How To Find Your True Purpose In Life

Image by Scarleth White on Flickr

There are many self-help books regarding the quest for one's true purpose in life. There are also career coaches and gurus who will help you determine this perhaps most important pieces of self-knowledge. After all, if we cannot divine what our Purpose truly is, how can we possibly structure the rest of our life?

But the easiest way I know how to find out our true purpose is to simply think back to what we liked to do as children. Young people have more of a direct connection to their Self than adults...they have yet to learn to second-guess themselves or try to be something they're not just to make others happy. By looking back on what mattered to us most back then -- activities, entertainment, wishes and dreams -- we can best pinpoint what we should be doing now in order to find supreme personal fulfillment.

Of course, not every childhood fave is going to immediately translate into something "doable" in adult life. Sometimes, we have to use a bit of creativity in order to figure things out. For example, if your favorite thing to do was pretend you were in a spaceship, flying through the cosmos, it might mean you were meant to be an astronaut...or an astronomy expert...or simply an enthusiastic and expansive traveller back down on Earth!

To figure out your life's true purpose using this method, take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. On one side, list your favorite activities and interests from when you were a child. On the other side, jot down possible ways these things might "transfer" into viable goals in the present.

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Here's a list of some stuff I liked as a kid, plus possible ways they might be applicable in my daily life now:

1) Reading (fiction and non-fiction): reading, research, academic pursuits

2) Writing (stories, poems, comic strips): writing, blogging, cartooning

3) Collecting and identifying rocks and minerals: "grounding", nature, health (vitamins & minerals)

4) World mythology: spirituality, psychology, storytelling

5) Dinosaurs: unearthing the past

6) Sherlock Holmes and other mystery series: decoding clues, interpretation

7) Putting on puppet and radio shows: engaging with, and entertaining, the public -- but doing so one step removed; podcasting; acting; teaching

8) Play-teaching: teaching

After making this list, I have a much better sense of what basic interests and aptitudes I possess -- and which ones I don't. From this information, it is clear to me that I am a Seeker, a Teacher, a Writer, a Researcher, a Decoder. I am also a Communicator, but tend to prefer doing so with a "buffer" -- whether that be words (writing, blogging) using other characters (utilizing a story, acting), or through a recording (podcasting, vlogging) -- and this squares away with the fact that though I have a tremendous desire to communicate my point of view, I'm also somewhat shy. But my dedication to "unearthing" the truth, to digging (reminding me of my childhood love of looking for rocks) through research, to decoding the clues, is the prime motivator...one that eventually triumphs over my natural reserve. 

Using the list, I can also pretty much figure out that my life's purpose is not being a stockbroker, a hang-glider, a soldier, a fashion model, a race-car driver, etc.

Image by Pink Sherbet Photography on Flickr

However, I cannot count the many times I've pursued career or personal goals that did not fit in with my life's true purpose. I did those things be because I both lost touch with the child inside myself, and listened to others who devalued the types of things I loved to do. 

But when you are truly aligned with your personal truths, you'll find that you'll be far more successful in life in every way that matters!

So if you are struggling over what it is you really want to do, feel free to give this method a try...and let me know if it works for you.