Find Your Purpose In Life

Deciding What To Do With Your Life

Deciding what to to with your life isn't easy, and most people tend to drift through life, taking the path of least resistance and just fitting in with what is expected of them.  These expectations can come from parents, friends, partners, work, newspapers, TV, religion and role models. This leads us to the question - 'Whose life are you living?' Actually deciding what your own life should be about is a difficult question to answer, but unless you undergo an ongoing process of self awareness and discovery you can never develop your ideal life and make the most of yourself.

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. - Buddha

Are you living your dream life? If not, then why not? What does your dream life look like? If your answer involves having lots of money, a big house and a fast car, or winning the lottery, or waiting until you retire, then you really need to start thinking again. These things don't bring true happiness and can't be described as true success when you really start thinking long and hard about the essential core items that bring meaning into your life.

What's stopping you achieving what you want in life? Is it the fear of failing, of looking silly in front of your friends or family, money, education, or waiting for the right time?  These are just excuses. You will need to overcome these obstacles and find your own way  if you want to achieve the best you can and make the most of yourself. Nobody said it was going to be easy.

Asking the question, 'What is my life about?' rather than, 'What do I want?' is a good start, but not one that we are encouraged to ask in a society that promotes instant gratification rather than self awareness. Unfortunately, deciding what you want to do with your life isn't about what 'things' you want to have, but rather much more about the person you really are and the person you want to be.

Many people take a long time to find their real purpose in life, and this can happen just as well with people who have routine lives and those who have been outwardly successful and who change their jobs or careers because they bring no inner meaning to their lives, or in other words, are out of line with their purpose in life. This realisation that life isn't fulfilling can bring about depression or anxiety in the most balanced people, which no amount of medication can cure. This realisation that life has no inner meaning is at the root of many sudden career changes, relationship problems, divorces, addictions, breakdowns and mid-life crises - ask any counsellor, life-coach or doctor. If you are in this position don't be too hard on yourself, you're in good company!

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them. - Henry David Thoreau

Finding Your Life's Purpose

Finding your life's purpose isn't an easy or a quick task, but is a vital and important one. It is also one that constantly needs working on because it will change as you change.  This is a perpetual circle because a good life purpose will require self development to make the most of your unique skills, and as your skills develop you will find different things to do with your life.

There are four areas to bring  into your life purpose, and these need to be brought into balance:

1.  Your Body. This needs to be cared for, not only by exercise and nutrition but for other physical needs such as shelter, so your purpose needs to include enough income to look after these needs.
2. Your Mind. This includes your attitude, knowledge and skills, especially those things you excell at.
3. Your Heart. Not your physical heart but the passions and desires that drive you on and which you care deeply about. These are the things that motivate you, which give you energy and which you find motivating, exciting and fun.
4. Your Spirit. This is your inner soul which needs to be satisfied with the meaning in your life, and the contribution that you are making to yourself, others and the world in general.

Living Your Life With Purpose

Living your life with purpose brings an extra dimension to the whole of your life which in turn will bring new meaning, clarity, empowerment, sense of fulfilment, power and sense of freedom.You will be able to determine the direction of your life yourself and have a clear direction on which to base your goals so that you can achieve so much more in your life.

You will know when you are living a life of purpose when all four areas of your life are in balance and you live your life as if you had won the lottery.  You will be as excited to get back home as you are to go on holiday. Work and play will become difficult to separate.

Other things that can help to live your life with purpose include meditation, which some people find really useful, or if this isn't yet for you, then at least taking time out  to think about your life and what you are going to make of it. Your surroundings can also have a large impact on you, so make sure they reflect your purpose in life.

Recommended Books On Finding Your Purpose In Life

Life On Purpose: Six Passages to an Inspired Life by Brad Swift This book is a resource for creating a life that is personally meaningful as well as being passionate and fun and shows you how to live life to the full with an unconventional life. Have you clarified your life yet? Book from Amazon UK.
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle This book provides a powerful spiritual background for anyone to make their own life, and the world a better and more meaningful place. This is spiritual in a non-religious way, and is written by a master communicator. Book from Amazon UK.

Recommended Web Sites On Finding Your Purpose In Life

Steve Pavlina at www.stevepavlina.com is a brilliant and insightful author with a web site about personal development for smart people.

The One Question at www.theonequestion.com is devoted solely to finding the meaning of life, passion and purpose in your life.

People Who Have Found Their Purpose

Steve Jobs - How To Live Before You Die

Diggy on his Upgradereality blog. The Point Of Life - My Version

Kimberley Jones on her Luminous Living blog. About Kimberley Jones