How do I find my purpose in life? This is a question that we all ask at some point in life.
Everyone wants to have some kind of value. You want a life that excites you and gives you purpose.
I believe that every person deserves to feel fulfilled in life.
Yet, most of us linger about life without knowing what we should be doing. We fall into mundane daily routines and accept it as our norm.
In truth, I’ve been there.
I have compiled these 3 tools that will help you find your purpose today! Also, download the FREE printable today!
This post might contain affiliate links which means I will get a small commission if you purchase an item through them.
Find your Ikigai to find your purpose
Ikigai is an ancient Japanese philosophy. ‘Iki’ means ‘life’ and ‘gai’ means ‘reason’. Therefore, it translates to your reason to live.
It consists of 4 compartments or questions that should help you find your purpose or sweet spot.
Do you remember when you said, “Math is pointless, I will never use it!”
I have news for you… Do you remember Venn diagrams? Yep, that is what we will be using today.
These 4 compartments of the Ikigai are resembled by circles. These circles overlap to create different concepts, none of which represent your ultimate purpose. The sweet spot is found dead in the center where all 4 circles overlap.
See the graphic below that I created for a better understanding. You can download it for future reference or share it with friends.
Edit (July 2024) – Discover how to find your Ikigai in 4 simple steps here!
As you can see, we have these 4 components:
- What you love
- What the world needs
- What you can be paid for
- What you are good at
Let us break these four components down to find your purpose.
What do you love?
If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. List the things that make you happy. It can be hobbies, like photography, or even more mundane things, like enjoying music. More examples are cooking, traveling, writing, sports, etc.
What does the world need?
A purpose is nothing if it doesn’t make a change in some way. In the sense of my blog, the world needs healing, positivity, and less judgment. I accomplished my goal if I make an impact on one person’s life. Other examples are conservation, eco-friendly systems, education, leadership, etc.
What can you be paid for?
This is self-explanatory. If we like it or not, we need money. Therefore, you need to align your purpose to something you can be paid for. Examples are teaching, web designing, coaching, etc.
What are you good at?
We need the skill to make a living. I am a firm believer that you can learn skills and you do not have to be born with the innate talent. If you love cooking, you can learn how to cook from videos or courses. Examples are public speaking, marketing, science, etc.
Write every and anything you can think of. You can always refine your draft. If you struggle to come up with answers, ask the people closest to you. They tend to see things you may skip over.
In a nutshell:
- What you love and what the world needs = mission
- What the world needs and what you can get paid for = vocation
- What you can get paid for and what you are good at = profession
- What you are good at and what you love = passion
When all four components overlap is where your Ikigai is, the sweet spot. However, if you are outside of that sweet spot, you may be left with uncertainty, emptiness, or uselessness. Use the Ikigai as a tool to find your purpose.
Life audits will help you find your purpose
This may be the first time you hear of life audits. However, it is an amazing tool to find your purpose.
The basic definition of a life audit is:
An evaluation of every aspect of your current life and goals.
There are many things I can say about life audits, in fact, there is a whole blog post that will be up in the first week of July about life audits (update: find my half-year life audit here and my end-of-year life audit here).
Life audits are used to analyze your life and your happiness with it. It is, therefore, crucial to take your time and think deeply about all aspects of your life.
These include:
- Relationships
- Careers
- Physical Health
- Finances
- Mental health
- Goals and aspirations
- Personal growth
- Etc
Write your current status and contentment with all of the above. It is always better to have a physical representation of your thoughts. And be mindful of what you are putting to paper.
So how will life audits help with finding my purpose?
I know it might sound off-topic. However, it is exactly in line with finding your purpose.
How are you going to find your purpose if you are not sure where you are currently in your life? We need to know where we are to know where we are going.
Trust me on this, if you can do a thorough life audit, your Ikigai will be much easier to complete.
Keep an eye out for my upcoming life audit post! There might just be a freebie up for grabs *wink*.
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Ask God to help find your purpose
This is the most important ‘tool’ by a landslide.
Matthew 21:22 “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
I have seen this come to fruition in my life more than I can count.
God has placed you on this Earth with a purpose. He does not make mistakes.
Now, you might say “I have been asking but gotten no answer.” And to that, I reply, “You have not gotten an answer yet.”
It is not as easy as it sounds, I get that. Sometimes it feels like an eternity before we get an answer. Or (my favorite), we get an answer but we need clarification. So we ask the Lord, “Do You mind just giving me a sign that I actually heard You, Lord.”
Here is my nugget of advice (if you want it):
- Pray about it. Not once, but every day.
- Spend time in the Word. We cannot expect the Lord to just give. We need to give back.
- Build a relationship with Him. Don’t fall into the trap of asking and not praising. It is easy to have a whole ‘grocery’ list of requests…
- Worship Him. Put on gospel music when you clean the house or drive. Worshipping is not only for Sundays. In that same breath, praying is not only for when you get up and when you go to sleep.
Passion fuels purpose. The Lord would not give you a certain passion or talent if He didn’t want you to use it. Just remember, do everything in His name.
That is why I am confident about my blog. I have asked Him to lead my every word I write here and I do this to His glory. I do not shy away from talking about Him on my platforms. And that, my friends, gives me the world’s confidence that this is my purpose.
He created you unpurpose for a purpose.
Conclusion
Do things that set your soul on fire. You only have one life, be sure to live it.
Use these 3 tools to help you find your purpose. I am hopeful that this might have given you some insight into finding your why.
Don’t let this intimidate you. This should be a fun and fulfilling exercise.
Let me know in the comments if you found this helpful and don’t forget to subscribe for all the freebies coming your way.
Have a lovely day!
Love, Steph <3
