5 Ways to Find Your Purpose in Life

Have you ever sat down and wondered why you were put on this earth? Keep reading and learn how to find your purpose in life in 5 easy steps.

Have your ever thought about what your purpose in life is? Was it to discover a cure to some major disease, possibly saving hundreds of thousands of lives? Perhaps it was to be in just the right place at just the right time to support someone else in their quest for greatness? Why exactly are you here and what should you be doing, or not doing, to serve your purpose?

These types of questions are common to ask of yourself as you spend time trying to navigate through this great big world. It’s not necessarily that you want to know the exact plan, but some general direction would be nice every once and a while; maybe a sign just letting you know that you’re headed in the right direction.

Although you probably won’t have any idea what your purpose is until that “a-ha” moment when everything just falls into place and makes perfect sense (if that even happens; some people never know their true purpose), there are things you can do to determine whether you’re getting closer to it or further away from it.

Here are five things to consider in your self-discovery process:

#1: Discover your passion

In order to do your best in any area, you have to be passionate about it. Therefore, you wouldn’t have a purpose that didn’t go hand in hand with something that you feel very zealous about.

History is a great teacher of this lesson. If Henry Ford hadn’t been passionate about creating automobiles and incorporating mass production to distribute them, how would our ability to travel be changed? And, if Oliver Evans hadn’t been passionate enough to come up with the idea of a refrigerator to keep our food cold, what would our kitchens look like and how would our diets have to change due to our limited access to these types of nourishment?

Of course, the list goes on and on of the number of people who were passionate in one subject or another and that drove them to create some life altering invention or uncover some piece of information that changes the world. But, the key to their success is that they felt the desire so deep in their soul that they weren’t going to stop until they achieved the purpose they felt within them.

How do you uncover your passion? Think about what excites you. If you had all the money you needed to survive and retire on, what would you do with your time? Answer that question and you’ll find where your true purpose most certainly lies.

#2: Look for like-minded people with similar interests

Two happy friends in the white car driving everywhere and looking for freedom and fun

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you’re not able to come up with your life’s direction on your own. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in day to day living that you ignore your dreams and quit doing things that excite you simply because you’re too busy taking care of your responsibilities. If that’s the case with you, don’t worry because all is not lost. You can still find your passion and purpose; you just may have to look a little harder, that’s all.

One thing you can do is look for people who think like you do and have similar interests. Perhaps they belong to an organization that you’d support or they’re involved in a cause that is close to your heart. Either way, if you find them and spend some time with them, it may spark some passion that you’ve buried a long time ago.

That’s often how it works. Have just one person doing something and it can become quite tedious, boring and not very motivating. But, get a group of people together doing something and all the sudden, great ideas are born and energy is at its peak. They feed off of each other and, before you know it, they’ve accomplished some pretty amazing things.

Join this type of group and feed off of their passion. Let it inspire you to reach goals you’ve never dreamed. Keep their excitement close to your heart and it will motivate you to achieve things you thought impossible to achieve.

#3: Remove “can’t” and “but” from your vocabulary

If you want to never, ever realize your purpose, just keep telling yourself what you “can’t” do or make excuses as to why you haven’t done certain things before now. Either way, you’re limiting your true potential and will likely never reach the goals you’re meant to reach.

The only one that can ever stop you from achieving great things is you. Not parents who knocked you down or teachers that said you were worthless or co-workers that declared you were ignorant. If you let their idea of you become your idea of you, then you are only letting them be right, even when they were most likely wrong.

To have any shot at reaching your full potential and finding your true purpose in life, you have to have full faith and belief that you can accomplish the things that seem impossible. Many times, society has declared something “impossible to achieve” only to be proven wrong when someone sets out to do it and succeeds. Strive to be that person and you’ll find your purpose.

#4: Meditate

yoga girl performing yoga pose on a beach

It can be difficult to come up with your purpose when you’re drawn in twenty different directions and you’ve got your phone, email and social media beeping at you all day. It’s no wonder you don’t know what you’re doing. You have no time to even try to figure it out.

That’s why it’s important to take time out of your busy schedule and just breathe. Let go of everything and everyone that wants your attention and clear your head. You probably have some pretty good thoughts in there, but they can’t ever get out with everything that’s being thrown at you all day.

You don’t have to sit cross legged in the middle of the floor burning incense and chanting to receive the positive effects of meditation. Simply find someplace quiet to do some focused breathing and that will help calm your mind, thereby allowing you to have greater insight as to what makes you tick and where your purpose possibly lies.

Don’t worry about closing the door on others. If someone needs you bad enough, they’ll leave you a message on any one of the ten ways they have to contact you. Take a few minutes and just focus on you.

It may be hard to meditate at first if you’re not used to it, but keep practicing and you’ll be amazed at the clarity and peace you’ll feel from spending a few moments a day in complete and utter silence. You’ll also have a greater understanding of who you are, and, who you are destined to be.

#5: Keep moving forward

Even if you’ve tried all of these things and still have no idea why you’re on this earth, don’t let it discourage you. You may realize it someday when the time is right, or you may serve a purpose that you didn’t even realize you served. Maybe you committed one random act of kindness that changed someone else’s life and caused them to do great things. Who knows?

But, even if you don’t, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t continue to move forward and do the best that you can in life. Treat others with kindness, give 100% in all you do and never compromise your integrity or character. Do these things and you can’t go wrong.

About the author

Christina DeBusk

Changing careers mid-life from law enforcement to writing, Christina spends her days helping others enrich their businesses and personal lives one word at a time.

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