What Are We Here For? Living Our True Purpose On Purpose!
Let me start out by saying I am not an expert! Because this is so personal. What is right for me‚ is not necessarily right for you! I can only share what I have learned‚ if it helps I am happy!
First of all what does that mean exactly and how do you arrive at a place where you are living on purpose?
To answer that I had to take a very hard look at where I was and evaluate how I arrived there
Have you ever been out driving and you are on automatic? You’ve done it for so long that you don’t have to think about it. That is the way I found myself a few years ago. Living on automatic. When I arrived at the end of my day‚ I didn’t have very much I could say I had even done that was worth anything.
I spent a lot of it either playing mindless games on the internet or searching for things that didn’t matter. Sometimes I would go do something in the house‚ or make an errand. TV was a big waster of a large portion of my time.
It was no wonder I was on the fast-track to nothingville. One day I woke up‚ I looked at where I was‚ and how I had spent so much of my life.
That’s not to say I didn’t do anything‚ I am successfully married‚ and have 3 grown children who lead productive lives‚ so that is something important.
Often people don’t give that much credit‚ but your children are a reflection of you‚ if you life is a mess‚ very likely theirs are too.
Mostly I am talking about making a lasting difference‚ it requires actually planning‚ taking action‚ and having a real goal in mind. That takes discipline which is something I had to learn‚it was not natural. The pay-off though has been incredible.
So how do you live on Purpose?
First of all‚ I found that I focused a lot on what I had done in the past that didn’t work out‚ that I failed at. I didn’t give myself much credit on my successes.
That is the first thing I changed‚ with the help of my coach and started looking at what I did right‚ and not just what I did wrong. I made a list‚ have you ever had to make a list of your GOOD attributes?
Many people have a problem with it. Its not bragging but when you do it‚ you start to feel much better about yourself.
Who am I?
I started to really dig in and decide who I was. What made me tick? What thoughts did I entertain. Where did those thoughts even come from‚ were they mine? Sometimes they weren’t.
We are a composite of all the thoughts of our parents‚ and other relatives‚ teachers‚ and any other associates we have had contact with over our lifetime! Wow‚ now think about that‚ if your thoughts are really yours‚ why do so many of them really reflect what others have said‚or even said about us?
Now What?
Now I went about the process‚ and am still in that process of examining and changing any thoughts that were of no service to me. They held me back‚ made me small or limited my progress. You have to be honest in this assessment. When you are‚ you peel back all the stuff‚ and find YOU.
My Purpose
Then once I found the real core me‚ and what my values were‚ I could be a watcher of those thoughts‚ and evaluate whether I am going to let them stay. If they were not in service of my core values‚ they go in file 1’. Gone‚ and no longer focusing on them. Then the passion‚and inspiration floods in‚ its incredible! Its so much easier too. Everyday is an adventure!