It has been said that there are two significant events in life – when you are born and when you discover why you are here. Most people want to live out their purpose but often get sidetracked in finding their exact life mission. When you take the time to focus on your why, it will make it much easier to step onto your intended path.
Uncover Likes and Natural Abilities
Although purpose can seem like a broad concept that takes a lifetime to realize, that is not true. You can begin to uncover your purpose right now by focusing on four simple areas: what comes easily, what is difficult, what you love, and what you dislike. Think of these areas as a continuum from easy to difficult and from love to dislike. Now, list everything you do, and write them down in these quadrants. For example, you may be fantastic at Excel spreadsheets and find them relatively easy, but you do not enjoy completing them; this would go in the Easy column under Dislike. Keep adding activities in each column and discover everything that falls into the category of Easy and Love.
When you have completed this activity, you will have uncovered a critical piece to understanding your purpose, your natural abilities – which all fell into the Easy and Love colume. These areas need to be understood deeper because usually, the answer to your purpose, vision, and mission in life is embedded in innate things, completely aligned with your personality and who you are.
Stop Forcing It
Whether you realize it or not, you have been institutionally trained from formal education and the corporate world to conform to others’ goals and expectations. The whole structure of corporate America is designed to find your deficiencies, while school systems focus on helping you become great at skills that are not part of the real world. This leads to most people learning how to do tasks they may not like, but they become quite successful at accomplishing. Congratulations, we have created an entire workforce that is fantastic at accomplishing things they hate, who never live out their purpose on this earth.
When you have been trained this way for most of your life, it is not hard to understand how most people get lost and confused in discovering their vision and mission in life. The thing to take away is that if you have to force yourself to continue doing your current job, the odds are very slim that you are walking in your purpose.
Focus on the Ending
One of the most effective ways to determine your purpose is to think about the end of your life. What would you want written on your tombstone? Your statement can actually evolve, so this task needs to be revisited periodically. For instance, mine has shifted to become more inclusive because unity has become an essential part of who I am. Whereas I used to say that mine would read, “Here lies a woman that was instrumental in defining women’s leadership,” now, it would focus on balanced leadership because my passions have led me to embrace a more inclusive view of leadership. Whatever you come up with that matters at the very end of your life is a vital piece of your purpose. Just keep thinking about it, talking about it, seeing how it fits. If you work with it enough, you will have that moment when you nail it down because it feels right – It just feels like you.
Finding your purpose does not have to be difficult. It should build on the things that come easily to you because those center on your natural, innate gift, the gift you were given to make your impact. If you want to learn more about finding your purpose, then watch my video, and contact me if you need help developing a strategy to live it out!
Let’s Grow
Beate
Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.
Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.
Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.
Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.
To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!