How To Find Your Purpose in Life (7 Steps)
Have you ever met someone who always seems content no matter what they are doing? They wake up every morning, excited to go to work and they don’t mind doing menial chores and errands. These people have probably found their life purpose!
Understanding your purpose in life is a fundamental aspect of living a fulfilling and meaningful existence. When you know your purpose, you gain clarity and direction, which helps you make decisions that align with your true self.
Finding your purpose can bring a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that permeates every aspect of your life. In this guide, we will explore what purpose means and provide seven actionable steps on how to find your purpose in life.
Also read: What does your best self look like?
What is Your ‘Purpose’?
Your purpose is the central motivating aim of your life—the reason you get up in the morning. It can guide your life decisions, influence your behavior, shape your goals, and give you a sense of direction and meaning.
Having a clear sense of purpose can help you stay focused and motivated, even during challenging times. It’s the thing that brings you joy and makes you feel most alive.
Why Having a Purpose is Important
Having a purpose is essential because it:
Provides direction and focus: Knowing your purpose helps you set meaningful goals and stay committed to them.
Enhances resilience: A clear purpose can help you navigate life’s challenges with greater ease and determination.
Increases motivation: When you have a purpose, you’re more likely to stay motivated and engaged in your activities.
Improves overall well-being: Studies show that people with a strong sense of purpose tend to be happier and more satisfied with their lives.
How to Know If You Have Found Your Purpose
So, how do you know if you have found your purpose?
Who knows, you might be living it right now! However, chances are you’re still searching for it (which is probably why you clicked to read this post).
Here’s how to know if you have found your purpose.
Things Just Feel ‘Right’
One of the signs that you’ve found your purpose is that things just feel right. You have a sense of alignment and everything seems to fall into place. You feel confident and content with the direction your life is taking.
You Feel Energized and Excited for Each Day
When you’re living your purpose, you wake up excited and energized for the day ahead. Your activities and tasks invigorate you, and you look forward to engaging in them.
You Often Lose Track of Time
Engaging in activities that align with your purpose can lead to a state of flow, where you lose track of time because you’re so immersed and involved in what you’re doing.
You Don’t Seek Change
When you’re living your purpose, you feel content and fulfilled, reducing the constant need for change or seeking new distractions. You’re satisfied with your path and focused on your long-term vision.
If this sounds like you, you might already be living your purpose. If not, keep reading to discover how to find yours.
You might also like: Top 100 self improvement books that will change your life
7 Steps to Find Your Purpose in Life
I spent quite a bit of time figuring out what made me tick. And when I did, my life changed!
Here’s how you can find your purpose today.
Step 1: Create a Life Timeline
Creating a life timeline can help you reflect on your past experiences and identify significant moments that shaped who you are today.
Visual Timeline: Draw a timeline of your life, marking significant events, achievements, and milestones.
Highlight Fulfillment: Note the moments when you felt the most fulfilled, peaceful, or happy.
Highlight Low Points: Also, mark the times when you felt drained, low, or unnatural.
Take notes of any significant events so that you can reflect on common factors that ignite feelings of fulfilment.
Step 2: Look for Patterns
Once you have your timeline, look for patterns and recurring themes that can give you insights into your purpose.
Fulfillment Moments: Identify moments that made you feel fulfilled and look for common elements.
Engaging Tasks: Think about tasks or activities you find engaging and note any similarities.
Happiness Factors: Reflect on the last few times you felt truly happy and try to spot common factors.
Use a journal to make a note of everything that you find. Investing in a good journal is a crucial aspect of this journey that will really help you to get stuck in and discover yourself.
Step 3: Understand Your Values and Goals
Your purpose is often aligned with your core values and long-term goals.
Journal Your Values: Write down your values and what matters most to you.
Goals Reflection: Think about your long-term goals and how they align with your values.
Pathways to Purpose: Consider paths that could open up the right doors to fulfilling your values and goals.
It’s important to be clear on what you want in life. Avoid setting goals that are too vague or generic. Your goals should help you to become the best version of yourself.
Step 4: Try New Things
Finding your true purpose requires experimentation and an open mind.
Explore Hobbies: Try a range of different hobbies, interests, and professions.
Stay Open: Don’t close any doors too soon; give yourself the freedom to explore and learn from new experiences.
It took me several years of trying, learning and failing to discover what I truly loved doing with my time. Be patient with this part of the process.
Step 5: Visualize Your Dream Life
Visualization can be a powerful tool in understanding your purpose.
Meditation: Use meditation to visualize a life that fulfills you.
Vision Board: Create a vision board to get a clear picture of what you want in life. Fill it with images and words that resonate with your dreams and aspirations.
I personally like doing a meditation walk. As someone who struggles sitting still for more than 2 minutes, I find these are the perfect compromise between a traditional meditation and doing nothing at all.
I use my walk to visualise my dreams and ideal life. This has slowly become one of the best parts of my day!
Step 6: Create a Purpose Journal
Journaling can help you delve deeper into understanding your desires and aspirations.
A purpose journal is a journal dedicated to finding your purpose. The idea is that you use each page to answer a question such as:
If I had 3 months left to live, what would I do and why?
If I had to live in another country, where would I live and why?
If I had the opportunity to restart with a new identity, which career path would I pick and why?
Answering these thought evoking questions is a great way to understand yourself better.
Check out our free list of 100 questions to get to know yourself better that you could use for your journaling.
Step 7: Practice Daily Gratitude
Gratitude can help you recognize what truly matters to you and what aligns with your purpose.
Try writing down 3 things that you are grateful for every morning. After a few weeks, take a look at everything you have written down to spot patterns or common occurrences.
If something regularly makes you happy, there is a chance that it might be related to your purpose!
Next Steps: Purpose journal
After reading this guide, you’re probably wondering what the best next move is.
In my opinion, your next step should be to invest in a journal and start taking notes! Specifically, try answering a thought-evoking question each day that will help you to understand yourself better.
Use your journal to track each of the steps above and create a visual representation of what makes you tick!
Over time, your purpose should become clearer.