What is My Purpose in Life?

“What is my purpose?”

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say this recently.

People often come to see me when they are in their 30s or 40s. They say:

I have done what was expected of me and had a career doing the right thing. Now I want to do something else. Something that makes me feel whole and complete. Something that brings me joy and fulfillment, and helps me fulfill a personal quest. But I’m not sure what my purpose is.”

When I ask them to tell me what they mean, they explain they want more out of their lives. They want to dig deeper, feel more intensely, taste more flavorfully, see and understand more clearly.

But is that a goal to achieve some day in the future … or an intention they can set right now?

Eckhart Tolle remarks:

Listen to people’s stories, and they all could be entitled ‘Why I Cannot Be At Peace Now.’ The ego doesn’t know that your only opportunity for being at peace is now.”

So perhaps our purpose is to be right here, right now.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have goals or ambitions. I am simply saying that if we just concentrate on this moment, we might find it is full of opportunities we’d have missed if we’d focused on the tomorrows.

If you want to understand what your purpose is, try these four action steps.

Step #1: Acknowledge that you are a creative being. We all have creativity within us, no matter what we do or how.

Step #2: Recognize that creativity and develop it further.

Step #3: Follow what feels right in your heart. Stop pleasing other people or doing what is expected of you. It is time for you to do what it is that you want.

Step #4: Enjoy who you have chosen to be.

And never doubt yourself. Paulo Coelho summed it up beautifully in The Alchemist:

People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”

Watch Now

Hemla discusses why women often put themselves last (and how to start putting yourself first) in this interview with us for YBTV.