Get Clarity on Your Purpose
What’s your life’s purpose? Do you have a mission? How about a passion? Guiding principle?
Getting clear on your purpose can cause some people to seek out mentors, books, courses, coaches and spiritual gurus. They keep asking everyone and looking everywhere for that specifically unique reason they exist. But they’re all looking in the wrong place.
I believe our underlying purpose is service. That changes the question from what is your purpose to how do you best serve the needs of the world? Instead of looking for the answer from the world out there, we need to seek the answer inside ourselves. This inspires the quote from Anna Freud,
“I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.”
In March 2017, my partner Toby and I created a new YouTube channel. Our purpose for that channel was to practice our video production skills and become leaders of an online community with common interests. The number of people who were interested in talking about the Forrest Fenn treasure hunt put a cap on the size of that community. Still, it was a dedicated group of people who showed up each week for lively discussions.
When the treasure was recovered in June 2020, our channel and our purpose had to change. Our new purpose was to lead this group of people into a future where the Forrest Fenn treasure hunt was over and new ideas and interests would take precedence. So we started our own treasure hunt and wrote a book to support it. A man named Christian found our treasure in October. It was time to re-examine our purpose again.
I believe we finally have clarity on what our purpose is now, and I feel so relieved to have sorted through the many possibilities and uncertainty.
Once we have clarity on our purpose, we feel confident that we are moving in the right direction and we know what actions to take. Purpose inspires confidence because when our goals and actions feel right, we don’t hesitate and second guess ourselves so much.
So, back to service. Dieter Uchtdorf said,
“As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness.”
So how can I serve others? When I was a child, I served others by doing my best to live in harmony with my family, schoolmates and teachers. I also attended church and prayed for the less fortunate. Sometimes we would donate to a clothing or food drive. As I grew older, I sang in the church choir, but not really because it was serving others. I did it because it was fun. In my 20s and 30s I focused more on being a good wife and mother and serving the needs of my family. Now that my kids are adults and I’m nearing retirement age, I have more time and awareness of the need to serve others so I may discover happiness.
Just like the universe, we humans are always expanding as we age and not just physically. As we accumulate the wisdom of living a long life, we see the simple underlying reasons for things.
For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.
So, yes. Our purpose can change over time. The way we serve others changes with the seasons of our lives. Where once we served our parents, then our spouse and children, at a certain age we must begin to reach further into the community and the world to serve the needs of those outside our immediate family circle. That’s when we can really uncover the profoundly simple reason we exist.
“If you light a lamp for someone else, it will also brighten your path.” -Buddha
To find my current purpose, I look at all my skills and abilities and the things I enjoy. I look at the people I love to be with most. Then I bring all of these things together and ask, “Who needs me? Who can I serve with my talents? Who will resonate with and benefit from the things I can say and do?
I also looked at my personality through the Enneagram test and numerology. For those of you familiar with it, I am a 9 and my life path is a 3. That means I am a facilitator for communication. I am destined to provide a platform to give voice to hope and wisdom. My mission is to provide a platform for people to share important messages with the world by telling beautiful stories and in doing so, make the world a more positive and loving community.
I know how to build a YouTube channel, create videos, live streams and podcasts. Those are my skills. I can encourage, support and advise as a life coach. Those are my abilities. Helping others achieve their goals is my joy. When I bring them all together, I know my purpose. So I have confidence in my ability to live true to my purpose and reach my goals.
“Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.” -George Herbert
Have you discovered your purpose or mission? What are your skills and abilities? What brings you joy? How can you serve others with what you know? Zig Zigler said,
“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.”
Think about these questions in the next week and write the answers in your journal.
Having confidence starts with clarifying your purpose, creating a plan, taking action and being resilient. The Dalai Lama said,
“With the realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.”
Start building a better world today. Discover how you can be of service to others in your own unique way. Then make a plan and take action.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
