How to Find Your Purpose: Tips to Cultivate Personal Motivation

A sense of purpose is a guiding principle or set of principles you fall back on to determine how you want to live your life. Defining your true purpose as a person takes a combination of effort and intuition. As you delve into your interests, core beliefs, and talents, you can start to piece together what you can do to make the biggest difference in your own life as well as the lives of others.

Life becomes easier once you have a clear sense of purpose. This guiding light serves as a compass and roadmap through good and bad times. It also anchors your sense of self-worth by giving you something to focus on as your source of meaning even when times get tough. By finding a sense of purpose, you can lead a more fulfilling life than you would have been able to otherwise.

Finding your purpose might seem like a tall order, but the resources to do so lie within you. Keep these tips in mind as you strive to find your own personal purpose:

1. 1. Ask how you can serve the world. Spending time in the service of others can prove to be a major source of abiding happiness. The key is to find a way to help others that fits in with your own interests and passions. See where your innate desires meet with a core need you see in the world. At the same time, remember to practice self-care and self-love, so you can more effectively care for and love others.
2. 2. Channel pain into positivity. When life gets hard, take a deep breath and remind yourself you can channel your pain in a positive direction. Trials and tribulations can make you shut down or help you grow, depending on your perspective. Give yourself grace and time to handle inconveniences and traumas throughout your life. Look for ways you can use your painful experiences to help create a positive impact on someone else. For example, if you lost a loved one, you’re now uniquely equipped to help another person navigate the grieving process.
3. 3. Change priorities based on your needs. Personal development is a lifelong journey, so go with the flow if your sense of purpose changes organically. Sometimes you might need to put more of a focus on maintaining your own mental health and well-being. Other times, you might be able to spend nearly all your time helping others. As long as you stay true to yourself, you can rest assured you still have a clear meaning moving forward.
4. 4. Define your personal meaning of life. Finding purpose is what enables you to live a meaningful life. Take a moment to reflect on your core values. Ask yourself why you get out of bed in the morning. As you start to crystallize what brings your life meaning, consider writing down a mission or purpose statement by which to live. This can provide you with clarity throughout your own life and career.
5. 5. Explore various interests. Finding your true passion and purpose often requires experimentation. Dabble in different interests from one day to the next. See which ones really make you feel alive. If you’re fresh out of high school or college, you might decide to explore various career paths before you settle into one. For that matter, even if you’ve stayed on one track for decades, there’s always time to change course in pursuit of a more purposeful life.
6. 6. Seek out advice. As you strive to find your life purpose, you don’t have to answer all the big questions on your own. Talk to trusted love ones and friends about what they think might make you the happiest. Consult with a life coach or therapist about ways you can better figure out who you want to be and what you want to do. Read self-help books and collections of age-old wisdom to glean what you can from them.
7. 7. Step out of your comfort zone. A simple step out of your comfort zone can be the first one you take to define your life purpose. While this might sound scary in the short term, it often lays the groundwork for positive change in the long term. As you try new things and learn more about yourself, your innate sense of purpose has a better chance of coming into view.

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