A big part of growing as a person, and experiencing personal growth in general, is finding your meaning and purpose in life. When you have meaning and purpose in your life, you also find motivation to do the things you do.
Goal setting by itself is inadequate. But when you add purpose and meaning to your goals, why you are doing what you do, you begin to feel fulfilled and genuinely motivated to do those things that you do, day in and day out.
It’s good, in my opinion, to understand that the meaning and/or the purpose does not have to be a big thing, a “save the world” kind of thing. It can be a small thing as long as it helps you, and, in my opinion again, helps also other people. At least when your purpose does not violate the rights of other people, then I think it’s probably okay.
You Might not Have Just One Purpose, From Cradle to Grave
Like your vision, your purpose and your meaning can also evolve during your life.
In fact, when your purpose is evolving, that means that you are also personally growing with your purpose.
I think that if we grow throughout the whole lifetime that we live, it gives us additional boost and motivation. When the purpose also grows with our personal growth, then we can see that we evolve throughout our lifetime.
That to me is a good motivator for life by itself.
Finding Your Purpose
A lot of people struggle finding their purpose or their meaning in life. I have studied personal development about 30 years now, and unfortunately, I have not found one single all-encompassing technique to really help everyone find a purpose in their life.
However, one thing that I think might help you is really to ask yourself, “What is my purpose? What am I here to do?” And just wait for the answer. Our brain has a tendency to look for answers to questions it has been asked.
One advice I would like to give you is that don’t think about it analytically. I mean, the analytical mind will get you some answers. However, I believe strongly that when you get your answer, you need to get a strong sense, an internal sense, a well-being sense. And that will tell you if the answer you got is your true answer.
So the point is to ask the question, “What is my purpose?” And just wait.
One thing that might also help is to do things that bring you joy. And, if you add doing things that bring joy to other people, and in those moments when you feel joy and happiness, you ask that question, “What is my purpose?” and then wait for the answer, that might help.
If you ask that question when you are feeling despair or something like that, you might also get an answer which might not be a bad answer, per se. However, as you evolve, ask that question again in a more positive state of mind. The previous answer might have been just a temporary answer to get you out of that unwanted situation.
Give it a try. Who knows?
Words of Wisdom
In my book, Words of Wisdom, Chapter Six deals with meaning and purpose. And, like in my other blog posts, I would also this time like to share a quote from my book, this time on purpose and meaning.
As every chapter in my book, also this one has quite a few quotes from wise people and here’s one from Richard Bach:
I love that quote. That also, in my opinion, refers to what I said earlier, that your purpose, your mission can, and should, evolve throughout your whole life.
So when your mission and purpose also grow and evolve, that means that you will also grow and evolve.
And that, to me, brings the real juice to life.
