It's a fundamental belief of mine that each one of us is brought upon
this world with a major definite purpose in life. Everyone has a unique destiny
for contributing to this world using their unique blend of talents and
passions. I have no doubt that most people today work hard and stay busy with
daily activities. The problem I've noticed is that many people live their lives
without any sense of meaningful purpose that gives their lives passion and
significance. They get caught up in the daily mechanical routines of life and
they become creatures of habit rather than purpose-driven beings. Finding and
shaping your major definite purpose is perhaps the most important thing that
you will ever do in your life because your purpose is the driving force that
spawns all the achievements that you will ever accomplish and it provides that
unlimited source of motivation that drives you to achieve all the goals that
you set for yourself and enables you to live life to the fullest.
What is a Major Definite Purpose?
Your major definite purpose is like a path that you follow during your
long journey through life. Your purpose is by it's very nature something that
you are very passionate about. In fact, it gets your juices flowing at the mere
thought of pursuing it. It drives your actions and motivates you to do the
things that you do, despite the adversity and even the pain that you might have
to endure in order to reach it. Think back in time to all the monumental
figures throughout history. What was their decided purpose in life? You will
find that the great ones throughout history believed in their purpose so
passionately that some even died in the pursuit of it. That is how strong your
purpose must be for you. You must be willing to gladly trade the rest of the
days of your life in the pursuit of that major definite purpose of yours.
Why Do Some People Get a Mid-Life Crisis?
Even if we don't clearly define our purpose in life early in our adult
life, eventually it hits most of us at some point somewhere between the ages of
thirty-five and fifty--the infamous mid-life crisis. This "crisis"
almost always comes from an inner voice telling us that something is missing
from our lives. That feeling is the need to find and pursue our major definite
purpose in life. It's our subconscious mind saying, "Hey, you're at the
halfway point already. Why don't you stop wasting time and start doing what you
are supposed to be doing!" Why wait for your subconscious alarm clock to
go off like that? Start working on it right now.
Your Major Definite Purpose is NOT Your Goals
There is an important distinction that we must make between goals and
your major definite purpose in life. Your purpose in life is not your goals,
but rather it defines all the goals that you create for yourself throughout
your life. So
they go hand-in-hand.
Your major definite purpose should be a lifelong journey
or commitment without any discernable stopping point. The reason for this is
that if you set your definite purpose with an achievable end point, such as
saying Thomas Edison's major definite purpose was inventing the light bulb,
then what do you do with your life after your purpose is completed? Anthony
Robbins in his audio book, Live With Passion, states that many adult males die
within a few years of retiring, not of old age or of poor health, but simply
because they no longer have anything purposeful to live for. Your purpose does
not follow the same criteria as goal-setting. Your purpose has no tangible end
point. The metrics involved in weighing how successful you are with your
purpose is decided by how you will be remembered by others at the end of your
life. How many lives will you have saved, touched and inspired during your
lifetime? How will history judge you? What things or people will you leave
behind when you are gone? The legacy that you leave behind is the measure of
successfulness in achieving your major definite purpose in life.
How to Identify and Clarify Your Purpose in Life in Six Steps
There are two parts in realizing your purpose in life. The first part is
your general purpose, which is simply how you want to be remembered at the end
of your life. The second part of discovering your purpose is figuring out how
you intend to carry out your general purpose through your specific talents,
skills and abilities.
Step 1--Take a Personal Retreat From Your Daily Routine. Finding your
life purpose is perhaps the single most important answer you will have to find
for yourself and it stands to reason that in order to find your purpose, you
will need to dedicate 100% of your mental and spiritual energy towards that
effort. With all the chaos surrounding our daily lives, it's not practical to
even attempt to find your life's purpose while managing the other
responsibilities of your life. Take a couple of days and get out on a personal
retreat just by yourself. Go some place quiet and peaceful where you can really
contemplate what your major definite purpose is.
Step 2--Identify Your Core Competencies. Make a list
of eight things that you are really good at doing. These can include specific
talents, skills and abilities that you have. Don't worry about your purpose at
this point. Just list your best skills. My core competencies include writing,
coaching, and teaching.
Step 3--Identify Your Passions. Make a list
of four things that you are passionate about and love doing. These are things
that you would gladly do without pay because they are a constant source of joy
and happiness for you. Your list of passions will most likely be a duplicate of
your list of core competencies because you usually do well what you are also
passionate about. Match up your core competencies with your passions. Now you
have a list of four things that you do well and also the things that you love
to do.
Step 4--Identify Your Legacy. Your legacy is how you would
like to be remembered after you are gone from this world. If you had your own
chapter in a history book, what would be written about your life? What
contributions would you have made to society? Brainstorm on a legacy by writing
eight ideas and then use a tournament-style draw system to prioritize your list
down to the most important legacy. This can be done by simply pairing up each
of the eight ideas and then deciding which one out of the two is more important
and then repeating this "tournament" until you have a winner. The
winner becomes your general purpose in life.
Step 5--Link your passions with your purpose. Remember
that having a general purpose is not enough to make it meaningful. You must
also decide on the method that you will use to achieve that purpose. Our
purpose might be to help other people, but our methods for achieving that
purpose might be very different. Simple analyze your list of passions and core
competencies and figure out how you can use those talents and passions to
achieve your purpose in life.
Step 6-- Create a Purpose Statement. Your
personal statement of purpose is a concise declaration of why you are here on
this world. It's made up of two parts: a general purpose and a method. Keep
your purpose statement as concise as possible and limited to only two
sentences. Your first sentence is what you intend to do with your life--the
legacy you came up with in step 3. The second sentence is how you intend to
reach that purpose--your method. My personal statement of purpose has always
been to help as many people as I can make their personal dreams come true. I
achieve this purpose by writing, coaching and teaching others how to achieve
their fullest potential.
Commit Everyday Towards Living Your Purpose
Once you identify and clarify what your purpose is, you must make a
commitment to yourself to stay true to that path. This can be easily achieved
by making yourself do something each day that moves you forward in the
direction of your purpose. Even if those actions are small, if you do at least
one thing each day that moves you closer to your purpose, then that's 365 small
steps forward by the end of the year. By the end of 30 years, you will have
taken 10,950 steps towards your major definite purpose. No matter how small
those steps are, they will add up to be something very significant as time
progresses--so start today! At the end of each day, before you go to sleep, ask
yourself if you gave yourself everything that you had to give that day.
Develop a Never Give Up Attitude
The journey towards your purpose is never an easy one. Your will
inevitably face challenges that come about, some small, others quite big.
Regardless of the obstacles placed before you, it's important that you develop
the iron-clad determination to do whatever it takes to reach your major
definite purpose in life. Adversity will test your resolve and it is up to you
to pick up that sword and battle any challenge that gets in your way.
