How to Find Your Purpose in 30 min or Less
Do you know you what your purpose in life is? Why you exist? What your own, unique gift is — that has the power to ground, focus and light you up every day?
Knowing and then centering your life around your purpose, is probably the single most important thing you can do.
We’ll go much deeper into aligning with your purpose at Create A Life You Love Retreat in Bali, but for now, would you like a 30 min exercise to help you uncover your purpose?
Will you do it with me now?
This is the quickest exercise to uncover your purpose that I have come across (thank you www.StevePavlina.com :)). It’s also intense, because it involves your emotions, but that’s exactly why it’s so powerful.
How to Find Your Purpose in 30 min or Less.
1. Grab a piece of paper or open a new doc on your computer.
2. Write at the top, “What is my true life purpose”?
3. Now type anything that comes to mind. Use stream of consciousness writing, sentences, words, phrases. Anything that pops into your head. Keep asking, keep writing.
4. Don’t stop until…
5. You write a sentence that makes you cry.
That’s it.
That’s your purpose.
It will make you well up with emotion.
It will make your eyes sting and and your throat ache.
It will make your heart ache.
What makes you cry is always what is most true for you, and like your joy, is your un-erring guidance system.
This exercise can take you 5-30 min and you’ll feel like quitting. Keep going past the resistance – the deepest, juiciest, “most true stuff” is always just past your edge.
Here’s my thought process when I first did this:
“This sounds like a great, easy exercise – I’ll do it on the weekend.”
“No, I should do it now, otherwise I’ll just get busy. This is important.”
“Macbook Air or handwritten? Mac – easier.”
“Write, write, write…this is silly, I’m not going to find my purpose through such a simple exercise.”
“Write, write, write…it’s gotta to be harder than this.”
“Write, write, write…I don’t have time for this. YES you do, Carmen, this is important”
“Write, write, write….k..these words are good, but I still don’t feel like crying.”
“Write, write, write….mmm…that’s interesting…wow, that’s feeling like…”
Write, write, write…
…and I BURST INTO TEARS :)
I found my purpose through this simple exercise.
Now, my sentence wasn’t refined or perfect, but it was a START. It made me remember what is most important to me, what the essence of my purpose is, and what makes me ache-cry.
That’s the easy part. Next, refine your words into 1-3 succinct sentences. Then the most important part – design your LIFE around your purpose.
I will help you do all of this on my Create A Life You Love Retreat in Bali – how to discover your purpose, crystalize the words and feeling, and then live your life from that place.
However, even if you’re not able to come to Bali, DO this exercise. It will start the flow of passion and meaning for you. And passion changes everything.
And it’s simple.
And it’s emotional.
Feel it.
Notice your tears, pay attention to what makes you cry-ache and follow what inspires you.
They leave you all the clues you need.
What do you think? How have you found your purpose? How did this exercise work for you and what did you discover? Click here to comment below – I love to hear and your comments help others!
Be Happy…Be Vibrant…
Carmen xo
Get Social With Carmen
Thanks Carmen! Doing it NOW!
Wonderful! Can’t wait to hear Leanne! :))
I kwon you are amazing, well center and with a flourishing business, but…
What did you find your purpose in life was?
With a smile
Rocio
Hi Rocio! I’m a Soulful Create A Life You Love Inspirer! :))
Hi Carmen! I couldn´t get to the tears, but got to my goals, priorities and activity list for the week. I truly believe that focusing IS the secret, and I´m glad I´m off to a good start this week to work on my focus and action. I´ve had to much theory and now it´s time for action!! thanks for that!!!!
Hi Silvia! Oh my goodness – that alone is huge and what a great start :) Okay…I think the following will help you b/c often times we are so cut off from our emotion/heart and soul b/c we’ve been taught that for so many years – to NOT be emotional or cry or be led by our feelings. So, this week, I just want you to notice things that you LOVE. Things that INSPIRE you. Things that make you smile, feel happy, loving, passionate, soulful, teary (even a commercial!)…let yourself be pulled by those emotions and NOTICE…just for a minute here and there all week. Search things out. Have an inquisitive mind – what makes me FEEL alive? Write down what you notice – what things make you feel EMOTION. Just notice and FEEL this week. That’s all. Let me know in a week what you’ve written down and how you feel. I’ll give you the next step – sound good?
I did it! HUGE thank you. I had no idea what I would write or where it would lead but I found it and the happy tears came. It feels amazing as I’ve been lost for a while. Thank you for everything you do Carmen xoxo
You are so welcome Simone and this makes me SO happy to read this! It’s an amazing exercise eh? Carmen :)
Not only did I have tears, but my heart opened and I felt relaxed and I felt peace.
Leonie! I’m only seeing your comment 4 years later when I gave this article to another client to read :) What a beautiful comment – LOVE that it also opened your heart and made you feel more relaxed and peaceful!
Carmen xo