How I found my Purpose and how you can too

There is often a time in all our lives when we question ourselves; we're at a crossroads, feel stuck, wondering if this is it, and generally feel unfulfilled. Perhaps the children are leaving home, your job isn't meaningful, or there is a loss of some kind. Even though we might have hobbies we enjoy and friends, there is still a sense of something missing. The jigsaw of life isn't quite complete. Perhaps you're asking, "Where am I headed now?

Finding your Purpose is about discovering what brings you joy, an inner sense of satisfaction and the legacy you wish to leave on this earth. Yes, you might have more than one Purpose, but I think we each have an overall Purpose for why we are here. And by the way,

a Purpose can be as simple as caring for the dogs in your neighbourhood. It isn't only about being the CEO of a company or being well-known.

It's whatever Purpose means for you.

Finding your Purpose isn't always easy. It takes time and introspection. We often need to look underneath the veil of messages we received growing up, both family and societal, of what we 'should' be doing instead of what we want.

How I found my Purpose

I think I came out of the womb asking questions like:

• Who am I?

• What do I want?

• Where am I headed?

It took me many years of learning to find the answers within myself. I knew teaching was a part of me because, as a child, my playtime was always being the teacher. Preference is the teacher, not the pupil!

When I became a teacher, I mostly enjoyed being in the classroom but found it energy-sapping to stand in front of a class all day talking. (I didn't know it then, but I was a slight extrovert, so I had a lot of introvert tendencies needing quiet time to re-energise.)

The call to have bigger and better was hungry in me. I left teaching and began working in corporates in recruitment and Human Resources. I thought money and the trappings of what goes with money are what you work for. But I soon found that those things didn't make me happy.

 With luck or fate, after working with many career counsellors, I found an article on Coaching and realised this is what I wanted to do:

Help people move forward in life by finding out who they are and what they love.

So, finding Purpose has been a life's work, and in the process, I discovered my Purpose in helping people find theirs.

What is having a Purpose?

Purpose is the legacy you want to leave behind on this earth. It's about something personally meaningful.

Having a sense of Purpose means focusing your life on what's important to you and where you will focus your time, talent, and skills toward positively impacting the world.

Your Purpose needs to be significant enough to want to act, a reason to get up in the morning. For some people, Purpose is connected to meaningful, satisfying paid work; for others, it's through unpaid activities like helping at a local school or planting trees in the local park.

Creating meaning is different for everyone. Your legacy could be ensuring your children become decent human beings or leaving your local wetland in a better place. Whatever it is, it creates satisfaction for you.

How can you find your Purpose?

Firstly, it means taking the time and committing to discovering your path. To consider -

a)    what you want to contribute and

b)    what brings you joy.

 From an early age, I knew that helping people was part of my DNA; I just didn't know how.

To help you find your way, here are a couple of activities.

Firstly, below are five areas. Which interest you the most? You might choose two, and that's fine.

1.    Animals

2.    People/Humanity

3.    The Planet

4.    Business

5. Creativity

These are pretty general areas, so now take the areas you have chosen and brainstorm topics in each. For example, if you decide on animals, list pet breeding, farming, dog grooming, training, zoos, painting animals etc. Write an extensive list. Now consider your list and tick the ones that interest you.

Once you have these ideas, then you can begin to research. Some areas may not have the needed income, but you could work in them as a hobby.

A second activity is working out the legacy you would like to leave behind.

This can be done in the form of writing your eulogy.

Decide who will read it at your funeral and what you want them to say about you. Include your adventures and the difference you have made to others, family, the planet, or your neighborhood. Also, what you achieved at work or home? What personality traits are you proud of, and how were those traits expressed in the world?

Once you start looking and listening, you will find that the hints to your Purpose are all around you, reflected in where your energy focuses and where joy is present for you.

Please don't keep struggling; start by doing the activities in this blog and take just one step.

Warmly

If you would like to continue your work on clarifying your direction, find out here about my course Living Life with Passion & Purpose.

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