Finding your life's purpose is the ultimate fulfillment. When you live your life with passion and purpose, you wake up excited in the mornings to take action. Your work no longer feels like work. You are genuinely happy to be alive.
Unfortunately, most people are not fulfilled in their lives. A survey from Salary.com reveals that most Americans are not happy at work. Only 38.5% of the 2,000 people were "personally fulfilled by work". This is a pretty revealing statistic. In fact, a study by Ohio State University found that people who are dissatisfied in life were more likely to have mental health problems like insomnia, anxiety, and depression later in life.
It's more important than ever for you to discover your purpose in life. A meaningful life helps gives you build your self-esteem, purpose and meaning, and happiness. Committing to something bigger than yourself helps you live a purposeful life. When you discover your life purpose, you will never look back at what your life was before.
My Life Purpose
The purpose of my life is:
To love and inspire people to live exceptional lives.
This is a big reason why I write so often. The purpose of this website is to scale my reach and help as many people as I can. My goal is to reach you and help you live your fullest potential. Yes, I'm talking to you.
7 Ways to Finding Your True Purpose
If you are at a point where you are wondering "What is the purpose of my life?" or "What am I passionate about?", here are the 7 best ways to finding your life purpose.
1. Read Often
Reading helps us connect with people from all periods of history. Reading helps connect us to a sense of meaning and purpose. We are able to empathize, understand, and connect deeper with all kinds of experiences.
A 2010 study found that a group of 26,000 teenagers who read the Bible had a deeper sense of purpose. Secular reading also made a noticeable difference. People often cite transformational books that changed the way they look at their life.
If you are at a loss of purpose, find books that interest you. Find experiences that open up your perspective about your life. They might shed wisdom on the things that matter in your life.
2. Cultivate Gratitude
Gratitude, the quality of thankfulness, helps you affirm that goodness exists in the world. When you are grateful for what you have in your life, you experience more positive emotions.
Gratitude helps us feel connected to something larger than ourselves. It provides the foundation for a sense of purpose in our lives. Use gratitude to drive positive actions in your life.
Use gratitude to drive altruism in your life. Donate your time, volunteer to help people, or deliver value for people. Pay it forward to the people in your life. By putting others first, you will find great happiness.
3. Transform Pain To Healing
When you've been through something traumatic, don't be stuck in that moment. Turn it into something positive. Share your story with others. Let your challenges turn into a learning experience for people.
A lot of times, we are stuck in the shame of the moment that we never talk about it with anyone. However, a 2008 study found that people found purpose when they tell a story of change and growth. There is a great narrative when you are able to share how you overcame great challenges.
4. Ask For Feedback From Friends
The people around you know a lot about you. They see the best qualities of you. They can tell you something that you were unaware of yourself.
For years, the people around me told me how positive they thought I was. They liked that I was willing to encourage them, and push them to accomplish their goals. I've even had a friend start his successful nonprofit after I pushed him to get started.
Listen to what people like most about you. Think about how you can share and scale it with people. Imagine ways of how you can positively impact people around the world.
5. Find Community
We can find purpose by who we surround ourselves with. In Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, they found that people in Roseto, Pennsylvania lived extraordinarily long lives. He found that they had taken their paesani culture from southern Italy to Roseto. In this excerpt:
"I remember going to Roseto for the first time, and you'd see three-generational family meals, all the bakeries, the people walking up and down the street, sitting on their porches talking to each other, the blouse mills where the women worked during the day, while the men worked in the slate quarries," Bruhn said. "It was magical."
The power of a community is incredible. When you are a part of a community, it's easy to find purpose and meaning. The Rosetans had a church in the center of their community. Everyone had a role and task to contribute to their church. This community provided a sense of purpose and passion in life for the Rosetans. Find your tribe. They will help provide meaning in life.
6. Give to People
Have you noticed that purpose and fulfillment go up when you stop making everything about you? Thinking only about yourself is the fastest way to misery. Stop making everything about yourself and start thinking about how you can start helping people.
When you provide value to others, you can quickly find meaning in life. Always think about how you can leave a lasting impact on other people. You are blessed with many gifts and talents that are unique to you. Fulfillment comes from selflessness, not selfishness. Even the smallest act of generosity can have a major impact on people's lives.
7. Take Time For Yourself
Do you take time for yourself? Or are you always preoccupied with work? Sometimes you pour so much of yourself into your job that you lose your own purpose. This becomes a losing proposition over time.
You might want to serve people. But you need time to take care of yourself as well. Find some time to enjoy yourself. There is no victory when you lose yourself in the pursuit of goals. Find some time to wind down. Do things that bring joy into your life.
Final Words
Finding purpose is not easy. It's a constant search for meaning in life. Every step to finding purpose is filled with challenges and obstacles. But once you find passion in life, you start aligning with your purpose in big ways. Be the inspiration that someone needs to see today. Be the person that is excited and filled with passions and purposes. Be the person that leads others to find their purpose. Your life has a greater purpose than you know. You are capable of amazing things.