What is the purpose of life? If you pose this question to five people, you’ll likely get five different responses. The answer is personal. Every person has a reason for being alive at this moment in time. What’s yours? If you aren’t sure, answer these three questions to find your life’s purpose.
What Are You Good At?
To start, think of your strengths. Jot down your greatest qualities and skills. If you have trouble with this task, try this:
1. Make a list of your areas of improvement (Ex: public speaking).
2. Amend your list by adding “I struggle with….” at the beginning, followed by “because I tend to….” at the end. (Ex: I struggle with public speaking because I tend to get shy in front of crowds.)
3. Take your ending statement and use it to start a new sentence. This final sentence will end with “because I prefer to…” (Ex: I tend to get shy in front of crowds because I prefer to speak to people one-on-one.)
4. Isolate the latter part of your final sentence to identify your strength. (Ex: I prefer to speak to people one-on-one.)
Match your strengths with complementary tasks, careers or projects that fulfill your life’s purpose.
What Are You Passionate About?
Passion is the desire to pursue something because of a deeply intrinsic motivation. If you can identify your passion, you can find your purpose. What burning thoughts keep you awake at night? What makes you happiest? Which actions feel less like work and more like play? What makes you feel fulfilled? Whatever your answer is, chase it and transform it to become your life’s work.
What Is Your Community In Need Of?
Consider your family, neighborhood, state, or country to think of what’s most needed today. In fact, you don’t have to stop with local concerns. You can also consider both the world and humankind as a whole. When you watch the news or listen to people’s stories, which topics tug at your heartstrings most? Your purpose may be to provide solutions for those in need.
Finding your life’s purpose can be difficult. Sometimes answers come slowly and may not be what you expected. Use these three questions to help you through the process of discovering what makes you uniquely qualified to change the world. You have a special set of gifts that can add value to people’s lives and inspire others to similarly pursue their life’s purpose.
