7 Ways to Find and Pursue Your Purpose

Everyone can relate to wondering if you’re on the right path to happiness late at night after a few cocktails and deep conversation.

While we can’t promise you that these tips will instantly create a happy and reflective life, these are the tricks to keeping yourself on the path to purpose.

We can’t tell you what your purpose is, but we can show you how to figure that out for yourself and keep on track to inner peace.

Narrow it down to one of three life pursuits.

Ask yourself a simple question: where does your soul naturally lean toward? Are you a person who puts building relationships above all else? Do you want to create a physical something with your talents and gain success more than collecting people’s love? Do you put more emphasis on becoming self-aware or experiencing as much emotion and adventure as possible? Once you come to terms with what you naturally crave (physical success, emotional success, or success with intimacy), you will see what path your life needs to take.

All three of these paths are equally admirable and can be applied to your life in different ways. Don’t let anyone tell you self-discovery isn’t as important as monetary success, or that relationships come second to understanding yourself in the scheme of life.

When we are young, we tend to want a mixture of all three and it is only as we get older that we realize one of these three ventures needs the full depth of our efforts. That doesn’t mean someone pursuing a flashy career can’t have deep and rewarding relationships or a person on the path to self-discovery can’t have equally impactful friends. It’s not about giving up on the other aspects of your life, but realizing where you naturally lean towards and allowing yourself to recognize that path.

Now that you know where you lean, experience the other two options.

This is what I meant about not limiting yourself to your chosen path. To explain, if you are a relationship creator then you need to schedule two big events to experience the other two options—whether that is a solo-kayak trip through the everglades to experience a taste of self-discovery or making a business plan for your career with active milestones you reach every few months.

Being able to recognize where your life’s pursuit will be and allowing yourself to taste the other options will make you a more rounded person. Being secure in your passion and open to other options actually makes you more driven in the long run.

Consider the source on advice from your friends.

When your best friend gives you advice make sure you’re considering the type of purpose seeker giving the advice.

If your best friend is career driven and you are all about self-discovery and she thinks your two month backpacking trip is a waste of resources and time, remember she is biased by how she chose to devote her life.

There’s nothing wrong with all three of the purpose types and it’s up to no one, but you to dictate what is an important move or a waste of time. Surrounding yourself with different types of passion pursuers is a great idea but at times is tricky when relating and giving advice.

Just because your passion changes doesn’t mean you have.

If you find that your life has taken a turn and what was once important to you isn’t anymore, that doesn’t mean you’ve gone forward or backward in personal development. Throughout the course of your life, many people will change their objective in finding others, themselves or success.

If you reach fifty and decide self-discovery has become more important to you than your hard-earned career, who’s to say that that is good or bad. Since all the paths are equally admirable, there is no shame in changing your mind.

Be inspired by other people’s passions.

The greatest flattery of all is imitation and while you shouldn’t decide to re-enact someone’s life, it’s great to be inspired constantly. I’m never more inspired to write than when I read fantastic writings by my friends, role-models or new authors I’ve never heard of.

Whatever it takes to remind you of the fire under you to create, explore or connect, find that. Continue to find new ways to be inspired and new outlets for your passion to leak through. Even self-discovery is best done with other people nearby to help you learn and grow. Find like-minded people who will encourage you to pursue your passion. You will be amazed how far you can go when you have a captive audience waiting to see how far you will go.

Find a mentor who speaks to your pursuit path.

This goes along with the last tip but every person needs someone they can look up to and be inspired by the path of their life.

Whether it’s someone you feel truly found themselves, a woman who became a CEO with no college degree or a couple you feel is completely in love. Whatever it means to you, find someone you can look up to and more importantly engage with.

This isn’t about liking someone from afar; this has to be someone you can go to for advice. Don’t be embarrassed: think how flattered you’d be if someone came up to you and said, “I admire the way you’ve lived your life and I’d like to ask you about how you got there.” It’s not nearly as awkward as you’d think; make the connection in respect for your future self.

Document your failure, success and hopes.

The best thing you can do for yourself to ensure that you continue with your life pursuit is to document everything. Whether or not you have any skill at writing doesn’t matter as long as you are documenting your present life for your future self.

Take pictures of all the places you’ve seen on your road to self-discovery. Write a letter to your future self about how proud you are of where you’ve come in your passion and seal them to open later. Journal your experiences and lessons learned with relationships or career connections.

Whatever it is, don’t let your personal triumphs and failures become forgotten as you grow and mature. By documenting them, you won’t forget them; memory fades but a journal entry never does.

Let us know what type of passion pursuit you’ve found in your own life and any other tips you’ve heard for keeping on the path to happiness. Share this with anyone who could use an uplifting word for the day and encouragement to follow their dreams.