This is part 1 of an on-going series on discovering your life purpose.
For years, stoics and philosophers have spent years pondering on the question: “What is the purpose of this life?” Sadly, with our world just speeding through life, we find ourselves unable to sit still and think existentially like they do. In other words,
The good news is that we don’t need to meditate for years in order for us to get a sense of why we’re on this earth. All you need is a proven process. In this series, we’ll be unpacking how you can discover your life purpose without wasting your time meditating under trees for months.
But while we don’t need to be stoics to discover our purpose, we do need to shatter three of these myths that will prevent us from truly discovering our true purpose! So let’s tackle three of these common misconceptions and see why these lies are actually holding us back in our Life Purpose Discovery Journey!
Myth #1 – Your Life Purpose is Not Your VOCATION
The first lie that demands debunking is that our purpose is not our vocation. You are not defined by your job. How do I know this? Because your life purpose is your LIFE purpose.
Your life is so much more than your job and vocation but comprises of so many more aspects: your family, your friends, your partner, your spiritual being, your mental health, your body. All of these comprise your life and cannot be compressed into the same purpose as your job.
You may have picked your job for various reasons but those should be in line with your life’s purpose not the other way around. What’s more, have you considered the fact that you had a purpose before you got a job and you’re going to have a purpose after your retirement?
If we define our purpose by our work, we set ourselves on a crash course to neglect everything that truly makes life meaningful and a major existential crisis once we leave our job or retire. The latter condition is so common that it’s called retirement depression. Save yourself from the unnecessary trouble, your life is more than your job stop living like that’s all there is to it.
Myth #2 – Your Life Purpose is Not Your ASSOCIATION
The second misconception that needs to be broken is that your life purpose is not your association. What I mean is that we don’t find our value merely by belonging to a demographic group, club, organisation or a group of people. Similar to the last one except that this may not always be professional.
We as humans are social creatures and as social creatures, we love association. “I belong to this group”, “I support this club” or “I am friends with this person.” Don’t get me wrong associations are well and good but if we build our life purpose around who or what we are connected to what happens when that connection is gone?
Putting your purpose in the hands of being known or a part of something else that can betray you or let you go is one of the worst ways that you can steward your God-given purpose.
That isn’t to say trust no one but make no mistake, people have, people can and people will fail you so it’s best not to build your identity around something that goes beyond your associations.
Myth #3 – Your Life Purpose is Not Your CREATION
The last misconception is one that goes against the advice of many supposed Life Expert Gurus out there but I put this forward because I know this to be true, Your Purpose is not your creation.
As a society we are obsessed with engineering ourselves to become the best version of ourselves that we can be proud of. That’s a noble aspiration, we should always aspire to be better.
But the error comes when we believe that we can manifest our own purpose of our design into being. The truth is that it’s far more difficult to manifest and pretend we have a purpose of our own design than to just accept the gift that is right in front of us, but there’s nothing more liberating.
Think about the design of a Sharpie. You wouldn’t use a sharpie in an exam, why? Because that’s not what it was designed for. For one it’s too thick, and second, it cannot be erased. You’d probably bring a pencil instead for it’s thinner design and it’s erasability.
But what if you were getting an autograph from your favourite celebrity, in that case you’d pick a sharpie over a pencil any day. Why because those supposed weakness of thickness and permanence we mentioned earlier become it’s greatest strengths when put in the right context.
We all have a design and we all have a context in which we all shine the best. Trying to create a life purpose for ourselves is like a sharpie wishing it was a pencil because it gets used more often or a pencil wishing it was a sharpie because it’s held by celebrities.
You were made intentionally with a make-up of gifts within a particular context and time so that you can fulfil a role that only you can. When you pretend to be someone else, you deprive others of the role you were meant to fill.
Your life purpose isn’t meant to be created, only discovered!
How Do I Discover my Purpose?
Well, if your purpose can’t be created well then how do you discover it? I answer that in my book: “Discover Your Purpose” which gives you the 4-Step process I used to discover my purpose! What’s best is you can get it, FOR FREE! Just click the link here to get your free copy of the book TODAY!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Personal Design limited to Christians only? Personal Design is deeply rooted in the Christian principle that men is made by God in his image so while some of the principles of personal design are transmissible between faiths, it is best understood from a Christian Worldview
- How can I start exploring my Personal Design? You can start by reading the “Discover Your Purpose” ebook here
- Is Personal Design static or can it change over time? Your Personal Design is inherent and may remain relatively constant throughout life. However, as we grow and develop, our understanding and expression of it may evolve.
- Can Personal Design help me in my career choices? Absolutely! Understanding your Personal Design can guide you in making career decisions that align with your unique gifts and purpose.