Happiness can come from living in our own purpose. Determining what our purpose is in life can be one of the hardest questions that we as humans ever try to answer. I'd like to offer a step-by-step process for exploring your feelings and options. When you finish reading, you should have a fairly solid tool you can immediately employ in your life, enjoy more happiness, and help give you a meaningful direction!
There are three steps to the process of discovering the purpose of your life:
Understanding the principle of choice
Creating your “underlying principle”
Aligning your life with this underlying principle
Understanding The Principle of Choice
Norman Vincent Peale has this to say about the power of choice. “The greatest power we have is the power of choice. It is an actual fact, that if you have been groping under unhappiness, you can choose to be joyous, instead. And, by effort, lift yourself into joy. If you tend to be fearful, you can overcome that misery by choosing to have courage. The whole trend and the quality of anyone’s life is determined by the choices that are made”.
“Choosing” is the most important activity of your mind, because by making a choice, you are proclaiming your desires to your subconscious mind. Once the subconscious mind gets to know your desires, it is going to do anything to manifest them in your life. The choices you make in your life become your goal. And, if you are sincere in pursuing them, there is no reason why you should not accomplish them.
Indecision, on the other hand, not only creates frustration and anxiety, but can also confuse the subconscious mind about what you want. But it is important that the choices you make are made by you, in accordance with your true desires, purposes and aptitude. A lot of us let others make choices for us, or make our choices according to what we think is "correct," even if that means that we go against our wishes. What is right for someone else may not be right for you, and the way to know this is listening to what your heart says.
So, to begin with, make a list of things which interest you; things that you have always enjoyed, make you feel better, inspire you to surge ahead (no matter what obstacles you face). Do you like doing something creative, or something artistic? Do you enjoy nature? Do you like the sea? Do you enjoy helping others? Do you get pleasure out of making a difference in other people’s life?
Whatever it is that interests you, write it down and answer these questions:
What thing do you love to do?
What is it that you love in this thing and why?
How could you do this for money, and make a living out of it?
Creating Your Underlying Principle
The next step is to examine the list you just made and find out if there is any recurring theme. Maybe, it is the contribution that keeps coming up, or an effect to seek or give love, or helping your parents cope with old age. Whatever it is, try to identify the central theme of the things you love to do, and try to put it in a short and precise statement. This will be your ‘Mission Statement’. It may even be a quote by a famous person, or a philosophy that has influenced you. Of course, as life changes, this statement could evolve, but its soul will remain the same. Now, write down your Mission Statement.
"Make your life a mission -- not an intermission." – Arnold H. Glasgow, American Psychologist
Aligning Your LIFE With Your Underlying Principle
The final step in this journey is to map your path to your ultimate purpose and to begin implementing changes that help to align your daily life with happiness and your underlying purpose. By making these little changes in your lifestyle, you will start to be able to begin living this principle out each and every day. It might take a few days, but by becoming aware and intentional of this underlying principle of your life, you will certainly start to feel the difference in your enthusiasm for life as a whole. If you realize that you love being amidst nature, plan out your holiday. Maybe an outing with your children could be enough to recoup with your energy. If you discover that you enjoy helping those in need, start to look for opportunities to volunteer in your community. On the other hand, you might even want to change your job, or start a new business that is more in line with your mission.
You Don't Have to Do It Alone
Join my Best Me in 2023 Facebook community for encouragement, inspiration, and motivation to live out your mission statement. We also focus on how we care for ourselves by supporting healthy eating habits, engaging our bodies, getting adequate rest, and reducing stress and anxiety. We're all about being happy, mentally fit, emotionally strong, and feeling our best.
xoxo
Nelea R. Lane, CMWC The Happy Juice Chick
Founder Legacy Wellness Entrepreneurs
