Stop worrying, finding your purpose isn't that complicated!
I'm often asked ‘How do I discover what my purpose is?’. With the Self development industry constantly telling us to 'live your purpose' the uncertainty of it is a big source of stress and confusion for a lot of people and I think it's become over-complicated, so wanted to break it down, offer some ways to navigate it and share how I wandered into to mine.
The trick is to let go of the ‘bigness’ of the quest, pay attention to where you’re at right now & follow the bread crumbs!
I believe our purpose is always changing and evolving and the way that we make the biggest difference in the world and create a lifestyle we love is to follow and focus on what makes us feel expansive, inspired and lit up right now - and be fluid while remaining open to what life wants to bring to us and what it's asking/nudging us to become.
The way we tap into it and make a difference lies at the intersection between what we loveeeeee, what our skills are, the opportunities we’re willing to put ourselves out there for and the risks we’re willing to take. ( Your 'purpose' also doesn’t need to mean you’re on the world stage ending poverty or becoming the next Oprah, it can be the simple magic found in making the BEST bagels, or coffee or piece of art that makes people smile and feel something! )
What do you loveeee and could talk about for hours?
What comes naturally to you?
When you get spare time or day-dream what do your thoughts wander to?
What frustrates you about the world that you'd love to be different?
What are you constantly curious about and wanting to learn more about?
What is your ideal day?
What experience and skills do you already have?
For me, it started simply by following my love of travel. And I did anything that meant I could do it more ( Which included taking the risk of moving overseas at 19 )
How can you do more of what you love?
I knew at a very young age that I had an instaible curiosity and appetite for exploring different parts of the world and learning about different cultures. I was obsessed with the show ‘Getaway ‘ and would day-dream about the countries I'd one day visit.
Once I started to do the thing I love - travel, it started to highlight an aspect within our western culture that I felt passionate about changing. I came to understand how powerful travel is in helping us shift our lives, how much our societies dictate the ‘rules’ we place on ourselves and that we DIDN'T HAVE TO LIVE BY ANYONE ELSES STANDARDS.
I also really enjoyed and felt energised by spending time connecting with people,learning from them, bringing others together, creating experiences and sharing my journey. I found people were naturally drawn to me asking advice on how they could change certain things in their lives or take a big leap to do something they loved and I was always invested in their happiness.
Through following what excited me and putting myself out there even when I was ‘under qualified ‘ or didn't feel ‘ ready’ I landed jobs that gave me skills that I'd later use.
Trusting my instincts that it was all leading to something great and I was on the right track meant that I didn't get caught up or worried that my decisions didn't make sense on paper or that I ‘ still hadn’t ‘figured out what I wanted to do with my life.‘
I deeply trusted that it would become clear and in the process I was enjoying myself.
The little voice of my intuition saying ‘yes, this could be good’ , the full body response of excitement that would happen at the thought of a place or opportunity, the chance encounters or serendipitous meetings or conversations were all little bread crumbs from the universe leading me to the intersection of where my skills, passions and experiences met and resulted in creating my businesses and fully expressing who I am and what I love (which is a mish mash of - travel, helping people, creating experiences and learning about/empowering others!).
My resume reads like confetti, my decisions didn't make sense to anyone else, no one around me was doing the same thing, I've bounced from one place to another and I never really have a plan ( which I understand can cause extreme anxiety for some and that others don't have that luxury or privilege ) but I don’t get caught up in thinking that it all has to follow a certain path or routine.
Life is a big adventure and the sooner you 'let go' and enjoy the winding roads the sooner you will become clear on who you are and what your 'purpose' is.
And here's the ( not so secret ) thing - your purpose is to become the truest version of yourself and express that in the most authentic and real way to the world.
Sharing what you love right now, what you think, what you feel, your creations, your unique skills and perspective is how you make a difference, because there is ony EVER going to be one of you - exactly as the way you are now. NO ONE will have the exact journey, influences, experiences, travels, skills, thoughts or world view as what you do - and your Soul has chosen to show up in this lifetime in order to use that combination of things in some way.
So, what if instead of trying to discover your purpose, you just decided every day to do a bit more of what you love and share yourself with others in some way?
What would that look like? What would you do? What would you start to study, or create, or experience?