Saturday, June 1, 2013

How Do You Find Your Purpose?

As we are all different, we will all need different paths to help us find our passion and purpose. If you’ve struggled to find the direction you need to complete your destiny, if you’ve always felt you were made for something, but a little unsure what t was that try some of the following ideas to explore what your purpose may be. 
Every one has a purpose, and there is potential in each of us. It’s just a matter to exploring and investigating a little to discover it.
What terrifies you?
It’s an interesting concept but what you don’t like, or what you fear may be the very thing pointing to your destiny. It’s like the concept of yin and yang- there are two sides to each coin. The fear may originate from blocking off an early passion that you were unaware of. Write a list of your fears and the negative feelings that come from them. Then look at that list and see if there is an opposite charge to the fear. For example, if you are terrified of public speaking, but love to share your ideas, then you may be well suited to expressing yourself through the written word.
When are you scared of failing?
Those things that are important to us hold a great deal of weight to how we see ourselves and our success. If you are scared at failing at something, you’ll often avoid it at all costs. But those things we are scared to fail at are often the very things we most want to do. Explore the times you’ve said no to something, or avoided something because you’ve been scared of showing yourself to not be good at it.
Who energizes you?
If you’ve only got people around you who tear or wear you down and you struggle with feeling good about yourself when you are around them, then you need to change the dynamic. What sort of people inspires you? What sort of people make you want to grab life and live it completely, who add a little light into everything. 
The people we are attracted to, who we want to spend time with, reflect not only where we are now, but where we want to be. Align yourself with people living a full life and their enthusiasm rubs off and affects your own passion. Go for people you respect, and work underneath them- serving them.  That is the very best way to learn. If you can’t find anyone like that around you, devour books about people you admire and learn by proxy.
When will you get there?
It can be incredibly frustrating when you can see where you want to end up (and how many of us have the dream of the house on the beach, the traveling round the world) However each journey starts with one small step in front of the other. The end destination isn’t the only thing you need- you need to break it right down into manageable chunks. You may start with a small passion in something really simple that you don’t think much of, and then it explodes and evolves into something else entirely. Enjoy that process, and trust it. The lessons we learn along the way as we explore our purpose are never wasted.
If you are naturally visionary, having to wait it out sometimes can be incredibly frustrating. However learning to temper your impatience and lay it aside helps you get there faster. Remembering there is a season for everything you do helps.
Who are you now?
Before you start to move forward you need to first make peace with the person you are today, right here and right now. The person you are today is the person you started to become five or ten years ago. We are all a product of our own past and the place we are in today is of our own making. To move forward we need to accept the person we are, with all our foibles and limitations. If you’ve got a few pounds to lose, or spend like money is going out of fashion, if you’re in a dead end job because you’ve never really used that initiative lying innate in all of us, or you are in a relationship that is more about comfort than seeing each other move towards each other’s purpose, the only person who put you there is you.
Love yourself now; accept yourself now and where you have been, and then move on. Our purpose can begin from any circumstances. No matter what has gone before, we have the choice to change our life now, today.
One person in themselves can be hugely effective. Dream big and don’t underestimate your ability to get there- many people have dreams up a purpose that on paper looked impossible, but was not only achieved but surpassed. Breathe life into those big visions.
What will I do?

Make a list of all the dreams and thoughts you’ve had – all the things you want to do in your life. Once it’s down on paper, make a plan of action to follow. Sometimes the first step is to consolidate, to regroup and spend some time learning or preparing. This is an excellent time to give your time to work under people who are working towards a similar purpose, to learn alongside them.

Don’t worry if the times get a little rough sometimes. See the difficult times are periods of growth, where you are learning the next important lessons to succeed. There is a well known Chinese proverb that says “When things are going good the business grows, when things are going bad, you grow.” No experience is ever wasted as long as you grasp any circumstance as an opportunity to grow.

Who cares what other people do?

Your unique passion is never going to be exactly the same as someone else’s. Sure there will be elements the same, but the majority of your purpose is a custom fit for you. Just as others can’t mass produce your purpose for themselves, you can’t look at someone else’s purpose and compare your own to it in a negative light. You can only be yourself, and you can only bring your own talents and skills to your purpose. No one will do it quite like you. And that is ok! 
When we start to look at how others fulfill a similar vision, we can start to make negative judgments on ourselves. Of course looking and learning in a positive way is a clever way to save a few big mistakes along the way. But when you allow fear to creep into your comparison times, your purpose suffers.

When will you get there?

Your purpose is likely to change and evolve as you do. And once you begin to grasp the sense of fun and excitement that occurs when you begin to explore your purpose you want to change and evolve with you. Get ready to go on a life long journey of discovering your purpose. To begin with your goals may be small. We can actually only conceive in our heads that which we truly believe we can possibly achieve. If you’ve ever had a big dream thought, and really focused on it, you’ll find your mind can often place up blocks or reasons why that dream won’t be happening for you. The key is to constantly try to stretch the dream we have for our purpose. 
That means we may need to rework our purpose every five to ten years. What motivates you in your twenties may not give you the same rush in your thirties or your forties. Keep a check on yourself and what you want to be living in the now- not what you wanted five years ago.

If you are reading this as a teen or young person, use your youth to your best advantage. The times we have as a single person with no huge amounts of responsibility including paying all those boring bills and having a partner are the very best times to use our time well and experience as much of life as we can. Spend this time not only studying but learning skills in leadership, organization, and people skills through voluntary work, hobbies and generally living your life. 

No matter your age, become someone who says yes to life, as then you open yourself up to opportunity. As you begin to say yes, you begin to see new ways to achieve your purpose that you may have thought were unlikely before. Never say you are to busy to get there. As the saying goes, “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.” A person who is busy on life, not just busy on trying to wearily make it to the next bedtime actually has the time to do the things they really want to do. 
We all have choices on how we spend our time. Use it well, and carefully. 
How did I get here?

Being thankful every day for where you are now, and where you are going keeps your thoughts on track. If you can’t be thankful for any aspect of your life, then it is likely that you are living a life that is not consistent with the purpose you were designed for. And if you have lost that ability to be thankful, you need to start to create it to give yourself the strength to move out of that negative situation. 
Start the day with thankfulness. Before you get up in the morning say some thank yous. If you have a faith, this is like praying. However the concept works regardless- it’s just acknowledging the things in your life you love or care about. It may be people, situations or possessions.


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