A lot of people look for meaning and purpose in their career. For me, this came in my late 40’s and for many people I coach, it seems to be at that stage of life, perhaps it’s once we’ve navigated through the practicalities of life, like raising children or getting into a stable financial position, that we look for more. And so the quest for purpose begins.
The expectations are often HUGE. What is our purpose? Why are we here? And we set out to look for this massive meaning to our life, and are often disappointed if we don’t land on something impactful.
The truth is, yes we have a purpose, but at any given time of our life it will reveal different elements of itself to us. We don’t get the whole picture just because we’ve decided to set out on this quest. I can remember talking with a lady who had been through the cancer journey, and was questioning her Why and, I can’t recall from which source it came, but her guidance was that our purpose isn’t delivered to us all in one hit, we are drip fed elements of our purpose throughout our life, when we are ready. It is an unfolding, and our purpose unfolds as we do, when we are ready.
So what can you do to start to get hold of the jigsaw puzzle pieces that make up your purpose?
Life is looking to be lived through you, and your thoughts and feelings are indicators. Start to look for the clues life is showing you by noticing:
- What is lighting you up?
- What is it you are desiring?
- What in life is drawing your attention?
- What evokes emotion within you?
Start to make notes of all of these elements, and then dig a bit deeper and ask yourself ‘why are these things of interest to me?’. You will start to see some common threads, and a theme will start to become clear.
It might be that all things health are of interest to you at the moment, and you want to be healthy because it makes you feel good, and energised. These are signs you are on the right track. You don’t need to look for any further meaning at this stage, just go with it. The bigger picture will be revealed in due course. Don’t complicate it. The key is to tune in and feel what resonates and speaks to you in the moment.
One disclaimer, pay attention to how the body feels when you answer the above questions. If you feel a lightness and excitement, the reasons are aligned. If you feel a heaviness or an anxious feeling, often the reason has been put there by someone else (our conditioning) ie. you should be healthy.
So tune in (that’s what’s intuition is, in-tuition, tuition from within) and start to see the pieces of the purpose puzzle come together.
If you’d like to explore this journey further and would like some guidance along the way, then reach out here.
