Purpose
Your life’s purpose is the reason why you exist. It’s the reason for being.
In the past, if you asked me what my life’s purpose was- I would have told you it was to make lots of money. Believe me, there’s nothing wrong with making money, but for myself, I finally realized it was not the reason why I exist. It was only an enabler at best.
Finding your life’s purpose is very much about finding yourself. Life with a purpose drives you when you wake up each morning. But figuring it out takes time. After pondering and pondering with no answer, I finally asked myself the following questions:
What do I really want? To be happy. To be free. To not live in fear. To live life on my own terms.
What makes me happy?
Purpose and meaning. The vision I have for my dream lifestyle. Having no money worries. Not having to work for a greedy profit driven corporation. Time and resources to spend and have fun, adventure, just live with my family. Marijuana. The hope for a better future. Ending the status quo.
What gives me peace of mind and fulfills me inside?
Writing for a purpose. Helping people follow their dreams. Knowing that I’m making a difference in the world, my life, lives of others.
Vision
Your vision is what your life looks like when you achieve your life’s purpose.
Your vision should define your life’s purpose in detail. It is the manifestation of your purpose.
Dream Goals – the biggest goals of your life. Think about it this way, if you cannot see it, how would you know if you were there? To help you see your vision, consider the following questions.
What does it look like?
What does it feel like?
Safe, inspiring, empowering, adventurous, freedom, amazing, awesome, chill, fun.
What are you doing?
Writing books, running a successful author platform that inspires and guides people to live with meaning and purpose, Connecting and collaborating with difference making authorities, teaching and consulting on the journey to create a purposeful life.
Who do you see?
My wife- healthier and able to live pain free with accessible resources provided by my work. My daughter- Healthy, energetic, discovering dreams of her own. My immediate family doing well in their endeavours and discovering their own dreams and going after them.
Where are you?
Somewhere on the outskirts of town, small amount of land, nice house, hot tub, big screen, games, nice workstation with Apple computer, office, king size bed, simple, meaningful living.
What are your passions?
Going for walks, writing, learning, reading, helping people progress, baseball, traveling, jet skis, pontoon boat, growing weed, going to football and baseball games, self-mastery.
My vision: Help people find their purpose and live their dreams, be a good dad, enjoy the moments, and make a difference in the world.
Mission
Your mission is how you fulfill your vision, and in turn, your purpose.
Think of your mission as a way to live your life, almost like a personal philosophy. It’s like a set of instructions that tells you how to do something. It’s supposed to be broad enough to give you room, but concise enough that you know exactly what you have to do each and every day.
In terms of goals, these are your Now Goals – the goals you need to meet day in and day out.
Your mission aligns your daily life to your purpose. To figure out your mission, here are questions to ask:
How do you reach your vision?
How do you need to behave?
What do you have to do every day?
What should you not do?
What obstacles will be in your way?
How many options do you have?
I admit the questions above were difficult to answer. These were questions that would impact my life, and it was scary to know how many adjustments I needed to make in order to start living my life’s purpose.
This was going to require me to change the way I worked and interacted with the world.
After many different versions of my mission I finally came up with one…
“Lead with my heart, make positive change in people’s lives and live gratefully every day.”
Your mission will keep you on track throughout the day – just remind yourself what your mission is when you get lost.
For example, I have a tendency to let small worries turn into big worries that bring me down. So, when I feel myself getting derailed, I look to my mission and it reminds me to be grateful for everything in my life, big and small, which helps me refocus my energy and gets me back towards my life’s purpose.
Values
Your values are the principles and ideals that define who you are.
Everyone has values. They’re typically single words that describe everything about who you are and what you stand for. Values are learned and have been inside you since the day you were born.
You learn values from your family, friends, school, work, government, community and media.
Each person defines their values differently. Ask yourself these questions to help you figure out yours:
What characteristics describe you as a person?
Who are the people you love to work with?
What people do you want to be like, and not like?
What things in life will you not negotiate?
What do you believe in?
What makes you tick deep inside?
What do you truly believe in?
As for myself, here are a few of mine: joyful, humble, real, dreamer, committed, loving, strong, happy and optimistic.
Finally, after many months, my life’s purpose, vision, mission and values were all on one page!
For the first time in a long time, I felt new again. I felt like the storm had cleared and everything that was dark and hazy was replaced with light and clarity.
Here are a few personal examples of how it has changed my life:
When I wake up, instead of waiting for the day to be over I am eager to go make an impact.
I look forward to seeing my loved ones instead of complaining why they want to hang out.
When something doesn’t work out I know I will not give up because I have a purpose to pursue.
When the world is pulling me in a million directions I look to my mission to get me back on track.
When I get stuck in a difficult dilemma, I look to my values to determine the answer.
Living a life of purpose is a lifelong process.
As the Dalai Lama once said, “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”
And I agree because at the end of the day all we have left in life are our stories to tell.