There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It’s why you were born. And how you become most truly alive.
Oprah Winfrey
Do you ever feel that you lack purpose and meaning in what you do at work or your business? Before you start to get desperate know that you are not that far off from fulfilling your dreams. Aspects of what you already do feature moments of your life’s purpose. So, here is a twist to your purpose story. You are not really looking for a purpose. You are looking for balance, clarity, and organization in your vision for what you seek to accomplish.
Your unique perspective affects the ways you relate to the world around you—the way you construct a sense of self and live life. The question is,
do you live up to your core values or do you neglect yours for the sake of other peoples’ beliefs?
To fine-tune your life purpose take a step back and do the following exercise.
A. Finding Your Purpose Is About Clarity. Grab a piece of paper. What values are most important to you? Freedom? Love? Growth? Truth? The career center at the Carnegie Mellon Univesity offers an extensive list to choose from here. Narrow them down to 5. Creating your Core Value List will offer clarity to who you are as a person—what you predominantly stand for, and form your particular way of pursuing success.
B. Finding Your Purpose Is About Balance. In Greek, another word for balance is μέτρον (i.e., measure). You can make good decisions when you have a measure (i.e., Your Core Value List) for relating to the world. With a clarity of vision and with your core values as a measuring stick your path toward your dreams becomes easier.
C. Finding Your Purpose Is About Organization. Next, expose yourself to new experiences—relationships, business partnerships, discussions, collaborations, travel. As you observe things fall into place you also see your core values come into alignment with your external reality. This makes you feel rejuvenated! As you expose yourself to new experiences you may find that your life is somewhat chaotic. But your supervision, discipline, and coordination (based on your core value system) help you navigate life’s challenges.
If you wish to break down your life purpose further I recommend Simon Sinek’s book entitled Start with Why. On the path toward success, you find balance when you become acquainted with what you stand for. What your beliefs are. No one said balance is easy.