Finding Your Life Purpose

I've been thinking and writing a lot about life direction and life purpose lately. In my research, I checked out some of the top "find your life purpose" quizzes online. Two things quickly became evident.

First, people want questions that help them find their life purpose.

Second, no such quiz exists. ( Until now. )

Sure, there were a lot of attempts. And some of them even had multiple-choice questions that gave me a result. But, not surprisingly, the result wasn't actually an answer. It simply ranked me on if I felt like I had purpose, if I thought my life was meaningful, or the role Ryan Gosling played in my life. (Okay, to be fair, the last one was a BuzzFeed, so it probably shouldn't count.)

We would love for a quiz to tell us our life purpose. In fact, we don't even need it to be from a quiz. I bet most people would be happy if our life purpose was delivered in any form - from a grandparent, a psychic, a wise owl.

But this will never happen because that's not how life (or wise owls) work. The underlying foundation for purpose is that we define it for ourselves. And usually, this defining process takes time and experience along the way.

That's why you must flip your thinking around finding your life purpose. Instead of looking for what is your life purpose, start thinking about what it's not.

Why?

When we seek answers for concepts as grandiose as "life purpose," our anxiety heightens and our perspectives narrow. We go away from self-awareness and toward fear-based indecision. Finding direction becomes pressure-filled and closed, rather than fun and expansive.

However, when we force our minds to think about the opposite of life purpose, we change our thinking trajectory. In this change, we allow ourselves to explore ideas with more clarity.

If you want to get one step closer to finding your life purpose, check out this opposite purpose quiz .

If you’re not looking for one life purpose, then what are you looking for?

A purpose-driven life isn’t pointed toward one purpose. Instead, it’s filled with pockets of purpose in its day-to-day life. You’ve got to learn what gives you purpose. Then, rather than chasing it, you’ve got to find ways to invite it more into your life.

Let’s say being creative gives me purpose. If I find ways to be creative in my day and work, I’ll bring more meaning into my life. The more my life is designed around creativity, the more fulfilled I will feel.

Remember, finding purpose isn't a one-time question and answer. It takes time, patience, and effort.