How To Discover Your Life’s Purpose
If you ask people if they know what their life’s purpose is, you're likely to only receive answers from a few. It's common to feel dissatisfied with life and to believe that your life lacks purpose and meaning. But I promise, it really is possible to discover your life’s purpose.
In this article, I provide 3 steps you can take to discover your life’s purpose. If you would like help working through these steps, please contact me.
What is Purpose?
The Macquarie Dictionary defines purpose as:
“the object for which anything exists or is done, made, used, etc.”
I believe this definition applies just as much to human beings as it does to objects.
Why go to the trouble of Discovering Your Purpose?
I firmly believe that If you discover your purpose, you will discover the thing you are made to do. If you live out your purpose, You will enjoy the life you were created to live, and be your happiest and most fulfilled.
How To Discover Your Purpose
I believe that there are three steps that you need to take to discover your purpose. They are:
- Examine your present
- Examine your past, and
- Examine your passions or dreams
Examining Your Present
Examining your present is vital because it shows you where you are, much like the “You Are Here” arrow on a map. Like navigating with a map or GPS, you need to know where you are before you can decipher how to get where you want to go.
Wen examining your present:
- reflect on as many areas of your life as possible, such as career, relationships, environment, hobbies and interests, values, faith, and finances
- pay particular attention to what is working for you right now and what isn’t
- consider why each thing or area of life is or is not working, and what you would like to change.
Examining your past
If you look at your past from the outside, through the eyes of a keen observer, you will notice patterns of thought, reactions to various situations, likes, dislikes, and preferences. If you examine your past with a reflective, questioning mind, you will begin to see the “why” behind some of these patterns, which will point you towards your purpose.
When examining your past:
- reflect on as many areas of your life as possible (see above for examples)
- pay particular attention to what worked for you and what didn’t
- consider why each thing or area of life did or didn’t work, and what you would have liked to change.
Examining Your Passions and Dreams
Your passions can give you insight into what your purpose might be, and your dreams can give you clues about how you might like to live out your purpose.
When examining your passions and dreams, reflect upon questions such as:
- what do you cry about, or what breaks your heart?
- what, if you did it every day, would cause you to wake up with excitement and enthusiasm?
- what makes you want to jump for joy, even just thinking about it?
- what have you always wanted to do or be?
If you need help working through these steps, please contact me.
Amanda Heal 
