Purpose! You can't even think of your life without having a purpose. You wake up in the morning because you have some intention of waking up. Instead, I'll not be wrong if I say every activity has a purpose. And, without having a purpose, your life is meaningless.
It would help if you found out what is the purpose of your life. Without the purpose, your life will be like a tasteless dish. And you will start feeling like a burden on your life. Let me say the goal is oxygen, which helps you to live.
You can see some people around you who don't have any purpose. As a result, you can find them mentally weak or affect their lifestyle, which is easy to notice. When you don't have a purpose for living, you don't want to live the life either.
Maybe you have not found out your purpose in life yet, but until you find it, you won't feel enthusiastic about waking up in the morning, going to work, and having food too. As purpose gives you the drive to live life, you can't deny its presence and importance in your life.
So, it would be great to join me on the journey of knowing the purpose of your life. I hope it will help you to determine your purpose in life.
Purpose definition
Even though the purpose has this meaning in everyone's life, the definition of it can vary depending on person to person. It is just like, their purpose depends on their conditions, background, values, etc.
Depending on these factors, people often decide their purpose in life and take action accordingly.
So, let's try to find out the various definitions of purpose.
❖ The purpose is the intention for which something is done, used, or made. Purpose includes determination.
❖ Purpose, in simple words, is the aim, or goal, or intention, etc.
❖ The purpose is an outcome or an idea of a particular action or effort.
❖ The purpose is a fixed intention to do something.
❖ The purpose is what you can do to achieve something.
As per psychology
The purpose is to accept and walk through to achieve your long-term goal. It can be personal or professional. Thus, it can have the ability to change the world. Let me say, having a plan like teaching kids reading, researching about a disease may involve.
It is also true that your purpose can change with time. As teens, turning to adults, and then as a retired person, you will feel the changes in your goal as it is not constant for a lifetime.
The purpose is not a goal, but it's a journey, and you have to keep moving on the way. Which also means it doesn't have any age limit. If you want to explore the things that matter to you, you can find your purpose. It also can work when you find out what kind of person you want to be and start working on it.
Your life will become more meaningful and satisfying if you are ready to reconstruct and renew your purpose.
What is the purpose of life?
As of now, you have understood that purpose gives you the motivation to wake up in the morning. You should also know, what your goal is, and how to find it.
Purpose can strengthen your goal, guide life decisions, create meaning, influence behavior, offer direction to walk, etc. As I said before, the definition can vary from person to person; it can be satisfying work for someone, whereas, for others, their goal is meant to be for their family. People try to find their purpose in all aspects of their life.
Which path you want to take depends on what is your purpose. The changing circumstances, fluctuations, and priorities are the reasons for changing the goal.
The questions below can help you find the purpose of your life.
☞ Who am I?
☞ Where do I relate?
☞ When do I feel fulfilled?
When you ask these questions yourself and try to answer them, you realize what comes out of it as an answer. Which genuinely helps you to find your purpose.
When some people find it essential to find their purpose in life, some people feel hesitant to find it and pursue it as they see purpose as selfish or self-serving. At the same time, the true meaning of your life should be using your skills and talents for other's welfare. If you are a skilled teacher, you should teach kids and other needy students to help them. It would help if you tried to solve their problem and bring joy into their lives.
Richard Leider, who is a nationally-ranked mentor and purpose expert, says, "genuine purpose points to the end of a self-absorbed, self-serving relationship to life."
They believe that when you are clear about your purpose, you'll better be available to share it with others and help them.
Although it's necessary to find purpose in your life to succeed, some people know it at the very starting days of their lives, whereas some people need to find it. Unless you find the purpose of your life, you can't walk through the way to get success. For example, if your goal is to invent the machine to benefit human beings, you would take away to study it first.
So, let's take a quick tour of some tips you can use to find your purpose in life.
Motivating factor
You need to find the elements that motivate you and push you to do something with your efforts.
If your parents are doctors, and you also want to be like them, it can be your purpose.
On the other hand, if you have seen some unpleasant conditions around you and wish to stop them in the case of others, this can tend you to work for society.
You can find motivation from anything. And it would help if you saw it correctly so that you can select your route wisely.
Know what gives you joy
This way also can help you to find your purpose in your life. It would help if you found out what things give you joy, that, when you tend to do it, you don't realize the time, and keep going it.
Let me say playing football, making art, teaching students, can one few of them. Find what things grab you, and don't let go quickly. It can be your purpose.
Let inner GPS help you.
Inner GPS helps you when you meditate. As you know, how meditation is helpful for you; it can help you to find purpose in your life. Meditate, and try to analyze your thoughts where it tends to and what they say.
When you meditate, it tries to connect your heart and thoughts with your conscious mind and let you know what your desires are. And also, which route you should take to achieve it.
Look into your past
Past is not always troublesome. It can be helpful too. Go back into your past, let's say in your school or college days and see, what you enjoyed doing it. You also can see the times of your starting point of careers.
As per the tasks you enjoyed doing, they can be the purpose of your life. Like, if you enjoyed taking responsibility as a school representative, a managerial job can be best for you.
Find what you love
As I said, the purpose is not decided for everyone, and you may need to do some struggle to find it. This way, if you find those favors that you love doing them, and spend much time on it. Yet, you don't feel tired; it can be your call.
Let's say if you love to make people laugh, being a comedian can be your cup of tea.
Find what makes you satisfied.
After all, satisfaction is the most unexpected expectation. Whatever work you do, all you want is inner satisfaction. So, start to find the domains or work that satisfy you.
This can help you to filter out what work you want to do and what you want to eliminate.
Identify your skills
We often see some people saying they (someone) had God gifted talent for dancing, painting, singing, crafting, etc.
Try to find out such a thing that people always praise you for. It will help you know what skills you have. And accordingly, you can try to figure out your purpose in life.
Take passion test help.
Chris and Janet Attwood developed passion tests. Here, you have a statement "When my life is ideal, I am…". And you will have to fill it 15 times.
Each time, the continuation of can be different. Pick up 5 out of 15 that you choose. And compare them to see which is the best fit for you. This way, this test can help you find the purpose of your life.
What to do with my life?
Anyway, life without a purpose is meaningless. In such a condition, you are raising a question, what to do with my life? Is so common. And, I'm sure you are not alone. If you see around, you will find people sailing in the same boat as you. Moreover, it's not a typical question, google is answerable to, which makes it more challenging to get an answer.
Then the question is, how to get an answer? Fortunately, some people are ready to share some tips that they have used in their life to get an answer to this question. And hopefully, you also get one. So, here I started.
Talk to people
Try an activity of calling up to a group of around 30 people. They can be your friends or family members or friends of friends. Randomly anyone. When you meet them, don't expect anything from them and just get involved with them in their talks.
Listen to their complaints, jokes, and other things. For the first time, it may sound like just complaints, but for the second time, it will be like, listening more about dreams, motivations, and hopes. Instead, those who have tried this have shared their experience on how it worked for them.
Get started
To start is as crucial as getting successful or failed. If you deny the beginning, it will be like, you want to survive but are not ready to breathe.
When you decide to start something, it's the first step to success. So I will suggest you create something. Even if you are not particular about the decision and don't know how it will work, but when you start doing something, you will automatically get ways to make it right.
Irrespective of what you want to do, starting anything doesn't hurt you at all. Let me say if you started writing, painting, dancing, blogging, etc. It doesn't hurt you. Instead, it may come out as something great that you didn't expect from. So, it's better not to be scared to start.
Take an inspiration
Getting inspired by something is not challenging until you want motivation. If you seek inspiration from something, you can take it simply from the stone on the road.
Anyway, you can also try to get inspiration from an autobiography of different people in different areas. Read their journey before they were successful. This will help you to know how they become unique. Okay, now make a list of 10 things that you can do today. And try to do as much as you can. Repeat the exercise for the next day, on the day after tomorrow, and keep going.
You will feel a change in yourself if you follow the routine seriously. Also, when you read the books, you will realize how successful people reached there.
Get prepared for a long journey.
Life is a journey. And everyone is traveling. Yet, no one knows what their destination is and where they have to stop.
So, it's better to accept that it will be a long journey, and it will indeed involve crises. And it would help if you were ready to face them. Whereas most of the people have already accepted that, it's a long journey and enjoying their life.
People have a misconception that their life will be as they planned it. But they forget that one moment can make their staring wheel turn them at starting point. And they will have to restart their journey.
So, don't expect too much from life. Have a purpose. And walk to achieve it. At the same time, be prepared to start again.
Leave your comfort zone.
Comfort zones are meant to be the binding rope for you. And they won't leave you ever. It always wants you to be with them. So, it will never free up you.
At the same time, you need to cut yourself from these zones and go ahead. Try out new things. Expand your boundary. Be limitless. Explore things that you always wanted to do. But never did it.
Frankly speaking, you are scared to try out new things. And here you stuck in. Or, you didn't do something because you don't know what you want to do. It's easy for you to give excuses, but exploring your boundaries can surprise you. Maybe something lies beyond your limits.
Accept failure
Failure is natural. Instead, I will say it's a sign that you are trying at least. And everyone gets failed in their first attempt. But, it is not enough; when you get failed, you need to learn from it. Until you realize to learn from failure, you can't succeed. Failures are meant to teach you. And you need to accept them.
Failure can not stop you. Neither, it is an end. But it's the starting. And you can actually begin right from loss.
What is yours? Why?
Some have a purpose, and some are seeking it yet, luckily I have found mine.
I love to help people from starting. It gives me pleasure, happiness, excitement. When I see someone smiling because of me, it gives me butterflies in my stomach. And this feeling is damn good.
So, I wondered what way can bring me to the post, where I can help people. And I ended up studying medicine. It was just like a dream come true. And today, I'm finally a doctor. Along with my work, I like seeing people going happily after their treatment.
I also run a clinic where I treat each patient (the needy ones) for free. And I find those hours most busy in a day. And still, I don't feel tired.
I think, here I always wanted to reach. And I'm happy that I have at least reached up to some point towards my goal.
How to find purpose in life?
If life is a body, the purpose is the environment where the body can survive. In short, without the goal, your can't live. If you don't have any motivation, why would you eat, sleep, take a rest, go jogging, meditate, etc.? This proves that the purpose is too essential for you to live your life healthily.
As it's true that purpose is essential, some people are still struggling to find their purpose. And they are finding it too difficult to get an answer to it. So to help you, I have some easy questions that you can ask yourself to respond to the most challenging question in your life.
Why is purpose essential in life?
Now, many of you might have this question, why have a purpose? Or, why find the drive if you don't know about it? Why can't you live your life that way it's going to be relaxed and chilled?
Well, it's good if you are relaxing and happy in your life. Yet, I'm sure you have a purpose, and you are not aware of it. However, purpose teaches you lessons to live life. And you can't ignore it.
In addition, go through these five reasons why you should have a purpose in your life.
It is a starting point.
If you are reading this blog, you are trying to improve your personal growth. Your personal growth is your purpose here. You are here because you think this blog may help you.
A purpose in your life gives you the motivation to wake up and walk on the right path. Without a purpose, you would have been walking on the wrong way entirely. Thus, your purpose is the starting point, from where you decide to walk in a particular direction towards your destination.
Stephen Covey once said, "If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster."
The purpose is like that only. And, Stephen Covey has put the entire meaning of purpose in a single sentence.
Filter out essential and unimportant
Having a clear purpose helps you differentiate between important and unimportant goals in your life. For example, if today, you are working on something considering it's your plan, but it does not satisfy you, making you happy. Instead, you don't feel fulfilling either. Still, you have spent five years of your life on it, considering it as your purpose.
Instead, when you know, what is your purpose is, or you decide your goal, it saves you those 20-30 years you spend on either finding it or pursuing a wrong definition, which anyway doesn't being helpful for you.
Feel passionate
When you work towards the way of your purpose, you feel energetic. And this energy drives you towards your passion. Well, your powers can also help you to find the purpose of your life.
As you spend your time pursuing your passion, automatically, you are walking towards the directing of your life purpose.
Success is approaching
As much as it's true that nothing is impossible. At the same time, the way you choose to achieve something should be correct.
If your heart wants something else, and you are running behind another thing, it won't work. Either, you won't enjoy doing the work. And you'll spend many years of your life to get an answer, "why didn't I succeed?"
Whereas, the answer was so simple, "you didn't chase your dream or passions, but something else.
Success comes when you decide your goal and make it your life purpose.
Live a meaningful life.
As I told you earlier, purpose gives your life meaning. At first, when your life seemed meaningless, you suddenly start having a purpose in all of your ways.
When you find the purpose in your life, you start eliminating the things that are not meant for you, personally and professionally.
What is a life without purpose?
A life without a purpose is like a tea without sugar.
Not even diabetic patients want to have tea without sugar. And they crave sweets. As they know, sugar is the only element that adds some flavor to their life.
Purpose does the same for you. Until you have a purpose, you won't be able to find flavor in your life. If you often listen to motivational speakers, you would find them suggesting to have a purpose. And, they are damn sure about their statement. They always push you towards the ways to find your life purpose.
Why so? If you don't have a purpose, why do they want you to find it? It's because they want you to be happy and prosperous, live a meaningful life. If you still have doubt, why to have a purpose in life, have a look at the basic idea that will clear this out.
Life is meaningless
As purpose gives your life a meaning to act something when you don't have a purpose, you become like a blank slate; no one wants to write on—neither you.
Imagine the day you don't want to wake up, don't wish to eat, work, meet people, hang out, go with friends, neither desire to sleep. Can you live up to a day like this? No, right?
Without a purpose, your life is the same as I mentioned above.
Depression captures you
Yes, without a purpose, you start feeling anxious and can go to depression.
When you have a purposeless life, your brain detects it as a danger for your life as it can't link any of your actions with anything and find it as a threat. Thus, it reacts accordingly.
Whereas, when you know, what your goal is, and what you want to do, you have more things to think about, more actions to do on. And your brain keeps working on your tasks.
Motivation doesn't work.
Only those who have a goal to achieve understand the importance of motivation. Without a cause, you don't find yourself capable of doing anything as the reason is like fuel for you that makes you do work.
At the same time, motivation only works for those who have a purpose in their life. If you don't have a goal, what can motivate you, and in which direction? This thing is as simple as solving a sum.
Motivation and purpose are the two wheels where success rides. And you need to maintain both of them. If you lose any one of them, you won't be able to capture your goal.
Success seems impossible
As in the previous point, without a purpose, motivation doesn't work; without the cause, success can't be achieved.
When you don't have a purpose in life, you don't have a goal. And if you don't have a plan, then how success will come across.
It can't be. Success has a precise formula. Keep working over and over. And your work needs motivation. To get motivated, you need to have a purpose.
You can't grow
If you don't have a purpose, how will you grow? If you have read these points carefully, you might have understood that they are linked with each other.
If your life is purposeless, you will be stuck at a point. You won't move a single step. Then how can you hope to grow then? It's impossible, right. This proves that if you don't have a purpose, you won't be able to grow.
You can't enjoy life.
A purposeless life doesn't let you do anything. Not even enjoy life.
When you are living purposelessly, nothing can drive you to anything—not even enjoying your life. Even if your friends come to you, make a plan to go out, watching a movie together, and so on, nothing can make you happy. Conversely, you will make them less active and less enthusiastic. As a result, people may start to distance themselves from you.
Affect your health
It's straightforward that not having a purpose in life affects mental health. Studies also proved that it could also affect your physical health.
As, without a purpose, you become anxious, being under stress, which causes hair fall, weight loss, weight gain, acne, etc. As per a study, people with purposeless life have 2.4 times more chances to have Alzheimer's disease than ordinary people. In short, meaningless life is a curse.
Conclusion
This article is beneficial for each of those people who think they can live their life without setting up or discovering their life purpose. Maybe, learning life's purpose is not too easy for some people. And they may have to struggle to find it. But, indeed, they will work hard to find it; they will find their life has turned beautifully. And they can enjoy more than before. They are getting successful, full of motivation and enthusiasm.