“How to discover your purpose in life?”
I was recently reflecting on my journey, especially as we reached a pivotal moment in time – 1 year since we exited our third and final lockdown as a result of the COVID 19 Pandemic.
I had grown up, never knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up, not having one specific talent or one specific love, passion or interest that I could pursue. I think it is fair to say that so many of us have been in this position and so essentially found roles, work and careers once we left school or university in order to stay afloat, earn some money, move out of our parents houses or go and explore the world.
This was my path, I knew university wasn’t for me, I wanted to earn money so I could do what I enjoyed and had freedom. So, I got job, after job, worked my way up and up, existing in horrible long shifts, manual work, to desk jobs, living on 25 days holiday a year, some managers I loved, some I hated. Wishing, I had a passion to pursue that would give me a sense of fulfilment in life.
I had tried everything to figure it out, including network marketing roles that promised the world, enticed in by the “quit your 9-5” or “earn £500 in one week” headlines.
Four network marketing companies, anti anxiety tablets and two weeks of stress leave later, I had had enough. I was a new mum, wanting so much more for my life and for my baby. I never wanted him to feel the way I did. I wanted to crack the code.
So, I meditated.
I have meditated many times in the past and never stuck with it. I used it as a tool to help calm myself down and support my anxiety, but as soon as I felt better, I stopped. Not realising the level of power and the level of my mind I would explore by pursuing this.
So, I sat, and sat, I let the thoughts go in, and processed them back out again and repeated this, many a time. Processing what was in my brain, checking in on how I was really feeling on the inside, after years of neglect and doing what I thought I wanted, I was finally processing the backlog.
Scanning endless lists of job roles, career paths, putting myself down, stating I was unqualified, until the I had the epiphany that was, myself. I didn’t need a qualification. I was the most experienced person to talk about my own life. I wanted to help other people not go through the experiences I had and give them the tools and support to feel empowered and supported in a forever changing world and the gigantic leap that is motherhood.
This realisation came to me, with my eyes closed, sat on the floor of my sons bedroom, as a breathed in deeply and gave everything that existed under the surface, the space to breathe.
I pushed all of the unnecessary and inessential thoughts out, and observed what came in, and over time it became easier.
Many people say, 1. What do you love to do? 2. Can you make money out of it? 3. Would people want that service, the combination of what you love and how you can monetise it? 4. Could you exist working your butt off for it, the highs and the lows, for a long time.
But I don’t always think the answer is a simple as the output of those four questions.
We need to access our intuition, get connected, spent time with our minds and our thoughts. Understand how we are really feeling. When do we ever give ourselves the time and space to do this?
Mine was on maternity leave, when I was deprived of adult communication for large chunks of the day. I would be left with nothing other than my thoughts and it became really uncomfortable in places.
But once I learnt to let them in, let them pass, understand what needed to be dealt with, healed, processed and even take action on. I begun to enjoy the process of seeing what was lurking in the back that I was “too busy” to acknowledge.
There is something magical and powerful about just existing, in the silence, and observing.
Some of my life’s biggest questions have been answered, by existing in the stillness, in the quiet, in the space.
So, you want to get clear on your lifes purpose? What you can do with your life and time that will bring you joy and fulfilment that you could turn into a career or monetise?
Here are my tips;
Make a list of everything that makes you happy. From your family, to your hobbies, even if you haven’t done it in years, go right back. Make a list of what you’re good at. Do you have a natural talent? For writing? Baking? Cooking? Drawing? Even if you think it sounds silly, write it down.
Make a list of all of the different platforms. From social media platforms, to media in general. Photo, Video, Vlog, Books, Journals, Youtube etc.
Remove any doubts – do not hold yourself back thinking about qualifications, degrees or anything like that until you have it nailed down. The HOW will come later.
Set an intention; “I trust that the answer to my life purpose, will come to me, in the right time and in the right way. I will know, crystal clear, when it comes to me.”
Meditate. Whether you choose a guided meditation, mantra or choose to sit in silence. Practise for 5-10 minutes a day if you can, when you can, no matter the time of day. Just give yourself the space to sit, be still, calm your mind and process your thoughts.
Journal. Writing is a gift to the world and is a portal into your brain, letting the pen flow, leads you from thought to thought, ones that exist in your subconscious, even if you don’t know what to write, just start somewhere, with how you’re feeling and the rest will come naturally.
Be patient, this is not an over night realisation. Give it the space it needs. Just have faith and trust in the process.
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