HOW TO FIND YOUR PURPOSE
Knowing and living your purpose: it changes everything.
The presence of purpose illuminates. It gives you a sense of inner congruency, a deeper level of alignment between who you are and how you operate in the world. This is real, true integrity; clarity in times of chaos; inspiration for the rough patches of the road; a strong inner knowing that all is well.
Finding purpose is one of the top 3 intentions my clients have when they come to work with me. No wonder, because purpose is the Holy Grail of everyone’s personal development quest.
However, the way that the self-help world/online coaching industry handle this subject is, in my opinion, deeply flawed.
If I were to summarize the dominant approach I see out there, it would go like this: quit your (presumably) boring job, do a total 180 on your life, and move to a tropical island to be a spiritual healer, otherwise you are being inauthentic and wasting your life. Here’s a step-by-step “proven formula”, hand your money over there please.
So basically, life purpose is getting equated with what you DO for a living - and unless you are doing something like coaching coaches on how to make money from coaching coaches OR trying to change the world through influencing it with pictures of your smoothie bowls (or of your half-naked body, if we are being blunt), you are doing it all wrong… Have you been on this wild goose chase already? Rumor has it that this paradigm of “purpose equals doing what you love” is leaving many people disillusioned, confused, and sometimes even broke.
If you have been on this journey for a while, then you have probably realized that purpose is something way more nuanced than an eloquent mission statement on your website, and infinitely more complex than a label of one specific profession, career path, or even passion.
I say:
the time has come to reinvent the way we approach life purpose, and shift from “finding purpose” to BEING purposeful.
Welcome to the new purpose paradigm. Life Purpose 2.0 if you will. It is all about:
· focusing on how we live instead of what we do with our lives
· becoming more intentional, more conscious, more devoted – devoted not necessarily to some bigger cause but to the quality of your daily choices, to the embodiment of your truth, to the honoring of your inner knowing
· discovering and expressing your unique frequencies, the qualities of being that represent your original, pure essence
· walking the talk and showing up for the lessons that you need to go through
· impacting the world through being truly you, in each and every moment
What this approach is about is that instead of finding your purpose, you are becoming purposeful. In this sense, your purpose is no longer something to be found – or even named. Instead, purpose is an inner movement, a frequency, a presence, an energetical undercurrent of your destiny.
Purpose is a way of being, a level of embodiment of your unique essence, a radiance that ensues from being in synch with your most natural inner rhythm and flow.
It is not a "what" - it is more of a HOW.
It is the root level attitude that you are here to cultivate, a core theme that you are here to explore, a unique frequency that you are meant to explore, embody, and express.
Any and all doing – your vocation, contribution, work, career – comes as the by-product of your undiluted, sovereign, soulful transmission.
No matter what you do in life, whether your career is merged with your passion or not, you can FEEL purposeful in the way you approach your life. It is all about the attitude, so you can actually start living your purpose right away through connecting with your truth moment by moment.
The new purpose paradigm is inclusive and inherently non-judgmental. It is based on the premise that everyone can feel purposeful and be fulfilled, no matter what they do with their lives. On that note: one of the most purposeful people I have ever met was…a cleaning lady at the gym where my colleagues and I used a room for delivering coach trainings (sounds wild, but those were the early days of the industry, year 2012 or so). Early in the morning she was there, singing and dancing with her broomstick and elevating the mood, while all of us were barely awake, holding on to our coffees for dear life. It was her presence, her energy, her spirit and her attitude that made her a contribution, regardless of her humble job position. To this day I think that her way of being and showing up in the world inspired me more than the self-help trainings I attended (and facilitated) at that venue.
Practical application:
Take an honest yet compassionate look at your current reality. How purposeful do you feel on a daily basis? In other words, how intentional and conscious are you on a daily basis? What is your underlying attitude towards your life, yourself, people?
Start pondering on ways to show up in a more purposeful way – right there where you are at, in your existing circumstances.
Becoming purposeful is a life-long journey. It is the process of IN-carnation – bringing the fullness of your essence into a tangible expression. I guess that’s what they call “being who you really are”. I call it discovering and living your truth.
Purpose is not the destination, it’s the path. It’s not about having or doing – it is about BECOMING.
Discovering your purpose is Soul work – it won’t be handed over to you on a silver platter, but it might be waiting for you in unexpected places. It’s not a fancy statement that you can pull out of the Akashic Records – it’s a miracle hidden somewhere between the mundane and the magical.
The process of becoming purposeful has already commenced for you and within you the moment you were born. Your entire life is one massive act of blossoming – and this includes the life chapters that you tend to look back at with regret. Everything you have been through is contributing to your ultimate homecoming to yourself.
There is nothing to do but so much to allow. You cannot force the unveiling but you can get out of the way and get aligned with the natural unfolding of your destiny. The keys to living and leading from your essence are already within you, and you are the key keeper (a hint: looking at your Human Design chart and Gene Keys profile can be incredibly insightful here!). Unlocking the doors that take you straight to the core of who you are is entirely up to you – the process is not always easy and it is definitely not linear, but you surely have what it takes to succeed.
Practical application:
Surrender to the process of becoming purposeful. Can you let go of needing to control the speed, the pace, and the outcome of this journey? Imagine that you could release the need to “arrive”, that there is no golden star to obtain, and no way to fail at this. If finding your purpose was a done deal, how would you be showing up in each and every moment?
I had a client once who felt bereft without a purpose in her life, even though she lived comfortably and needed for nothing. I offered her the same reframe I shared above, and gave her two simple assignments.
Assignment 1 was to start adding a purpose – any purpose that feels meaningful – to each day. Indefinitely.
Assignment 2 was to make space for receiving Soul guidance, and get familiar with intuition, and its subtle whispers and nudges, with the ultimate goal of following them.
My client, a straight A student that she was, excelled at both practices. After mere weeks of living in a more purposeful state and following her intuitive hints, she stumbled upon a hobby that touched her heart, and eventually changed her life and gave her a new direction in life.
The result for her was finding purpose, but it is the journey of BEING purposeful every day, even when it felt like she was wandering in the dark, that transformed her from the inside out and turned her into a vibrational match for a more purposeful destiny.
It is the quest itself that matters, not its outcome. To reach your destination, you must surrender to the journey.
Practical application:
What if instead of looking for a purpose you started focusing on BEING more purposeful and living in a more authentic and aligned way?
Start asking yourself:
What is your inner guidance urging you to do next?
How are you being called to share yourself with the world right now?
What subtle Soul whispers and nudges are there?
How can you BE more purposeful today?
If this resonates with you, then I invite you to dive deeper.
Experiment. Dare. Dream.
Follow your burning desire to live truly, fully, boldly.
BECOME the purpose that you seek.
PS: Ready to take your purpose quest seriously? I invite you to explore my self-study course PURPOSEFUL – the ultimate adventure to discover and live your truth. Learn all about it here>>
