How to Find Your Purpose and Live It

Find Your Purpose

As human beings we have an instinctive drive to evolve, improve, and innovate, to make things faster, smarter, easier, better, and more sustainable; and with technology we are exponentially expanding the scope of what is possible. But even as new opportunities arise, many people find their old jobs obsolete or changing and their skill sets ready for an overhaul. Now, more than ever, it is essential to be clear about what is most important to you and how you choose to express your purpose through your life’s work.

Many people identify with their occupation. One of the most common questions when people meet for the first time is: “What do you do?” So as careers shift, it can influence self-perception. Work is a way to live your purpose and contribute to society. When a seemingly solid foundation of a career shifts, it can often lead to serious self-reflection or even a temporary feeling of loss. It is wise to begin asking timeless questions about your purpose and your mission: What is my purpose? Why am I here? How will I fulfill my destiny?

When you find your purpose, your livelihood and sense of self isn’t tied to a particular job or position. This is freedom: when your thoughts, words and actions are aligned with your purpose and you live from a space of inner harmony. Knowing the most appropriate opportunities will reveal themselves.

How do you find your purpose and evolve yourself – not only to rise with rapid technological advances and a shifting economy, but also to direct the course of progress toward your vision for the future? How will you align your thoughts, words and actions to manifest your hearts desire? How will you develop your own inner being so that in any environment you recognize, articulate and live your purpose while expressing your talents in a way that creates life-affirming value for others and prosperity for you?

You will find your purpose when you make conscious choices based on what is essential – not what is necessary or required, but what is of your essence: who you are and who you choose to be. You access this wisdom through stillness.

Stillness is where you source the insight to know your self, love your life, and live your purpose. Your intuitive wisdom grows and your purpose becomes clear as you honor, welcome, and allow stillness to be the nucleus of every thought, word, and deed.

You can also find your purpose by paying attention to what you love doing? What are you really good at? Where do you slip into timelessness? What is a natural action for you? If you could give anything to people, what would it be? The things which bring you joy are clues to your purpose.

Education and self-development are also important in finding your purpose. When I was 19, Jim Rohn, the great personal development pioneer, said to me, “Niurka, work on yourself harder than you work on your job. If you work on your job, you’ll make a living; but if you work on yourself, you’ll make a fortune.” He recognized that self-development influences your thoughts, and therefore every area of your life.

What will happen if you don’t find your purpose?

If you are not clear on your purpose, you will react to other people’s demands. You may move towards what you deem pleasurable and move away from what you consider painful, in a short-sided fashion.

Without your purpose to guide the way, it’s easy to get disoriented and sucked into other people’s agenda’s, often without realizing it, which may or may not be in alignment with what you really want. This experience is like being swept away by a cyclone, thrown around by the winds and currents. It’s disorienting and makes life harder because it’s a struggle to maintain equilibrium. Finding your purpose is being in the eye of the storm. It allows you to harness the wild energy, direct it, and actively chart a course. When you center yourself and live your purpose, nothing outside you has power over you. Instead, you ride it like a wave. You choose how to perceive, and give empowering meaning to your experiences.

To find your purpose, ask yourself, “Who Am I?”

You have the power to reinvent outdated self-perceptions that no longer serve your magnificence, bringing the essence of who you are into your life’s work. You can choose work based not only on what you do, but rather, on who you are. Instead of defining your work by position, tasks and responsibilities, you can describe your roles by the creative contribution you offer and the fulfillment you experience from bringing value to others and our world. Work becomes an extension of Spirit and an expression of your talents; it’s what you’re passionate about – what you love to do, rather than what you have to do.

But even though everyone has unique gifts inside, just waiting for the appropriate conditions to shine, some people along the way have been taught to compromise dreams and conform to “reality.” Reality is not hard and static-it’s ever changing. The seemingly impossible is absolutely possible with the right concoction of creativity, innovation, heart, clarity of vision and commitment. When you follow your inner guidance and allow your passion and imagination to flow uncensored, you will be led to find your purpose and fulfill your mission.

To thrive and prosper in a changing world while creating life’s work that expresses your purpose and passion, here are a few suggestions:

1) Know Thyself.

Sincerely ask the question, “Who am I?” Who are you at your core? What is most important to you in life? What is essential? Throughout your life, what have been the innate elements that inspire and drive you – beyond jobs, beliefs, relationships, the past, or any stories or identities that you may have had? Who are you in your essence? What makes you unique? What ignites your passion? In what way do you reveal your gifts? Your purpose will emanate from your sense of self. It resides within you.

2) Recognize Your Purpose.

Your purpose is your unique offering. It is your reason for being. It is the source fueling your vision. Your purpose answers the question, “Why am I here?” It is your North Star – the bright light, which guides and directs you as you adventure through life. When you make conscious choices grounded in your essence, you reveal and refine your purpose.

Ask yourself, “What do I stand for at my best?” Ask, “What is my unique contribution in the world?” Look to your past for clues: if you string together the defining moments of your life, they will often point to a theme or a definite calling. Follow that thread. You may discover your purpose at a young age, or it may come to you in a moment of satori (instant awakening), or your purpose may continually evolve as you do.

3) Live Your Mission.

Your mission is your purpose in action. It is how you express your purpose through what you do. You live your mission by expressing your essence consistently through the choices you make. Through your mission, you answer the question, “How may I serve?” How will you create the life you envision? How will your creations inspire others and enrich the world around you? What will you give? When you live your mission, you consciously direct the course of change.

When you recognize and articulate your purpose and live it through your mission, you have power, inner power.

Check to ensure your choices match your purpose. Below is a checklist to ensure that your choices match your purpose. You will know your choice is a wise one because:

• It does not infringe upon the will of another.

• It feels good for you.

• It is a unique expression of your gifts.

• No part of you objects to experiencing or materializing it.

• There are multiple ways to achieve it.

• It is self-initiated and self-maintained, in other words, you are not dependent on any one person or thing for its accomplishment.