The key to living a happy, content and fulfilled life lies predominantly with finding your purpose in life.
Most people that even have a successful career, good number of friends and even a family that loves them, still feel empty at times. They feel like something is missing – and 90% of the time, that missing something is their life’s purpose.
Without a life’s purpose, achieving goals or accumulating accolades might in the end not make you fulfilled.
Many people believe that “finding your purpose in life” is a far off dream that many wish to attain but a few really get to achieve. Understand that this is actually a tool to make you happier and fulfilled.
You can be very rich and still feel sad. Have a ton of friends and still feel lonely.
Only about 25% of adults say that they have a clear sense of purpose that motivates them to wake up every morning to get the day started.
Now the big question –
What’s the point of finding your purpose in life?
Do you know that finding your purpose in life can help you live longer?
You don’t believe me, check out this study published in Applied Psychology.
The study cited that – “individuals with high levels of eudemonic well-being—which involves having a sense of purpose along with a sense of control and feeling like what you do is worthwhile—tend to live longer”.
During the eight and half period that the study was done, it was discovered that people with strong will and well-being are 30 percent less likely to die than their counterparts.
There is also a research that corellates being happy with health. A happier more fulfilled individual would be less likely to suffer from strokes, heart attacks, less prone to stressors and have better sleep at night.
Another study published in Journal of Research in Personalitystates that there also material benefits to having a sense of purpose. Following the study that took nine years to complete, the researchers saw that those individuals that reported a higher sense of purpose had accumulated more wealth.
This study then is good news to all of us.
What this study proves is that you don’t need to sacrifice making wealth for having a life’s purpose. They both work hand in hand. You would realize that the more purpose you have, the more financially stable you would become.
Look at these three statements, which of them do you agree most with?
“Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them”
“I live life one day at a time and don’t really think about the future” and
“I sometimes feel as if I’ve done all there is to do in life.”
If you relate more with the first statement while disagreeing with the last two, then there is a good chance that you have a strong sense of purpose.
At one point or the other in our lives, we must have asked ourselves these questions:
“what I’m I passionate about? “, “what should I do with my life? “, “how do I find my life’s purpose? “.
All these questions are answerable, but it involves a lot of self reflection, listening to others and a deeper exploration on the kind of individual you are.
These 10 strategies can serve as a guidance to finding your life’s purpose and in the end a more meaningful and fulfilled life.
1. Surround yourself with positivity
“Be wary of the company you keep, for they are a reflection of who you or who you want to be…” – Kenneth G Ortiz.
Always ask yourself this question – what do I have in common with the company I keep?
When I say company, I don’t mean your family members (you can’t change that) or your co-workers (you are obligated to spend time with them). The company I mean are those persons that you enjoy spending time with outside the office or family gatherings.
The kind of people that you spend your time with have a huge impact on the kind of person you shape out to become. If you spend time with individuals that are highly positive, that positivity would also permeate into you lifestyle.
The same rules also apply for negativity or pessimism. You draw inspiration from the people around you either intentionally or subconsciously.
It would be very difficult for you to feel positive, purposeful, passionate or fulfilled when you surround yourself with negative individuals who don’t add any positive contributions to your life.
It is not a crime to distance yourself from such friends. You mental well being is more important than some friendships.
2. Discover your interests
“The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion… Open your eyes and actually see this world by attending it’s colors, details and irony.” – Organ Pamuk.
Do you know your interests? What is that topic you can converse about for hours? What groups are you regularly interacting with on Facebook?
Do you enjoy sharing articles on how to end animal brutality? Are your instagram posts filled with pictures of you planting trees because you want the climate to become better and safer?
When you are in gathering, what kind of conversations do you enjoy having and being most active in – Do you enjoy talking about the latest engines in the Ferrari sport cars or do you enjoy talking about the latest gardening tips?
Take a good assessment of yourself. The things you are most likely to talk about and share on the internet can give you a good idea of the kind of person you. They can serve as guide to give you purpose in life.
3. Conduct a passion test
The passion test was created by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood. They created a set of questions that would help you discover your passions.
These are the 7 question Passion Test that you can try answering to give you clarity about your passions and finding out what’s important to you:
- Are you excited about life and turned on by the the kind of things you do each day?
- Do other people comment on how happy you are and how much fun it is to be around you?
- Do you get upset and pushed off track when unexpected circumstances arise?
- Are you clear about the top 5 things that matter most to you in life?
- Are the decisions you make based on things that would allow you live your passions fully?
- Do you spend your days doing the things you love and surrounded by people that love you?
- Is life confusing for you and do you have a clear sense of direction in your life?
The next step after answering these questions is filling in the blank for this statement – When my life is ideal, I am ___.” – for a total of 15 times.
An example would be:
“When my life is ideal, I am travelling the world teaching less privileged children”
“When my life is ideal, I am working with an NGO to help build facilities such as hospitals and schools for war ravaged countries.”
“When my life is ideal, I am running a charity organization for the poor and sick”
After creating your own set of 15 passion statements, you would then choose the top 5 out of all of them.
To do this compare you first statement with your second statement. Chose the most important between two and compare it with your third statement. Continue to do this until you have chosen the most important one out of the 15.
Leave that one most important statement out of the equation and repeat the process with the remaining 14. Continue to do this process until you have realised your top 5 passion.
After you have gotten the 5 top passions, examine your life right now closely. Are the activities that you are engaging in daily getting you closer to achieving any of these dreams?
If they are not, start working on achieving these passions. You don’t need to make a drastic change like quiting your job right away. Take the steps slowly. Keep in mind your long term goal while working on the short term goals.
Once you have a vision of your passions and how your life would look like living them, it would be easier to work towards achieving them.
A problem known is a problem half solved.
4. Be a Giver
If there is one strategy that you would not expect but really works in finding your purpose in life, is through helping others.
There are three key ways you can help others – by donating either your time, money or talent.
A research done by Florida University shows the key factors that determines if you have a happier life or a purposeful life. The research showed that having a strong social network was linked to having a happier life. While being a “giver” in a relationship was linked to a more purposeful life.
Your act of giving can range from donating money to a cause you believe in, helping serve food to homeless people at a food shelter or simply helping people you meet on a day-to-day basis.
No matter the means by which you choose to give out to the world, sharing love and joy with others would make you feel as though your life has meaning.
5. Get feedback from others
On your own, it might be a bit difficult to decipher the things that you are passionate about. You might be an individual that enjoys participating in a lot of things.
Sometimes the things that you love to do might have become so much a part of you that you no longer realize how important they are anymore.
The good thing is that other people notice you and could be of assistance in helping you find these passions. You might have been displaying your passion to your friends and family without you even realizing it.
Two ways you can get feedback from others:
You can use a direct method in which you ask people what reminds them of you. Whenever they think of you, what comes to their mind.
The second method is less direct. Take note of the kind of compliments and observations people make about you. Check out the patterns that are constant in these observations, your passion might be hiding in plain site.
These feedbacks would help you reinforce your efforts in engaging these passions.
6. Reflect on an injustice that bothers you
This is a good way to discover your life’s purpose as well as give it meaning. Consider the things that really bothers you and makes you unhappy when you think about it.
Are you bothered by the way animals in dairy farms are treated? Is it a civil right issues, police brutality, the treatment of young girls in some part of Africa? Perhaps you feel that the facilities in the juvenile system are not conducive to bring any positive change to young teens?
Whatever injustice that bothers you, think about ways you can make a difference and work towards achieving those goals.
Personally I am passionate about the huge number of young girls that are out of school or do not have access to education.
I am also passionate about water pollution and how we can stop it.
You don’t have to pursue these passions full time. Even if you cannot be on ground physically to be of assistance you can donate money to these causes. You can choose a career or job also that allows you some free time to help a cause that you are passionate about.
7. Create your life purpose statement
Creating a life purpose statement is not something that you would do hurriedly or rushed. You need to set aside a quite time when both your body and your soul is at rest.
A personal statement would help you decide which road you would take.
Ensure that the driving force behind your statement is not material things and prosperity. What should drive your purpose statement is what you stand for and what you are willing to fight for.
Your passion statement should aim at motivating you to become the best possible version of yourself. It should include your vision of excellence and how you would meaningfully impact the lives of others.
Your passion statement should answer the following questions:
Who are you?
Who are you becoming?
Why do you work?
What is your purpose, cause or destiny?
Finally your passion statement is your personal mantra. You should keep it short and simple.
8. Think about the times you have been happiest
This is another way you can identify your purpose – by performing a happiness review.
Just take 30 minutes out of your time to note the instances you have been at your happiest or when you experienced the greatest joy.
Look for patterns in all these .joyful moments and you would begin to see a trend that can serve as an internal guidance or GPS to what your passion is.
You can find out a lot about the kind of person you are performing a happiness test or review.
9. Align your life’s passion and purpose with your goals
This strategy comes into effect when you have realized what your life’s purpose is.
Once you have realized what your life’s purpose is, you must organize all your goals around it. Any activity or effort you make in one way or the other must be geared towards achieving this purpose.
If engaging in an activity would not help your in finding your purpose in life, do not venture into it.
One type of goal that is very important and must be aligned with your passion and purpose are your business and professional goals. You can be a bit more flexible when it comes to personal goals.
Pursue goals that would make you a much happier and fulfilled individual. Such goals can be learning how to surf, learning to play a musical instrument or even how to cook.
When your personal goals help you grow physically, spiritually and mentally, you would have sufficient energy and desire to achieve your professional goals.
Note: If you hate Monday mornings or the thought of going to work makes you want to cry, it might be a sign that the job or career you are doing isn’t the right one for you.
It’s never to late to follow your heart and start doing the work you love.
10. Fulfill your life’s purpose slowly but steadily
This is the final step you would take in finding your purpose in life. You don’t need to completely overhaul or leave your job to achieve your life’s purpose.
Take your time and lean into it slowly. Life is a marathon not a sprint.
Pay attention to the results you see and the feedback you receive from others. In no time, you would be living a more fulfilling and happy life.