Have you claimed your purpose yet?
Maybe you’re thinking…who cares? I’m happy enough, and everything is going okay, so who cares about the word purpose or – even worse – a calling.
It matters because without knowing your purpose, it’s easy to get off track and to let other people’s needs overwhelm your own. It’s easy to look up at each of those milestone birthdays and think “well, that was it?”
And I don’t want that for you.
Because when you’re living your purpose, when you’re doing all that you know you were meant to do, then you feel energized by the work that you’re doing.
Things don’t feel like such a slog.
You know that this is what you were meant to do on earth…and that changes everything.
The work that you do each day might change, and I’m not promising that all of it will be fun, but if you are working with your purpose in mind, then you will absolutely feel better about yourself and the world.
For instance, I know that my purpose is to help other people to claim their big, bold, beautiful awesomeness in work and life by releasing the fears and blocks holding them back.
And I do this through the mediums of blogging, coaching, leading workshops, and writing romance novels (Seriously. My heroines like to kick ass and spout positive psychology tips.)
Anyway, the more I clearly define my purpose and the people that I like to help, then the less I feel overwhelmed by the 20+ items to-do list sitting next to my computer.
#foreal
Because all of the things on that list are part and parcel of this beautiful thing called my purpose.
How do I find that?
One back door method to finding your purpose is looking at places in your day where you find flow. Flow is another self-help-y concept that was named by some dude with a super long and unpronounceable name.
Purpose versus Flow:
Basics: flow is the moment in your day where time is no object. Flow is kind of like the amniotic sac to the embryo of purpose. (Just go with it.) When you’re aligned with your purpose, then that little embryo has more time to swim around in the flow, happy and content.
Finding flow will ultimately lead you to a more clear definition of your purpose, but though interdependent on each other, they aren’t necessarily the same thing.
You might know your purpose, but you might not be finding flow each day. Or finding flow, but not knowing your purpose.
Who cares?
Again, we care because aligning with your purpose is like having a little touchstone that you can come back to.
And then when other things and obligations start to pull you off track, you can see that they maybe aren’t so necessary.
After all, if they aren’t part of your purpose, why are you doing them?
Finding flow questions:
- Where do you lose all track of time? (In a good way, not the mindless Facebook scrolling way)
- What are you doing when you feel most at calm, at peace, and fulfilled? When you look up, no time has passed and you feel a sense of total fulfillment?
- What are you doing when you do your best work?
- What work do you do that doesn’t seem like work?
- In your work, what produces the highest ration of abundance and satisfaction to amount of time spent? (aka – little time, lots of satisfaction)
(Last 2 questions taken from the amazing book, The Big Leap)
Finding purpose questions:
- How do you most serve others? (Yes, even if you make widgets, there is an end purpose that equates with helping others – try to dig deep and explore that.)
- When you’re at your best, what are you doing?
- If you had to put a message on a billboard to tell the world, what would it be?
- What does the world need most right now? How would you go about giving it to them?
- If money, time, and obligations were no object, what would you be doing?
You must be logged in to post a comment.