5/22/2007

What is Your Purpose in Life?

"Following are ten clues which will help you to discover your life purpose.

Clue No. 1: What do you love to do?...Another way to think about this clue is: what would you do even if you were not paid to do it?

Clue No. 2: What parts of your present job or life activities do you thoroughly enjoy?...
Clue No. 3: What do you naturally do well?...
Clue No. 4: What are your ten greatest successes to date (in your eyes)?...
Clue No. 5: Is there a cause about which you feel passionate?...
Clue No. 6: What are the ten most important lessons you have learned in your life?...
Clue No. 7: Are there some issues or perceived problems that have occurred over and over again?...
Clue No. 8: What do you daydream about doing?...
Clue No. 9: Imagine you are writing your epitaph. What things do you want to be remembered for at the end of your life?...
Clue No. 10: What would you do if you knew you could not fail?...

Taking the answers to the 10 clues, the next step is to notice any themes in the answers, e.g., do many of them relate to being with people in a particular way, or to solving problems or working with your hands? Those themes can then be distilled down into an ‘essence,’ the core of your purpose that is relatively unchanging, and the ‘expression,’ or the ways in which that purpose is being expressed (or could be!) in your life now. Here’s an example: ‘My life purpose is to promote harmony and balance through working as a mediator, parenting my children to live nonviolently, and volunteering in my community association.’ What is your life purpose?..."

Read more in this article by Marcia A. Bench from which the foregoing is quoted.