A Journey Towards Well-Being
Creating our Life Purpose
Understanding our purpose in life is a monumental experience. So often we drift through life wondering what we were put on this Earth to do, to be, to whatever. (And subsequently feel very lost and “whatever”.)
For this Newsfeed, I refer to Jack Canfield’s, “The Success Principles” (a book you will find I mention a lot) and Tina Su’s online article, “Life on Purpose: 15 Questions to Discover Your Personal Mission”.
Both Canfield and Su talk about the idea of creating a personal mission statement that sums up your purpose in one sentence. That’s not overwhelming at all – to sum up your life’s purpose into one sentence!
Nonetheless, I decided to give it a go.
First of all, we envision our own perfect world. Mine is filled with lots of shoes. No, I’m just kidding. (Well, kind of.) Let’s say I live to be 100 and I look back on my life and reflect on what I am most proud of, what matters most to me – well, first and foremost, I am 100 years old and can still remember something! This is obviously a glitch in my imagination; I can’t remember anything now and I am 28. Regardless, let’s say I do have a memory that lasts longer than Dory in “Finding Nemo”, I want to look back on my life and say “this is where I really helped turned someone’s life around.”
So, to be honest, I just wrote the first thing that came to my mind there. And I think that the first thing that comes to your mind is your true meaning because you didn’t filter your answer, you just immediately answered.
Another version is Jack Canfield’s: list two of your unique qualities, list two ways you enjoy expressing your qualities, describe the perfect world as you see and feel it, and combine all of that into one statement.
For me: My purpose is to use my creativity and enthusiasm to support and inspire others to accept everyone for who they are – uniquely themselves.
Okay, so I have my personal mission statement. I think moving forward it will be easy to be overwhelmed by obstacles that get in my way. I think using mindfulness will be helpful; reminding myself of my purpose every day and that when I lose sight of it, to notice I have strayed and bring my attention back to my purpose – without judging myself for having taken a little detour.
Personal mission accomplished.
Readers/Fan Club- I challenge you to explore your perfect world and your own personal mission statements. Why? Because having purpose in your life will make you feel like you’re going in the right direction, or for some of you A direction! Find yourselves!
About the Author
Tara is a wellness Newsfeedger for the Local Biz Magazine who is in the process of writing her memoir on finding hope and meaning while living with a mental illness. Tara loves the concepts of positive psychology, incorporating them into every aspect of her life and spreading the message on the science of well-being.