It’s OK if you don’t know why you are here or what you are suppose to be doing with your life. It can take years to find our true calling but if you can’t wait that long, here are some questions to help you get on the path to finding your life’s purpose.
Asking this question should pertain to your life as a whole. Do I love my family, friends, and work? Am I doing things outside of my job that I love like drawing, writing, or any creative art? If you are not doing what you love, look at why you haven’t been doing them and start incorporating them in your life.
It’s important when looking for purpose in your life, you look at the people around you. Your friends, family, co workers should all be people who support you in your quest to find real purpose. Not having those types of people around you could harm your progress in finding meaning. When I pursued writing, my friends and family played an important role in encouraging me to do it. Even if I didn’t think an article I wrote was good, they still knew it made me happy to write and that type of positive reinforcement does wonders.
Look at every aspect of your life. Ask if you are happy with what you have done. Are you going in the direction you want for your life. If not, what can you do to get there? It is hard not to compare our lives to our friends to measure success but try hard not to get caught up in what others have. The true measurement of happiness is are we doing what we want and happy with the journey that lies ahead.
You already know there is always more you can do. The real question lies in what can you do more of. Think of what you would want to contribute to society and what impact you want to have. There are tons of issues in our society that need people looking to make an impact. Think of what are some social issues that trigger you emotionally. Start there and find ways to get involved with organizations who focus on those social issues.
Most of us attribute satisfaction with work or material possessions. If we don’t like our job, we are not satisfied. If we don’t have the things like a big house, nice cars, or wealth of money we are quick to call ourselves failures. What we need to do is take a real look at what we define as success for our own lives rather than what others call it.
This is something I think about often when it comes to looking at my life. I often ask when my time has come, what will people remember of me? It may seem a little extreme but it puts things into perspective.
If you don’ t know what makes you happy, that’s ok. A good way to start is asking yourself what makes you miserable. We know what we don’t like doing so identifying these things now is a great start to working towards the things that do make you happy.
When you wake up in the morning, how do you approach the day? Your view on today affects your outlook on life. If you think negatively first thing in the morning, you will have no sense of optimism. Changing your perception will help guide you in finding purpose in your life. Ask what do I want to do today and put it into action.
You can always have an impact if you choose to do so. But what you choose to do is a different story. You don’t have to be a visionary who creates a game changing product or a spiritual guru. Sometimes, the real measure of impact is the effect you have on a single person’s life.
