should” do. You end up with questions like, “what should I be doing with my life?”

While their intentions were admirable, your parents, teachers and others are guiding you according to their own desires. What you need to do is be aware of all the changes in the world going on around you, and use that awareness to help you find your life purpose. Over time, it will emerge.

There is no “right” or “wrong” to your decision.

Whatever triggers your zest for your life’s work, or your life purpose, are totally yours and yours alone. It can be based on experiences, events, loss, joy – it really doesn’t make a difference what happened that turned the “switch” on in your mind. You are the one who will begin to write your own story and utilize all of your experiences to determine what is your life purpose.

So what are the first steps? You need to have the courage to tell others where you’re going in your life. It isn’t about playing out your parent’s story, or your teacher’s story. It’s about something you fully believe in. You may not have complete control over your story at first, but over time you will.

Remember, this is a journey. It’s based on past experiences, both joyous and painful, and the things that inspire you. You’ll use your skills and your desires to find your life purpose, and you’ll find that your life purpose is equally about the world as it is about you.

You need to find a right balance between helping others and doing what makes you happy. You don’t want to be so connected to giving to others that you neglect your own desires and needs.

Discovering Your Life Purpose

Life purpose is about taking your life experiences, blended with your unique skills and talents, and using them to feel happy and fulfilled. It’s totally unique to you, and nobody can judge your purpose. It’s all about the energy that drives you and brings you joy.

It’s how you engage with life, using your purpose to help others, as well as yourself. You’re in complete control of it, and you decide when you want to sue it. You don’t have to be able to describe your purpose in words – it’s more of a feeling, the energy within you that comes out through the actions you take.

While you can’t really choose your life purpose, you can determine how to use it. You can’t choose it because it’s the overall culmination of your life’s experiences ... your upbringing, environment and the influence of others on your life. You reveal your purpose to others when you express your very being. It lets you contribute to the wellbeing of other people, and it is a very empowering feeling to do so.

At times, you’ll have a clear vision of your life purpose. Other times, you’ll find that vision clouded, even eluding you completely. That’s perfectly normal. You may encounter roadblocks, both external and internal, that prevent you from living your life purpose once you’ve discovered it. But every obstacle is also an opportunity, and if used correctly, you will find that it can be a positive experience that helps to bolster your life purpose.

Tools You Can Use

There are no magical fixes to help you discover your life purpose, but there are techniques and tools available to you to make the overall discovery process easier.

Be open to a connection with the very intelligence of your being. If you’re able to use the intelligence of the universe to your advantage, it will help reveal your life purpose to you.

To find a clearer vision, consider practicing meditation. Examining yourself from within gives you clarity you won’t find any other way. Introspection is a way to examine yourself fully and discover more about you. If you’re not familiar with how to meditate, you can easily find a class or teacher to help guide you.

Use daily affirmations to remind you that you’re using your full potential, and your life purpose is true. This will help eliminate any self-imposed limitations you may place on yourself, helping you live your life purpose to its fullest.

Be sure to follow your true happiness. Identify the things you’re most passionate about – the ones that bring joy and meaning to your life – and use them to help you see where your life purpose resides.

Take in what others have to say about you – your skills, talents and unique gifts. If you hear the same things about you from multiple people, pay special attention.

Over time, these things will come naturally to you, reaffirming your life purpose or helping to find it. Only then will you have a full, meaningful and happy life.