Discovering Your Purpose
Do you know where you're headed? Do you know who you’re striving to become? What you want to do? If you don’t, that’s OKAY! Not many of us do. I was in the same process as you, you’re not alone. For those of you who do know, feel fortunate enough to be able to embrace your purpose. Discovering your purpose, is life changing. How? Your purpose is your why, your reason, your motive in this life. When you’re face with adversity, your purpose is what inspires you to keep moving forward. Your purpose gives you reason in finding alternatives and solutions rather than excuses and acceptance of failure. You can want something in life, but if you’re not ready to work for it, to fight for it, or face your inner challenges, it may not be obtainable.
Want to know how to find your purpose?
Let’s think of the next few things!
But first, be HONEST with yourself!
Think of your interests/passions! What do you love doing?
Think of when you felt your greatest joy in life. Look for patterns and reasons as to what exactly made you happy.
Speak with professionals, ask for advice, feedback, guidance and more! Learn more about the profession to gain better and clearer insight.
Turn your thoughts into actions. Everyday make an effort to work on what you inspire to accomplish. You need to meet your small goals in order to reach your big goal.
I have a question for you, are you trying to pursue a career, education, or path for yourself or the gratification of others? If you’re striving to pursue someone else’s purpose, you may not feel the same satisfaction as you would discovering your own. As I shared, I was in your shoes too, I was oblivious as to what, who, and where I wanted to be or do. It took time, but most importantly, it took me to be honest with myself. For a long time, I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but fear held me back. So, instead I chose the path that seemed less intimidating to me, but with time I grew to be less interested. When I finally decided to take the risk and choose the path I was so scared of taking before, I found my true purpose. I became passionate of what I wanted to do, knew the reason why, who I wanted to help and found meaning to my life.
The difficulties I face are worth encountering because I know what I will be achieving in the end. To me, my purpose is worth the late night studying, hundreds of pages to read, numerous of exams to take, because in the end I know I am one step closer to where I want to go. Everyone’s purpose is different, unique, and inspiring. What’s humbling about it, is it typically has one thing in common, giving. We tend to want to give and provide some sort of beneficial services or goods for others. Many of us may not know where we’re headed, and some of us do, but for those who don’t, keep your head up. You have time to discover your purpose. Don’t allow the judgment of others, expectations placed, or fear of failure stop you from becoming the best version of yourself. If you want others to believe in your purpose, you first need to believe in it.
“Your present circumstance don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.”
Nido Qubein
Self-Awareness
Have you ever felt frustration, jealousy, excitement, or even a sense of numbness? If you’re human, then the answer is, yes. The question of when you feel any of those emotions, varies on you. Your personal perception of any situation, event, or occurrence is how you self consciously choose to respond. Throughout our lives, we have endured numerous of emotions. I know I have, more than I would like to, but this isn’t about my feelings and what I’ve felt throughout my life. This is about learning how we can become self intuitive to what we are feeling, why we have those feelings, and how we can control our behaviors and actions during those emotions. To remain in control of our actions, we need to be aware of ourselves. Specifically, a self-aware individual can choose to workout during the night instead of the morning because they are aware of when they perform at their optimal level. Self-awareness can be a guide of who we are and what we stand by: values, standards, characteristics, and ethics. Self-awareness is how we portray and see ourselves through personal needs, desires, and character.
Strategy:
When you have time, I advice you to have a journal near you and write down your thoughts, feelings, goals, plans, and anything that may come to mind no matter how random it may seem. It can be anything from what you have to do, where you plan on going, who you want to meet and etc. When you’re done, I want you to ask yourself for each item you’ve written, the 3 why’s. The 3 why’s allow you to learn more about yourself by building your awareness through your reason and your thoughts. Please see one of my thoughts to get a clearer understanding:
My Family
Why? My family is everything to me, I wouldn’t be where or who I am without any of them.
Why? They’ve created a powerful foundation of reliable support and unconditional love throughout my life.
Why? Their encouragement and belief has given me the confidence I need to pursue my goals. My victories and my accomplishments aren’t just mine, they’re my families too.
Recognize your thoughts and feelings, try to ask yourself many questions and learn more about why you feel the way you do. Try asking yourself a lot of “why” questions after answering. The purpose of this exercise is to help find your inner ‘why’. Push yourself into thinking and digging deeper as to why you had certain thoughts. You can feel vulnerable and even defensive, as there may be some things you attempt to disregard. You learn more about the cause of your feelings, you recognize the effects it has on your behavior and understand why you respond in a certain manner. You remain in control of YOU, you build inner resilience through facing your true thoughts no matter how difficult it may be. Learning to be self-aware takes time and isn’t always easy. Remember to be flexible, patient, and understanding with yourself. Accept your thought process as it’s leading you to discover the real you.