5 Questions That Can Help You Uncover Your Purpose in Life
Discovering life’s purpose seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. I like to think it was the Covid-19 pandemic that made people slow down and question what they were doing with their lives and what they were spending their valuable time doing. Unfortunately, for many of us, understanding our purpose in life isn’t as easy as getting blood work and receiving test results days later. The process can often be daunting.
Finding your life purpose can be overwhelming if you’re unsure how to gain clarity. Below are five questions to help you uncover your purpose in life.
What do friends and family always reach out to me for help with?
Oftentimes, our top skills come so naturally to us that we don’t give ourselves enough credit for the value we bring to others. We take those skills for granted and fail to recognize the significance of our gifts. If this sounds like you, ask yourself what your friends, family, and peers often go to you for assistance on.
Do you have a knack for interior design and are often approached for input on a piece of furniture? Are you a skilled writer and get asked to revise an article before it gets published? Those overlooked skills can tell you a lot about what you’re meant to do in life. Don’t ignore them.
What activities do I lose track of time when I’m performing them?
Have you ever been working on something and completely lose track of time? You might forget to eat, take a restroom break, and even look up to check the time and move on to the next task. Those activities are somehow linked to our purpose in life, whether directly or indirectly, they give us a hint as to what we should be pursuing.
Losing track of time fixing your kitchen sink might not necessarily mean you’re meant to be a plumber, but it might hint at the fact that you’re great at home improvement and problem-solving, so you should explore that further.
What uncomfortable experiences am I able to handle?
No matter what you decide to pursue in life, you can’t avoid difficult and unpleasant situations. Life’s challenges are inevitable, so understanding which ones you’re willing to deal with and which ones you’re ok handling can help you gain clarity on what you’re meant to pursue in life.
Whether the challenges include working long hours, dealing with rejections, or getting comfortable with failure, take the time to understand which ones you’re willing to embrace and which ones aren’t worth it.
What next move would my younger self feel proud of?
Adults often consider their childhood as a distant and irrelevant memory. However, our childhoods tell us more about our present than we give them credit for. Adults are nothing more than older children. We carry with us our memories, traumas, and dreams from our upbringings, and honoring our past can greatly impact our future.
Is there something about your current situation that your younger self would feel proud of? If not, what’s something you can do moving forward that would make that 8, 10, or 12-year-old jump for joy? Did you always dream of opening your own business? Did you visualize yourself one day becoming an author? You’d be surprised how connected those childhood dreams and our life purpose can be.
How will I want to be remembered when I die?
As uncomfortable as the question may be, the reality is that death is the one thing we can’t avoid in life. For better or worse, death is a great way to gain perspective and a better understanding of life. When you take the time to think about how valuable life is, you begin to wonder why you ever waste any of it.
Likewise, thinking about how you would like to be remembered when you die is a great way to uncover your purpose in life. What do you want your legacy to be? Do you want to be remembered as the person who worked 80 hours a week for a company that undervalued them? Or, do you want to be remembered as the resilient go-getter who went above-and-beyond to reach their dreams and impact the lives of others? Your choice.
