What is Your Purpose?

What is your purpose? What does purpose mean to you?

I like thinking of purpose as a verb rather than a noun. The definition of purpose as a noun is the reason for which something is done or created, or for which something exists. Purpose defined as a verb is to have as one’s intention or objective. When we think of purpose as a verb it sets our minds in action. It aligns our actions with our intentions. This combo has the immense potential of creating satisfaction and fulfillment.
When we stay in action, we keep moving; and when we move, we learn; and when we learn, we grow; and when we grow, we become more self-aware and create an intention, connection, and purpose.

I am in the process of creating a fabulous new website that will offer some new language to the work I do. The good news is I am still very passionate about work and helping people generate true fulfillment through the work they do in the world.

I’ve recently reviewed the hundreds of people I have helped over the past seven years. About 70% of the people I work with change careers and about 30% stay in their career but find fulfillment by adding more to their personal life or shifting a perspective and intention about how they view their work in the world.

I am honored to work with successful and brilliant people. Many of them have had success as defined by our mainstream culture – the job title, the salary, etc. – but they crave more. They crave living on purpose. They crave choosing work that aligns with their soul’s calling. I am here to say change is possible. Yes, it is. It is not that hard to connect with our purpose. We are born with it. Simply put, it takes paying attention and listening to that quiet voice inside. Really, it is that simple. The challenging part of today’s modern world is creating the space and quieting ourselves enough to listen.

When people start to work with me, often we have to start with the very basics, creating some white space and a rigorous self-care plan. Once there is an authentic connection back to the self, then we can unearth purpose. It is ready and willing to be heard. It is ready and willing to be used up. The noise and distraction is usually outside information, culture, and influence of others coming at us like a great fog. Mainly we need to to get in touch with our internal wisdom and generate self-awareness to find purpose. When it feels hard, it is usually our inner critic on loudspeakers. Learning how to work with your inner critic is crucial to living on purpose. I love exploring the inner critic with my clients. In another post, I will go more into the inner critic and ways to be creative with it so you can move forward.Let me be clear: everyone has a purpose – yes, everyone.

Some people have a big and loud purpose and some have a quiet and behind-the-scenes purpose but at the end of the day, it is all-purpose. It all matters mainly because it matters to YOU. There are billions of people on this planet but there is only one YOU. Be careful not to collapse purpose with being big and in the forefront (hello, inner critic). You know you best. You know, deep in your soul and heart, what your purpose is on this planet.Simply, listen and then act.Here are four questions to help you start connecting back to yourself and your purpose:

• What do you like to do that brings you joy?
• What in the world would you like to be different?
• What has held your attention and interest consistently over the years?
• What do you like to do that makes you feel confident and strong?

Explore these questions and let me know what unfolds. I love hearing from YOU.