This is an article on the non-insignificant topic of ‘purpose’. And more specifically how to find your purpose. That elusive something that we all seem to be endlessly searching for in life.
I’ll be dispelling the myth that we all have one singular, definitive purpose and showing you how you can make finding your purpose more accessible by simply weaving it into aspects your every day life.
Banish your significant other(s) to the another room, pour yourself something cold, pop in your ear phones, grab a pen and paper.
(You’re going to want to take notes! )
“The stronger your ‘why’, the less the ‘how’ matters”
– Dan Cable
Wondering if you'll ever 'find your thing?'
Are you feeling the pressure to have found ‘your thing’ by now? Whatever ‘your thing’ is meant to be…
If your answer is ‘yes’, then rest assured that you’re not alone.
We put so much pressure on ourselves to have it all worked out by now, have our shit together, finally grow up and ‘adult‘.
Ugh. The overwhelm that this sort of thinking can create is what often sends my clients into a tailspin of panic and stuck-ness.
But what if you were to view purpose in a different way?
Instead of a static, shiny ‘destination’ (full of unicorns and fairy dust), what if you started to view your purpose as a journey filled with ‘purposeful moments’?
I believe that we all have multiple purposes in our lives and that as we grow and evolve, so our purpose evolves and shifts.
My own purpose has changed in the 4 short years I’ve been running my business! When I started out in 2018, I was known as @shinebrightermums and focused solely on helping mums return to work, because that’s what my purpose was then. Now that’s only a very small portion of my work.
It’s well-evidenced that it can be unhelpful – not to mention unhealthy – to spend too much time in the past or indeed in the future; and that being more present and enjoying the ‘here and now’ is where we’d do well to focus our energies.
With this in mind, how could you incorporate more purpose into your day-to-day work life?
The answer is through a process called job-crafting. And you can apply this approach to both your corporate role or in your self-employed business.
In this article, Dan Cable talks about the ‘3 P’s of job-crafting’. And yes, one of those P’s stands for ‘Purpose’. He asks:
How can you find and connect to more meaning in your day-to-day tasks? Ask yourself WHY a specific activity is important to you four times.
What's your Ikigai?
If you’ve never heard of the word IKIGAI before then you might be wondering what on earth I’m talking about. Pronounced ick-ee-guy, it’s a Japanese philosophy around purpose which originates from the island of Okinawa. Okinawa is said to be home to the largest number of centenarians, which begs the question whether it is the secret to longevity! Here is a brief video I did on my instagram feed about Ikigai some time ago.
Coaching prompts to help you find more purpose
Journal around the following questions:
1. What activities do you never need to put on your to do list?
2. What would you do for free if money was no object?
3. What topics get you hot under the collar?
4. What kinds of articles or posts do you share on social media?
5. What non-fiction books do you find yourself drawn to and why?
6. What life lessons have shaped you that could also benefit other people?
Some resources to help you find more purpose…
ARTICLE – What you should follow instead of your passion
PODCAST – Finding your purpose at work
ARTICLE – Turn your boring job into a job you’ll love
INSTA POST – The stronger your why, the less the how matters
INSTA POST – How does your work make you feel?
VIDEO – How great leaders inspire action
BOOK- Ikigai – The Japanese secret to a long and happy life
BOOK – What colour is your parachute?
VIDEO – Start with why, the golden circle
If you've found this helpful...
…and you’d like to find out how I can help you find more purpose in your professional life, I’d love to chat.
I hope this article and resources on finding more purpose in your work life has offered some food for thought and that you now have a few ideas about how you can make work feel more meaningful every day.
If you’d like to find out how I could help you find more purpose and create your own ‘work happy place’, you can book a free ‘no-strings -whatsoever’ call via the pink button below.
My 1:1 coaching programmes start at £1599 or you can sign up for my affordable career and personal development coaching membership, The Shine Collective today if you’d rather take things a little slower and ‘DIY’ your work happiness journey from only £47/ month. There is a whole module dedicated to purpose and finding your next best steps in there.
