1.5 Identify Your Purpose

​I'm not sure that we have only ​one purpose in our lives that is very specific, for example, that our purpose is to do such and such at work. To me, it's more like a general direction that gets worked out in a number of ways. ​​​It's a general theme that brings together most of our efforts.

​In my book, my guides say that every piece of our planet ​is designed for a purpose. My guides define these purposes as either holding, growing, being, receiving, or pushing. ​That purpose ​is an energetic thing, not just a doing thing. Does one of these energies resonate with you? Try to identify the energies you belong to, and which you offer to others. Viola, you see a part of your purpose.

​Mine is around growth. My husband’s is holding. The one you belong to ​can cause some struggle, as you are here to learn how to be in this energy. You will seek others who do it​ well​ so that you can learn to do it, too. Others will seek you for what you do well​ so they can learn to do it, ​also. Hence, driven people may find themselves surrounded by people who are laid back and simply receive  in life. The driven person is trying to learn to just be. On the other hand, the laid-back person wants to learn to push. There is a purpose in both, and purpose in coming together.

​here's an ​exercise to help find your purpose

​Answer these two questions with the first couple of things that come to your mind:

1) What are the top one or two things you think are wrong with the world? These  should be situations, events or ideals you think will hurt the world or even possibly bring about its end, if left unchecked. An example might cruelty to animals, violence among people of different faiths or people going hungry. It can be simple or complicated, just be sure it has a ring of deep truth to you. Maybe it’s something you complain about often to your friends and family or a deeper fear that you keep secret. Usually the first thing that pops into your mind is correct. And keep it to your top one or two, even though there may be many that spring to mind.

2) Now, try to distill each down to one word that captures its main idea. In other words, why is this thing so bad? Sometimes it’s easy, like in the above example “cruelty” represents the idea of cruelty to animals. Or you might choose “unjust” or “abuse” as your one word. For people going hungry, you might come up with words like “unfair,” “hopeless” or “wrong.”

Now, let all that go. You’ve done the hard part. Most people have a hard time shaking off what they just considered, because what is important to us is often deeply personal. Which is partly why this part of your ​purpose is so powerful! But to do this next part effectively, you need to take a break and clear your mind. Don’t try to connect this next part to what we just did. The magic of this exercise happens when you go into this contemplation with an open heart and mind.

Trusting your subconscious to do what it needs to do, tell yourself that you are looking for clues to your ​purpose. You are not looking for ways to solve those earlier situations.  Take a deep breath and contemplate what having your ​purpose articulated would feel like. Imagine feeling happy with knowing this about yourself.

​Now take ​the first word you listed in the last step and go to a thesaurus (online or printed). Look at the antonyms, or the opposites, of your word. As you read through the antonyms, notice which words have resonance for you. In our earlier example, if your word was “cruel,” you would read these words in the antonym of your thesaurus:

compassionate, considerate, decent, easy, feeling, friendly, gentle, giving, good, helpful, humane, kind, merciful, mild, moral, nice, pleasant, pleasing, polite, sympathetic, charitable, thoughtful

​

Circle the one word from the list of antonyms that you resonate most with. Again, not as a means to solve the situations you originally listed but because this word has a special significance for you. You may find yourself drawn to it, or you may find it’s been a part of your life in many ways, or something that you deeply desire for yourself and others. If you had two words from the first part of the exercise, look up the antonym of your second word and go through the same process.

You should have one or two new words. Briefly answer the questions below to see how these words may be the basis for your ​purpose. For example, if in the list above you chose the word “gentle” as the antonym to “cruel,” that’s the word you’ll use for the following questions. It’s important not to answer these questions in relation to the situations you thought of in step one of this exercise. Rather you are considering this word as part of your ​purpose.

• ​What does this word mean to you?
• ​Do you see examples of this word in your business or personal life? Give some examples.
• ​If the  quality of this word was in the world more, how would the world be better?
• ​What else do you think is special about this word?

Whatever comes is perfect! There’s no right or wrong. Remember, this is just an exploration into possibility, and this may just be the beginning of your exploration. In my case, my two new words were “nurture” and “growth,” which are truly my ​purpose for everything in my life. But I hadn’t been expressing those things in my business copy. Now I am, and things are much more clear for potential clients.