What is Your Purpose?

What is your purpose?

A good friend of mine recently asked me that a question. He couldn’t have asked me at a better time because, at that junction of my life, I had lost my motivation, lost the “why” behind the things I was doing and lost the direction I was heading.

Can you relate? Do your actions feel empty at times?

Many people think that they know their purpose. Then, in times of hardship when that purpose is challenged, they suddenly realize that that purpose does not motivate them anymore. At that time they feel that they must have lost their purpose.

In college, my first sales job was selling books door to door during the summer. One year, I suddenly felt that I had lost my motivation especially during those hot days when no one was buying books. I called my sales manager and screamed and cried, “I lost my purpose! I lost my purpose!” On the other end of the phone I heard drawers opening and closing and papers being shuffled around and he said, “Well gosh, I cannot seem to find it here. Did you look in your car? Where did you lose your purpose?”

That is when I realized that your purpose is not something that you could see and hold. It is something that guides you throughout life. If you feel that you lost your purpose, it was never a purpose in the first place. More likely it was a short term mission or a vision that got you through a certain time in your life. But it was not the undeniable, undeletable, unchanging maxim that you live by and purpose for you being here on this planet.

You do not need to know what your purpose is to survive in this life. But not knowing your purpose is like sailing a ship without a compass. Everything is fine when you can see the land but if you are going to stretch yourself and expand your horizons, in essence leave the land behind, that is when you need your compass. In those times of hardship and those times when the sea is rough, there is storm above and you do not know where you are going, if you do not have your compass, or your purpose, to get you back on track then you are lost.

I would encourage you to begin that process of finding your purpose. This is not a simple thing to do or is made up of simple tasks. It cannot be found in a single night or single weekend. Finding your purpose is something that takes time, and takes deep soul searching.

Ask Yourself these questions:

** What do you value?

** What makes you feel the most alive?

** How would you complete this sentence: I exist to serve by _______(verb) _______(noun).

Try to condense your answers into two words, a verb and a noun. A purpose statement that is long and flowery looks and sounds nice, but it is difficult to remember and often has filler words that aren’t that important in your life.

If you really are serious about discovering what your purpose is, I highly recommend our Cultivating Passion and Significance workshop. Not only will you work on your purpose, but you will define your core values and what you want out of this life. I am not over exaggerating when I say the workshop is a life changing event.

I encourage you to begin the journey, get up, and find a way to find your purpose.

Be Free!

Tom Weber
Instructor

PS – If you have found your purpose in life post it below for others to see. Ideally complete the sentence I mentioned above:
I exist to serve by _______(verb) _______(noun).