3 Simple Questions to Help You Tap into Your Purpose

Every one of us has a purpose in life, whether we realise it or not. It could be anything from building a successful career or raising a large family, to volunteering for a cause, or conquering a lifelong goal or fear.

Some people know what their purpose is from a young age, and are lucky enough to be able to spend their life pursuing it. Others, however, don’t realise their purpose until later on in life. It’s never too early or too late to find yours, as long as you take positive steps to achieving it once you have realised what it is you are meant to do.

It is natural for us to be so swept up in our day-to-day lives and responsibilities that we neglect or even forget our purpose. However, no matter how far you stray, the universe will always send you signs - sometimes subtle, sometimes not - that you need to get back on track. This is when you need to take the opportunity to concentrate on tapping into your purpose and start taking steps towards fulfilment. If you’re ready to begin understanding what you really want out of life, ask yourself the following three questions to help you tap into your purpose.

1. What do you love?

Say you’ve been in the same job for years, but suddenly you’re not sure if you like it anymore, or you can’t shake the feeling that this isn’t what you should be doing with your time. Those of us who work full-time spend the majority of our life doing our jobs, so it’s important that what you do matters to you. However, maybe you’re not even sure what it is that you do want to be doing. If you come to this crossroads, this is when you need to tap into your purpose, and figure out what it is you want to spend your life doing.

Take some time to write down everything you love doing. Identifying what you love to do, no matter how big or small it is, will help you understand your passions and your purpose. Write down everything you love, whether it be foods, hobbies, experiences, travel, or people.

Once you have finished the list, take a step back and look at it objectively. Think of how the things on these list relate to each other, and how they can connect to what you are destined to do.

Maybe you love to cook, and have always wanted to do it for a living. Or maybe you are passionate about travel, and it is your purpose to experience as many different countries and cultures as you can. What practical steps can you take to turn these dreams into a reality?

2. What comes easy to you?

Sometimes our purpose in life is staring us right in the face, but we don’t realise it because it comes so naturally to us. It makes sense that what we are destined to do in life comes naturally to us.

Somebody who is naturally kind, generous, and giving for example, may find that their purpose in life is to care for others. This could be fulfilled in a number of ways; they could work as a carer professionally, or they could make it their life’s work to raise a family.

What comes easy to you may not come so naturally to others, however. By identifying what you are naturally good at, you give yourself a chance to build on those skills, and also help others in improving them. Perhaps then, it’s your life’s purpose to be a teacher?

3. At the end of your life, what will you be most proud of?

It may seem a little strange to think about the end of our life, but it is important to think about what you will remember most fondly when you look back at your life. What made you feel most fulfilled?

Will reaching the top of the career ladder make you most proud? Do you want to look back and know you made a difference to an important cause? Perhaps you’ll relish the memories and experiences that come with years of travelling the world. Or maybe, like many people, you will be happy and satisfied to be surrounded with a large family who love you.

None of us want to have regrets when we look back at our lives, and it is a well known saying that we only regret the things we didn’t do. Therefore, a good exercise in figuring out what it is you want to do, is to imagine what you would regret not doing.