During the pandemic of 2020, a coaching client emailed me and asked, “How do I find my purpose in life?”
What a daunting question. How does someone respond to this email? Some people spend a lifetime searching for their answers.
Jim Kwik said it well in his “Kwik Brain” podcast — “Passion is what energizes you from the inside. Purpose is what you do to energize others.”
During the past six years, I have been on an intentional quest to figure out my purpose. I remember exactly where I was when my answer started to come to me. I was on a walk in my neighborhood with Mr. Wrigley, our golden retriever. There was nothing unique about this walk — I take a walk in my neighborhood four times each day. It was just my thoughts coming together for clarity.
I began to see repetition in my interests — I enjoy challenging people’s thoughts to think differently. I do not like to be told what to do, so when I am told that I should do something a certain way, I like to challenge it and prove that I can do it another way.
My efficient mind likes to create the perfect system, which in turn creates a habit. I enjoy studying the brain and why we do what we do. I enjoy being empowered in my choices and decisions. I do not like to feel like a victim. I do not like to cry. I do not like to feel helpless, and I really do not like it when others feel this either.
These are more than interests. This fuels and energizes me from the inside. My purpose, what I do to energize others, is to ask questions to get people to think differently.
What questions did I ask myself to get to this clarity of my life’s purpose?
• Who am I?
• What is important in my life that has brought me to where I am today?
• What are my goals? What are my dreams? What are my passions?
• What energizes me? What charges my battery?
• How am I unique? Am I a unique expert in anything?
The process of finding my passion and purpose is a long process and I cannot yet say that I think I am completely there. I do believe I am a huge step closer.
I also think that my purpose could change throughout life because we have more experiences to endure — life is going to keep happening, so our purpose is going to evolve.
My passion is to challenge people’s habits so that they are efficient and fully empowered. My purpose is to ask questions to get people to think. I do this through coaching. This focus is empowering.
Do you know your purpose in life? What are your answers to the questions above? Start with what energizes you from the inside. Capitalize on your experiences and be the best at the talents that God has given you. It will all come together in a perfect package within you.