Discover Your Life Purpose [QUIZ] – The Other Side of Average

Discover Your Life Purpose

The term itself can generate numerous thoughts and emotions, ranging from hope to frustration, to determination, and everything in between. “What is my purpose?” That’s a significant question many are asking. It’s also a question that is complex and has many layers – too many to give an adequate answer to in this modest space.

It is certain that you are here to fulfill your purpose, consider the natural world – whether you’re looking at a gigantic blue whale or a single-celled amoeba – everything in existence serves a definitive purpose. It plays a function within the bigger scheme of life. You and I are another part of nature. By extension, we, too, must play a role. We, too, must have a function. Simply, we have a purpose.

When you discover what that is, and are willing to pursue and express that in your life – whether in your professional or personal life – you experience a sense of flow. Life starts working for you. Uncovering your purpose opens many doorways that can lead to exciting new levels of connection, success, and joy, often beyond what we thought was possible for us.

There are many different teachings around uncovering your purpose. Once it’s clear to you, every method you find serves as validation. It will reiterate what you already know to be true for you deep down—the truest, innate part deep within you already has this knowledge no matter who you are.

Now, can your purpose change and evolve? Most certainly. For many people, it does, or at least how it is expressed to the world changes. Yet, the core of it if we look deep enough doesn’t change. We are all on a Karmic journey whether we are aware of it or not. It’s our spiritual thumbprint, for lack of a better term. How this purpose is expressed, however, does change over the course of a lifetime based on our personal awareness and the choices we make.

Please bare in mind that you will come away from the following exercise to help point you towards your life purpose with one of three possible outcomes. You may come away from the exercise with every fibre of your being screaming, “YES! I feel that!”

Another, perhaps more common reaction is that you come away with the sense that there might be more to it. In this instance, it would likely benefit you to go through the questions again at a later time.

The third possibility is that you come away from the exercise feeling that it’s a start, but that there’s a lot further to stripe away before you really start to uncover your unique gifts and inner calling. If so, I encourage you to do this exercise once a month for a few months or reach out for assistance in stripping away that which is holding you back.

The Exercise:

Find a place where you will not be interrupted. Turn off your cell phone.
Write the answers to each question down. Write the first thing that pops into your head and do so without editing. Use point form. Please note that it is vital to write out your answers rather than just thinking about them.
Be sure to write quickly. Give yourself 60 seconds maximum per question. Preferably less than 30 seconds.
Be honest. Nobody else is going to read it. Again, it’s important to write without editing (this way you are starting to engage the part of your mind that stores information that you’re not aware of – your subconscious mind).
Enjoy the moment and smile as you write 😉

Here Are The Questions:

What makes you smile (what activities, people, hobbies, etc.)?
What were your favourite activities to do in the past? What are your favourite things to do now?
What activities make you lose track of time (as in, it just flies by)?
What makes you feel great about yourself (there is always something)?
Who inspires you the most? This could be anyone you know or don’t know, and they could be alive today or someone from history. Your inspiration could potentially include family members, friends, authors, celebrities, etc. Which qualities inspire you in each person?
What are you naturally good at (again, just look and you’ll find it)? Skills, abilities, gifts, etc.?
What do people typically ask you for help in? Think back to work or home conversations and look for any themes.
If you had to teach something, what would you teach? This could be a subject, activity, or concept.
What would you regret not fully doing, being, or having in your life, now or in the future?
Imagine: You are now 90 years old, sitting on a rocking chair outside on your porch. You can feel the spring breeze gently brushing against your face. You are blissful and happy, and are pleased with the wonderful life you’ve been blessed with. Looking back at your life and all that you’ve achieved and acquired, all the relationships you’ve developed – what matters to you the most? List them out.
What are your most deeply-held values (eg: financial freedom, courage, patience, strength, discipline, family, time freedom, integrity, honesty, health, fitness, etc.)?
What were some challenges, difficulties, or hardships you’ve overcome in the past, or are currently in the process of overcoming? How did you do it or how are you doing it presently?
What causes do you strongly believe in and connect with? Keep in mind this doesn’t have to be an organized cause. If we use the term loosely, it could be applied to many things. For instance, helping people uncover their life purpose could be considered a cause in this context.
If you could get a message across to a large group of people, who would those people be? What would your message be?
Given your talents, passions, and values (as you’ve uncovered them here), how could you use those resources to serve, to help, or to contribute to people, causes, the environment, etc.? In other words, how can you make a difference in the world?

Extracting Your Life Purpose and Creating Your Life Purpose Statement:

A Life Purpose Statement consists of three questions you can ask yourself: What do I want to do? Who do I want to help? And what is the result – what value will I create?

If you haven’t already, answer the 15 questions above as quickly and intuitively as you can.
Now, go back and either circle or highlight any action words you really resonate with (eg: educate, accomplish, empower, encourage, give, guide, inspire, travel, etc.) Next, write them down in a separate place on the paper.
Based on your answers to the 15 questions, list everything and everyone that you believe you can help, including people, animals, organizations, causes, etc. Keep in mind that you may not currently know how you can help – just that you have the innate ability and desire.
Identify your end goal. How will the ‘who’ from your above answer benefit from your actions? In other words, once you know how to move forward (even if you don’t know all the steps) what result will you accomplish?
Now, combine steps 2-4 into a single sentence (you may find that you need 2-3 sentences at first. That’s okay.)

Now that you’ve gone through the Life Purpose questions and developed a Purpose Statement, how do you feel? Considering the possible reactions listed previously, where do you find yourself situated? What did you find most insightful about this exercise? Hopefully you have enjoyed this exercise and have gained some invaluable insight. Oftentimes, you’ll find things being validated that you already knew deep down. At other times, you may even surprise yourself with your answers. You may wish to treat the answers you wrote above as your “final first draft.” Make sure you’ve gone through the entire exercise as instructed, then leave it alone for a few days. After that, review your answers. You may find that additional information comes to light – add this to your answers. You may also find that it stays exactly the same – this is acceptable as well. Once you’re done going through the exercise a second time, re-read your Life Purpose Statement and see if it needs to change at all. If it does, be sure to make any applicable changes so that it accurately reflects who you are to the best of your ability. Keep your statement firmly in the forefront of your mind and allow it to unfold and deepen as you go about your daily life. To better anchor your unique life purpose, see if you can find an action that would express your purpose that you can repeat frequently – preferably on a daily or weekly basis. It’s best that this action is simple in nature, so as to assure its successful performance. You may even wish to share what you’ve discovered with someone close to you who you know will support you in realizing your purpose.

Do You Feel These Questions Were Beneficial?

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