Find your purpose in life
Finding your purpose knows no boundaries.
There are some people who know what they want right from the start. However, the majority of people in their 20s have no idea about their goals in life. Furthermore, there are numerous people in their 40s and 50s who still know nothing about their purpose in life. Naturally you don't want to be those people, but it is alright if you are. When it comes to finding purpose in life, there are some questions you will have to answer that will guide you to your true purpose. Although your answer might change from time to time, people are basically constant about what they want.
Questions for finding your purpose in life
1. What do you hold most important?
2. Are you a head or heart person?
3. Do you acting over thinking?
4. Do you help others?
5. Are you goal oriented?
6. Are you stronger than the past you?
7. What puts you in the zone?
8. Is there something you do that is both fun and embarrassing?
9. What is something you could do every day?
10. What would you do given a limited amount of time?
Finding Your Purpose in Life Might Seem Overwhelming at First, But There Is Nothing You Cannot Do If You Really Want It
So, how to find your purpose in life and what are the questions you will have to answer? Will they really help you shed some light on life's greatest dilemma? Here's just that something enlightening to set you closer finding what you have been looking for.
1. What is Important to You?
The key to discovering your life purpose lies within your interests and what is usually on your mind. The things you spend most of your time thinking about are the keys to your life purpose. There are things that we think a lot about recently and things that we have thought about for a long time. It's our frequent thoughts that have stood the test of time that really define who we are. For example, I have had many different hobbies throughout my life, but one that has never changed is my love for science-fiction novels. I just cannot get enough science-fiction and the mention of one of my favorite books can get me talking for hours. These passions are the things that give our lives purpose.
2. Do you Follow your Head or your Heart?
We all have a tendency to follow our head more often than our heart; this is a normal part of being an adult. Following your head refers to making rational decisions while following your heart means acting on your feelings. You have to use your best judgment on which one to use in each situation depending on how it fits your life goals. You cannot achieve your life purpose if you are constantly stuck in between your head and your heart. You need to be strong and stick to your instincts and trust that you will make the right decision.
3. Do You Think or Do Things in the Moment?
It's a good idea to think things through before making any hasty decisions. But some of us tend to think things through a bit too long before making our decisions. This leads to worrying and chronic stress that defeats our life purpose. Sometimes the purpose in living is to be spontaneous and live in the moment. This means just acting on our desires and allowing our instincts to take control of us. It's not a good idea to do all the time, but without doing so you are just always planning. Planning isn't the right choice all the time. You need to have some fun. Use your best discretion in following this advice because the art of mastering spontaneity could potentially be a life-changer for you.
4. Do you Put Others Before Yourself?
How can you find your life purpose if you are constantly catering to the will of others? In order to find yourself, you must first place yourself and your time as your top priority. The worst thing you could do in your life of meaningful purpose is to conform to other people's expectations of you. Only you know what you want; so only you can know how to get there. We as humans crave goals in order to reach our destination. The journey matters more than the destination. It is our experiences who make us who we are. And yes, it is important to share those memories with others. But in the end, we prioritize ourselves because our life purpose is of the utmost importance if you truly want to achieve self-actualization.
5. What hardship are you willing to go through to reach your goal?
Here is a rule of thumb: everything will bring some hard times. Although you might think that this is pessimistic, when thinking about the purpose of life, you have to know that things don't always work out. You will have to make sacrifices and everything has a price. What sacrifice are you willing to make? This will determine whether you'll be able to stick with something. For instance, you might be a skillful entrepreneur, but you can't take failure or you might be an artist who can't accept rejection. Finding your limits will help you finding your purpose in life.
6. What flaws of yours could make your past self cry?
In case you are asking what is my purpose, you should think about all the things you liked to do as a child or as a young adult that you don't do anymore. Maybe you liked writing stories just for the fun of it, but then stopped. You may come with excuses that you don't have time for it or because it's not lucrative. Think about this: would it make your past self cry if you told them that you stopped doing it because you didn't have time anymore? The talents or passions that rise during the early stages of life can often lead to finding your calling.
7. What makes you forget about the world?
There are no shortcuts when it comes to how to find purpose in life. However, there are some indicators that could get you there faster. Is there something that makes you totally ignore the rest of the world? You could say that it's video games. Although the graphics and the storyline might grab your attention, in the majority of the cases people are really into the competition, into getting better at something and you might be one of these people. If you applied all this passion to something else you're good in, you can be sure you will find your purpose. You could be into organizing things, teaching others, or solve problems. Don't just look at the activities themselves: look behind at the cognitive principles.
8. Which one of your passions would you be willing to embarrass yourself for?
People normally wish to avoid embarrassing themselves, but in order to get better at something you have to be bad at it at first. When wondering about my purpose in life, for sure there is one passion you would be willing to embarrass yourself for. If you avoid this, you will never do anything really important. If you don't want to do something because of what others might think of you, it means you're not in control of your life. You have to find the answer to the question what is your purpose and you shouldn't let others give an answer for you. If you want to make something great, you have to think outside the box. If you get embarrassed just think about the fact that you took a step in the right direction and soon you will be rewarded for it.
9. If there was something you had to do every day, what would you choose it to be?
Many people don't know that passion is the result of action and not the cause of it. You can't be passionate about something you don't do. If you had to leave your home every day, what would you like to do? Answering this question will help you finding purpose. Maybe you'd like to attend a dance course, get another degree or join a book club. If you ever ask yourself what you'd do, make sure to write down your answers and then go on doing all the things you wanted to, one at a time. If there is some embarrassment involved, you will get bonus points.
10. What would you do if someone told you that you are going to die in a year?
A lot of people are asking what is the purpose of life. Consider this: if someone told you that you have only one year left to live, what would you do? Although people don't like to think about their own death, by doing so they are forced to think about everything that's important in their lives and everything that's not. What do you want your legacy to be? What stories will people be telling about you after you're gone? How is your obituary is going to be? Actually, first you have to ask yourself whether it will say anything at all. If not, today is the day to start working for it to say something meaningful. If you don't know where to start, it means that they know nothing about their own values and the things that are important to them. If you don't know about your values, you will live according to the values of other people and you will be living according to their priorities.
In case you are in the quest of finding a purpose in life, you have to search for a couple of things that are bigger than you. For this you will actually have to take action. Once you find those things, you can say: this is my purpose.
