My Purpose... 7 steps to discovering you

Have you ever asked yourself: why am I here, what is my purpose or am I doing all I can do? At one time or another we have all questioned our reason for living, the questions usually come up during a transition or difficult time in our lives.  We have either sought out answers or filled our lives with “life,” hoping “life” will satisfy us or make us forget about the questions. It is rare that these questions disappear until we answer them.

I believe that we are all put on this earth for a specific reason, but only a small percentage of us take the time to find out exactly what that reason is and an even smaller percentage of us take a step to make it happen.  It is amazing how many people go to work every day unhappy in their careers and most of the time it is because they are not fulfilling their purpose.  When we take a deeper look into their unhappiness at their job, we often discover that they are not searching for other employment opportunities to change their happiness because they are:

•        Content with their financial situation.  
•        Scared to leave because of the unknown.
•        Assume that this is their life … A Grin and bear it mentality.  

Although all of aforementioned reasons (or as I like to call them excuses) are somewhat valid, admit it ...you are settling.  IF you discovered your purpose you could have a fulfilling occupation that could possibly pay you more AND positively impact the lives of the people in your community.   Whether you are happy or not in your current occupation aren’t you curious to find out what your purpose is on this earth?

Oprah often tells the story of how she knew she was meant for more… Her grandmother was hanging out the laundry and told Oprah to watch because she would have to do this soon.   Oprah did as she was told, but a still, small voice inside her, “really more a feeling than a voice, said, 

"This will not be your life. Your life will be more than hanging clothes on a line.""  

I am sure we all hear that small voice, but do we listen?

The process of ascertaining your purpose can be a short one if you have already completed a thorough self-examination and are in-tuned with where you are or where you are going in your life.  The enlightening journey to find your purpose could possibly take a while, because it means you have to become transparent if you are not already and be completely honest with yourself.   Unfortunately, most of us are not ready for the quick reveal.  We need the Band-Aid to be ripped off slowly, revealing our insecurities and secrets bit by bit.  We are not prepared to discover that what we should be doing is so far out of our every day realm that it would scare us and fear will stop us from acting on our newfound purpose.   

I believe it is more beneficial to begin creating a mindset of deeper self-awareness, which will in-turn help you discover your purpose.  In considering the bigger picture, instead of giving you steps on how to reveal your purpose, below are 7 steps that will help you delve into who you are? These steps can be done by yourself or with an honest accountability partner, however you want to do it, as long as you do it. Don’t delay begin your discovery today…

My Purpose... 7 steps to discovering you

1. Discover Your Passion(s) – What do you love to do

• Make a list of all the things you really like to do.  Close your eyes and imagine if you had no responsibilities, what would make you happy to wake every day and do?

2. Unearth Your Talent(s) – What are you good at?

• Create a list of things that you naturally do well without much effort.

3. Be Honest With Your Dislikes - What do you hate doing?

•  Devise a list of things you despise doing. It maybe things you currently do at work, home, church and/or school. We all have something, even if we do not want to admit it.

4. Consistent Compliments  - What do people give you kudos for?

• Compile a kudos list. What thing(s) do you do that always receive rave reviews? Cooking, Singing, Organizing, Painting, Construction, Yard Work, Make Up…

 5. Examine your Downtime – What do you enjoy doing in your downtime?

• Develop a list of me-time activities.  This could be a key indicator of what your purpose is, because a lot of times the things you spend your time doing, dreaming or talking about are what your are meant to do.

6. Never Stop Learning – What kinds of things peak your interest?

• Write down all of the types of things you like to read.  If you had to read a book, magazine or a blog, what types of things are you drawn too?

 7. Create a journal  - Are you documenting your journey to revealing your purpose?

• Finding your purpose can open doors to so many things in your life.  Document the entire process, so you can look back and see how far you have come and all of the great things that have been reveled to you. 

After you have finished all 7 steps spend some time with each list.  If you feel comfortable enough, have your accountability partner read your list and then discuss each list with you.  Remember this is a discovery process and it is meant to make you transparent, so be honest and finish it; Do NOT let FEAR stop you from finding YOU!  We will be discussing steps to find your purpose in a later blog and my forth coming book, but right now continue to discover YOU.

God Bless,

A. Mayartis J.