From Drifting to Thriving: How Clarity on Purpose Leads to a Fulfilling Life
Feb 12, 2024Not sure what you’re doing with your life?
You don’t lack a sense of direction, you lack purpose. How can you know which path to take if you don’t know WHY you’re going down that path?
Of course you don’t HAVE to know your purpose in life. It’s totally up to you as you are the boss of you. BUT studies show that people with a strong sense of purpose tend to live longer, have healthier hearts, and are more resilient to life's ups and downs, not to mention the sense of fulfilment you get. And at the end of his career psychiatrist Carl Jung said that over third of his patients suffered from no clinical neurosis but rather from a want of meaning or purpose.
So, do you want to live a longer* and more fulfilled life?
*freak accidents aside
And it doesn’t matter whether you believe life is meaningless and create purpose to fill the time (and the void) or whether you believe you are here to answer your unique calling and contribute to the Greater Good of all.
The good news is you don’t HAVE to find your purpose because your purpose will find you if you CHOOSE to create meaning for your life. And it really doesn’t matter if you’re on the “right” path right now or not. Any path is better than being stuck; at least you’re moving.
However, it’s good to stop occasionally, take stock (acknowledge where you are without judgment), and recalibrate (reset and prepare to move forward).
Truths and lies about purpose
✅ Purpose comes with many aliases such as “vision,” “obsession,” “WHY,” “North Star,” “reason for being (AKA “raison d'être” in sexy French),” etc.
✅ It IS what guides you, fuels your fire, and gives you your sense of direction (but it is FLUID).
❌ It is NOT given to you by a fairy godmother or a wizard called Oz.
❌ There’s no such thing as “Purpose at first sight.”
❌ There’s also no such thing as “one Purpose” (you may have several throughout the course of your life).
✅ It IS the thing you’d do for free because you have to do it (this does NOT mean living on Purpose means you have to be broke).
❌ It is NOT a mission (a mission is what gets you to your Purpose, but don’t get tied to this).
❌ It is NOT a goal (goals are the steps that make up your mission, but these can change if your mission changes because your Purpose has changed).
✅ It IS a contribution to something greater than yourself, making a difference.
✅ It is ALL yours, unique to you, and can be anything you choose, big or small (you do not have to save the world all by yourself; remember that small actions create ripples and can have big consequences).
In short, your purpose is doing something with your life that’s meaningful or important in some way so you die without regrets. There’s nothing too big you can do and nothing too small.
Except for doing nothing, and I know that’s not you, otherwise, you wouldn’t be here reading this.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
- Pablo Picasso
Here are 6 steps to getting clarity on your purpose:
- Imagine your deathbed regrets
- Get grateful for what you have now
- Figure out your values and passions
- List your skills and skill-gaps
- Take adventurous aligned action
- Craft your purpose statement
Are you ready to dive deeper?
If you’d like to explore and work through these steps and get clarity on your life purpose then get yourself inside my FREE mini course: Path to Purpose - Get clarity on your life purpose in just 6 easy steps.
Each step is explained and comes with an experiment for you to play with, and have fun with.
This mini-course, however, is useless to you if all you do is read it and don’t try out the experiments!
To take the whole course in one sitting will be around 1-2 hours depending how deep you dive. Around 30 minutes of that time is reading the content. Or you can set aside 10-20 minutes per day over 6 days (I’ll be sending you daily emails to nudge you anyway).
Ready to start?
Enroll to Path to Purpose, and get instant access. Then grab your journal or some sheets of paper, your favourite pen and get comfy. I’m so excited for you!
“This mini course was the perfect start to the year. I loved the recommendation to do it over a few days. This allowed each experiment (lesson) to really sink in and take root. The first experiment really hit home and set a precedent for the duration of the course. The format was easy to use and the prompts and overall set up were evidently created by someone who loves and understands what it means to be human. I now have a clearer understanding of what I ‘actually’ want to do (rather than the conditioned desires I have inherited over the years) and just as importantly, a sense of direction and the tools I’ll need in order to help me along the way. Thank you Polly 🙏🏻” — Ryan V.
🦩 Work with me: Book 1:1 session
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