Finding purpose. What does it mean to find your purpose? One thing I have discovered in coaching and counselling is you can craft life and live with purpose. Lots of people seek Life Coaching to clarify their purpose. It's one area I love working on because it's so meaningful to live with purpose, it connects you to others and motivates you get up in the morning come rain, hail or shine. It's also wonderful to be able model purpose for your children, what it looks like to live with a sense of purpose you really care about and want to make a difference to the world they inherit.
No doubt in my mind that life experience can help you find purpose because it gives you some experience of what you don't want and that in turn can help you move towards a sense of knowing what you value and what you want to create and spend your lifetime doing.
There is another side to purpose and it's about giving your time and energy to something else that goes bigger than yourself. Research has discovered your special talents and gifts are only part of the purpose equation, purpose is also about connection that allows us to achieve big things together. Once you find your purpose you'll undoubtedly also find community and people connected to what you value.
My top 5 life coaching tips for living on purpose (drum roll please....)
1. Listening to other people's stories, those who have lived a lifetime, they can help you discover what you relate to or they might inspire something in your own imagination. Watch videos, read articles and books or visit your local library for stories of how others lives and contributed to what matters.
2. Purpose is not only an intellectual pursuit is it something we feel into the body and it can grow out of suffering and hurts. For example Oprah Winfrey grew up poor and being abused and as an adult she became very interested in how to overcome her poverty and help others become more empowered and rise above adversities they had experienced and turn hurts into heals.
3. Certain types of emotions promote purpose, these include gratitude, awe and altruism. Being grateful and in awe for what we have in life connects us to a higher purpose, helping others connects us to something much larger than ourselves and these two together activate reward circuitries in the brain. Practicing gratitude also links us to happiness and broaden and builds our wellbeing.
4. Listening to what others thank you for can help you find your purpose. What do others appreciate about what you do? Ask your friends and colleagues to tell you what they like most about you so you can start to build a profile of yourself based on what others find valuable. Once you know this you can expand on it and do more of it. Knowing what others appreciate about you can fuel your purpose.
5. Focus outwardly and contribute. When you work hard and serve others it can help you turn your attention to the needs of others and how you be of value and help. This can lead to powerful transformation because we are social creatures who need each other and helping others will help you feel more valued and genuinely loved.
You get really clear on purpose in coaching with exercises and activities and conversation that enables insight and reflection and once you have an idea of how your purpose picture looks we can build a strategy on how to achieve the first steps.
There might be a change needed or some reframing of long held beliefs but purpose can be a gift for everyone who is willing to be challenged and make meaning through this one and only journey we call our lives. Life Coaching is a great way to identify and develop your purpose.
