Life Purpose: What's the impact you really want to create with your life?

‘Life without a purpose is a languid, drifting thing; every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves, 'This day let me make a sound beginning'

In this article I will explore what we mean by purpose and how you can live more purposefully in your life. I will also give you some suggestions to start to explore what your unique purpose might be.

So what does having a purpose mean?

A purpose really sits above your values as the overall direction and intention you want to have in your life. Imagine it as a slogan, a one line statement about what impact you want to have had with your life. If we want to get grandiose about it, it would be the reason you were born and what you are meant to do in the world!

Your purpose already lives inside you

When you really feel like you are living the life you are meant to lead and that you are having a positive impact with your life it can feel amazing.

In the broadest sense being on purpose is being true to the core of you. It brings you back to who you are, have always been and always will be. You will probably already have a sense of when you are living on purpose or not. When you are living in line with your purpose, everything feels right to you and you are feeling comfortable with where you are. Conversely, sometimes things just don't feel right at a fundamental level. You have a sense of something not being in place, even though on the surface everything might seem fine. Start to be alert about when you feel this sense of being on track or not and be curious about the circumstances. What is it that is going on for you? How does it link into your values and overall purpose?

A question of impact

As I've already said, purpose is really another way of describing what impact you want to have. Imagine yourself at the end of your life. For you to have lived a life that you would be proud of and feel like it was well used, what would you have done? What impact would you have had on those around you and the world you inhabited? What in your life tunes in with that and what doesn't? Where are you in denial about your life and the way you want to live it?

And a question of bravery and honesty

So, what happens if you do the exercise above and discover that your career or your life in general doesn't tune with who you really are and what you want to achieve in your life? Well, as ever, you have choices. However, as with all coaching exercises, once you accept and really feel into your purpose it becomes harder to ignore. So, purpose is very aligned with values in that it is living by your own beliefs and value system and not that of those around you or even society at large. It is about having this sense of internal navigation that guides everything that you do.

So why bother?

The good news is that the pay off is enormous. When you really feel like you are living the life you are meant to lead and that you are having a positive impact with your life it can feel amazing. And, who wants to get to the end of their life and have regrets about the kind of life they could have led? Take charge now and make sure that at the end of your life you can say that your life was well lived.

Finding your purpose

So, here's the tricky bit. You need to let go of your humbleness at this point (and any gremlins which tell you that you aren't that talented or that special) and really believe that you are here to make a huge impact on the world. Yes, you! Really let rip and allow your statement to be as big and grandiose as possible. Clients of mine have had statements that involved them saving the planet and bringing boundless joy into people's lives, so aim big!

Try these short visualisations to help you along

Imagine yourself at a ripe old age, sitting in your garden at 137 years old, all your family and friends surround you. Everyone you have ever impacted is there, alive or dead, telling stories and speaking of the difference you made to them. What do they say? What did you do with your life?

Everyday you go past a giant billboard on your way to work. You go past as do thousands of other people on their way to work. Today you have been given one day to put a message on the billboard for others to see on their way to work. You have been preparing the message for a number of days and are very excited to see the results. What does it say?

For each of these ask yourself: What was the visualisation like for you? What did you see/feel/hear? What was the impact you created? What was different as a result of your life and your actions? What was different about people's lives because of the impact you had?

We are looking for the main impact you had. You can then craft this into a purpose statement using the following formula:

Motivations/actions: What actions describe what you want to do? Eg inspire, motivate, teach, communicate, create etc?

Principles: What are you taking these actions for? What are the principles? Eg to empower, to make a difference, inclusion

And to or for who? Who is the audience? Eg leaders, women, mothers etc.

So you could have a sentence that is about: "creating life changing experiences that enable people to connect to themselves and the core of who they are."

Or you can have a metaphor or a sentence that says "I am the..... that ........"

For example: "I am the crashing wave that washes away barriers, I am the mirror that reflects truth."

Play around with what format works for you but make sure you can see the impact.

Need more help?

Finding your purpose can be something that takes some time and also that you refine and craft over a period of time as you become clearer about what it is you really want to do. A coach can help you work through this. What I hope is that this article has wet your appetite to really discover what you are here to do with your life. Keep asking yourself what impact you really want to have, it's a good starting point.

Interested to know more?

To find out more about coaching or for a free career consultation contact Lisa at lisa@sparklezone.com or visit www.sparklezone.com.

Next month - find out how connecting to your passions can help you think about possible routes in your career.