10 Insights on Finding Purpose
I.
Your purpose is ‘Your Purpose,’ so it can never be found “out there”.
It can only be found “in here”.
II.
But how do you gain clarity about what that purpose actually is? Here’s the path.
III.
Notice that everything you desire—career, relationship, wealth, success—is ultimately motivated by one belief: that having it will bring you happiness.
Would you want any of these things if they made you miserable?
IV.
What you’re truly seeking isn’t the thing itself. You’re seeking the state of joy, peace, and fulfillment you believe the thing will give you.
V.
Being in a state of joy or peace does not require having any objects, success, status, etc.
Right now, there is tremendous peace all around you—look, is there any real conflict here in this moment?
The vast majority of the turmoil you experience lives only in your thoughts about imagined situations.
VI.
From this place of recognizing you already have what you seek, now consider: What’s at the intersection of what you love doing, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for? (This is Ikigai—your reason for being.)
VII.
Once you identify this intersection, ask, “What would life be like if I lived this way? Who would I become?
Consider who you will become.
Is this the best version of yourself?
VIII.
Refine this vision. Play with it in your imagination—who you want to become, what you want to contribute, how the world needs it.
When you hit the truth, you’ll feel it—a spark, an “aha.” You purpose is that which makes you come alive.
IX.
Now consider: Who do you need to become to bring this vision forth? What must shift in your identity, beliefs, capabilities, behaviors, and environment to align with this purpose?
X.
This alignment is the beginning of your journey: Vision → Identity → Beliefs → Capabilities → Behavior → Environment.
When all levels point in the same direction, you stop living in conflict and start living in flow.
5 Quotes
I.
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.”
Carl Jung
II.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Howard Thurman
III.
“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
Rumi
IV.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
V.
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
Lao Tzu
VI
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
Marcus Aurelius
1 Question
What would your life look like if every level (identity, beliefs, actions, environment) was aligned with your purpose?