Live a Life on Purpose

If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?”
Dick Leider, author of The Power of Purpose, asked adults over 65,
The answers consistently included these three themes:
Be more reflective
Be more courageous
Be clear earlier about purpose

From his interviews, Leider learned that:
People seem to have a natural desire and capacity to contribute to life.
Purpose is unique to each individual.
People can learn from, but not adopt, the Purpose of another.
People typically bring up the question of Purpose about every ten years throughout their lives.
The key to acting on Purpose is for people to bring together the needs of the world with their unique gifts in a vocation.
Working on Purpose gives people a sense of direction and leads them on their own Beautiful Path.
It would seem everyone, regardless of age, sex, ethnicity or geographical location, wants to make a difference in someone’s life, even if it is only in the life of their family…not seen by the world.

Purpose, as defined in the dictionary, means ‘the reason for which something exists’.
The two most often asked questions by people are “Where did I come from?” and “Why am I here?” Which of these questions is more important to you? Do they kind of remind you of the query: “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg”?

I believe if you find your Purpose — why you are here — it will lead you to where you came from. After all, if you are here for a Purpose, whose Purpose is it: yours or someone else’s? Is it perhaps to fulfill a bigger picture? Are you a part of a whole or a separate entity…or perhaps both?

So how does one go about finding their Purpose?

Surprisingly, there are not a lot of books written on the subject of Purpose and its three main components: Passion, Preferences and Personality Profile. Interesting, in light of “Why am I here?” being one of the two most-asked questions. I assume because Purpose is so personal and so much a part of who we are —actually it is who we are — it is difficult to define and write about.

Also, our Passions change, which can lead to a slight change in Purpose. I believe our ultimate Purpose, or (as some call it) destiny, never changes; it only transforms into a brighter and brighter light as we grow in self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-love.

So the first step to living a life of Purpose is to discover what your Purpose is, and the first step to finding your Purpose is self-awareness. Ask the questions… the hard ones. It is not only the questions you ask yourself, but the ones you don’t: “Why do I behave like that when I don’t like it?” — “Why do I continually fail in that department of my life?” — “Why do I struggle so much with this addiction?” Self awareness is more than just the warm fuzzies; it is the cold hard truth as well.

If we are really serious about living life to the full and with balance, love for ourselves and others, success in life and business and making a memorable contribution to the world… we need to ask the right questions.