What is your purpose in life? September 24, 2014 – Posted in: Confidence, Personal Development – Tags: , , , , , , , ,

What is your purpose in life?

Like many people you might have no clue and, if you’re like some of the people who responded to my tweet about ‘purpose’ last week, you might also be very troubled by not knowing what your purpose is.

So, here’s some good news. I truly believe we all have a unique contribution to make to life and that is how I would define the word ‘purpose’. Your purpose is wrapped up in your talents, the people you love and the work you love. It’s that thing you’re successful at; that drives you. This could be serving your customers each day with a smile, making a warm and loving home for your family or discovering a cure for cancer. It doesn’t really matter what your purpose is as long as you are doing it to the best of your ability.

Sometimes we get a hunch about what our innate purposes is (some might call this ‘destiny’ or ‘birthright’) and other times I think we get to choose. Our purposes also changes throughout our lives so what was my purpose 10 years ago (getting through the day with a new baby!) is different to today. I also think that everything we have learnt in life feeds our current purpose. So, all those knock backs, all those painful lessons, all those successes and all those wise words from others – they all influence your purpose today.

So, how do you discover your purpose? One great way is to imagine you are at the end of your life looking back upon it and to ask yourself what, in an ideal world, you have achieved and who you have shared moments with. Another trick is to ask yourself what you would be doing in life if you knew you couldn’t fail. These two exercises will open your mind to the deepest passions within you. From there you can start taking small steps towards fulfilling your purpose.

A life lead on purposes is infinitely fulfilling. Each day you can ask yourself if your actions are in line with your overall purposes and if the answer is ‘no’ you’ll know what tweaks you need to make tomorrow.

I took a while to discover my purpose but I now know that it’s to raise my daughters to the best of my ability and help my clients uncover their potential. Knowing this has liberated me to focus my energies on these two things and thoroughly enjoy the ride!

Jo

P.S. Trying to be successful at someone else’s purposes is a hiding to nowhere, so please don’t try…

This column originally appeared in my Life Column for The Bath Magazine.

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