Each one of us yearns to find and live out our purpose in life. Living out our purpose gives us a sense of fulfillment and belonging.
The quest to find our true purpose is not apparent from birth and it is unique to every person. The reason why I call the process of finding purpose a quest is because finding your true purpose requires a deep dive, not into anything or anyone external from you, but rather into YOUR essence, YOUR uniqueness and the deepest part of YOURSELF. Taking that journey requires self-reflection, courage and an open heart.
There is a clear correlation between burnout and living with lack of purpose. Living with purpose gives us the fuel we need to support us during challenging times. Challenging times are not unique to anyone, it’s something we all will experience. The question is, do we have that big “why am I doing this?” question dragging us from the front or supporting us firmly from the back?
In Victor Frankel’s, ‘Man’s search for meaning’, he describes how people today are living in an existential vacuum. A person may either wish, “to do what other people do (conformism) or he does what other people tell him to do (totalitarianism).”
Vacuums need content and the content must be purpose.
Our purpose is framed through our life experiences. Think about the impactful moments in your life that helped shape you. That is how it all begins. We come into this world and are given life. Our life does not come with a manual on what our purpose is. It is through life experiences that we start to set ourselves up for something that will hopefully one day bring us fulfillment.
It is this purpose that eventually brings some form of happiness to our lives. It is this purpose that gives us the capacity to really understand our greatness, our mastery and take that in as our narrative. Let that be the positive narrative that flows through us, as opposed to any other negative narrative that has come through anybody else or any other life experience.
One of the greatest intentions for my purpose quest is for you not only to shift that inner narrative but for you to re-frame yourselves through your mastery and the beauty and uniqueness that you bring to the world.
It is through the virtue of purpose that we can overcome any obstacle and achieve true fulfillment in life.