All of us, at one time or another, have questioned "Who am I?" "Why am I here?" Or "What is my purpose?" These questions are usually proceeded by?. Feelings of restlessness in your career and/or life. · A knowing that time is passing you by and you are still not happy and fulfilled. · A longing to do something more meaningful with your life but you aren't sure what that is.
As we encounter these feelings we try to diminish them by doing more like investing in a higher education, finding a better paying job or even starting our own business. But after all that, we are often times still feeling unfulfilled, confused, discouraged and overwhelmed. Because of these feelings, we figure that we still aren't doing something right so we set out to do something different, anything to help us feel better. Intuitively we know that if we just find purpose and meaning in our life we will feel better. However we often confuse what we do for a living with our purpose.
We believe that our purpose is something that we can find, and when we do, our lives will magically get better. This creates problems because we think that our purpose is something that is outside of us, something that we have to do or attain. Instead, our purpose is the natural essence of who we are just waiting to be expressed. We are our purpose!! Each of us has special gifts and talents that are effortless for us to share with others. These unique gifts and talents are so much a part of who we are that often times we don't recognize that we are expressing them each and every day. Because we don't realize that we are expressing our purpose by just being who we are, we begin looking for something else, feeling that we have to do more and get better.
This is when we begin to struggle and feel confused and discouraged. So how do you rediscover your special talents and gifts that are your unique life purpose? One way is to reconnect with what you loved to do as a child. When you were a child you were unaware of the rules and expectations of society and you were free to uniquely express yourself. Below are some simple steps you can follow that will help you reconnect with your life purpose.
Step number 1: Answer the following questions quickly and spontaneously. 1. When I was a child I always wanted to _______________________________. 2.
When I was a child I always loved to ___________________________________. 3. When I was a child my happiest moments were ___________________________. 4. When I was a child my creative outlets were _____________________________.
5. When I was a child I was most afraid when______________________________. Step number 2: Take each of your answers and describe your reasons behind each answer. These are your "whys". Step number 3: Go through all of your answers and look for any feeling or essence words such as joy, freedom, love, fun, and creativity. Look for any common themes and write them down.
For example my husband wanted to be a rock star and a truck driver when he was a child. As we took a closer look at the reasons why he wanted to do each of those careers he realized that his motivating factor was wanting a life of freedom. A distinct part of his life purpose is to express personal freedom in all that he does. It doesn't matter what career he chooses as long as he is able to connect and express his desire for personal freedom. As long as he is feeling free, he is living his purpose and feels happy, content and fulfilled. Step number 4: Write down at least 2 qualities or feelings that you must express in order to feel complete and alive.
Then ask yourself, "What can I do to express these feelings each and every day?" When you do, you will be happily on your way to living your unique life's purpose by easily tapping in to your innate gifts, natural strengths and talents. Enjoy and embrace the thrill and joy of living your life's purpose so every day is a wonderful, fulfilling adventure where you know that you are making a positive difference in the world. "Often people attempt to live their lives backwards. They try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so that they will be happier.
The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want." ~ Shakti Gawain.
Becky Kimes is a professional coach, speaker and author who specializes in helping women break through the invisible barriers keeping them from manifesting their dreams. She works with individuals, and conducts live workshops and tele-seminars. More information can be found at http://www.goingforsuccess.com
