“Find out who you are and be that person.
That’s what your soul was put on this earth to be.
Find the truth, live that truth, and everything else will come.”
—Ellen DeGeneres
Discovering our purpose and becoming our real selves is such an important topic that researchers everywhere have investigated its significance to our lives. Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, scientist, and polymath, one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” We cannot help but recognize the importance of knowing ourselves, knowing who we really are, and discovering our authentic selves.
As I listened to Pastor Exavier Duke teach on this topic, he said “The person you are is based on the purpose of you being here.” This is such a profound statement, for it reveals how important discovering our purpose is. Discovering our purpose is therefore one of the most important elements of a happy and fulfilling life that reveals the real you. The heart of discovering our purpose is about helping us live an authentic life for in so doing we are figuring out what unique contribution we can bring to our world.
In his book The Path of Purpose, Professor William Damon, concluded in his long-raging study, that “The most pervasive problem of the day is a sense of emptiness that has ensnared many young people in long periods of drift during a time in their lives when they should be defining their aspiration and making progress toward their fulfillment.” He describes a majority of our youth as “adrift…they are motivated but directionless.” This has become equivalent to a pandemic because it transcends into adulthood or until later in their lives where much time is lost to them. He has found that only one in five young people expressed a clear vision of where they wanted to go, what they wanted to accomplish in life, and why.
The absence of a purpose-driven life has become such a high priority in our society that many researchers and scholars have written books, lectures, and seminars about it. The focus is geared toward motivating our young adults who are plagued with dominant moods of apathy and anxiety, disengagement, or even cynicism to become naturally hopeful with their lives. They are filled with ambitions but no clear way of achieving them. If we find our purpose, we find ourselves, and having found ourselves, we are able to fulfill our lives which ultimately brings us happiness. A recent study by J.L. Buchanan discovered that depression is the most common health problem for college students and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that levels of suicide for youth aged 15-34 years old. This is how important it is for us as God’s creation to discover our purpose and find our true selves from an early age..
When we find our purpose, we find ourselves and our joy. Finding our purpose is not only spiritually beneficial to the human being, but it is also physically, mentally, and emotionally so because it creates a complete balance in the individual. God is a God of purpose, and He has created us with purpose so that having found it we become a balanced happy people. When youth identify their purpose, they make better life choices and avoid many of life’s challenges such as depression, crushing anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide.
Those who have found their purpose in life whether it is working for racial justice, teaching children with special needs, raising awareness of certain incurable diseases, or volunteering in disaster regions in devastating crisis, have found ways to blend their passion, talents, and care for the world in a way that infuses their lives with meaning. Finding your purpose is tied to better health, longevity, and economic success. It really feels good to have a sense of purpose, knowing that you are using your skills to help others in a way that matters to you because God gave you purpose not only for yourself but to serve others.
He told the prophet Jeremiah, that he was created to be a prophet to the nations not to himself, Peter to be fishers of men not to himself, and the apostle Paul to use his acumen of delivery to stand before kings and the Gentiles, which ended up with him giving of himself to nations and eventually the world at large. It is never about us and our importance but of service. Our purpose is for service.
How to Find Your Purpose In Life
Hardship experienced in racism can prompt one to become a civil rights advocate, domestic violence to be an advocate for domestic violence or severe illness, to pursue medicine. But what do you do when your purpose is not easily obvious to you? Thankfully Kendall Bronk in her research in Greater Good’s Purpose Challenge, developed Seven Ways to Find Your Purpose in Life. She posits:
- Identify the Things You Care About: High school seniors were asked to think about the world around them—their homes, communities, and the world at large—and visualize what they would do if they had the ability to change anything they wanted to change (and why). Afterward, they could use that reflection to consider more concrete steps they might take to contribute toward moving the world a little closer to that ideal. Seniors were asked - What are you good at? What have you done that gave you a skill that can be used for a cause? And What do you care about in your community?
By reflecting on these questions, the older adults can brainstorm ideas for repurposing skills and pursuing interests developed over a lifetime toward helping the world.
- Reflect on What Matters Most: Sometimes it can be hard to single out one or two things that matter most to you because your circle of care and concern is far-ranging. Understanding what you value most may help you narrow down your purpose in life to something manageable that also truly resonates with you.
- Recognize Your Strengths and Talents: We all have strengths and skills that we’ve developed over our lifetimes, which help make up our unique personalities. If in doubt it may be helpful to ask those who know us well and if their feedback confirms what we already know you can run with it, otherwise discard it.
- Try Volunteering: Finding purpose involves more than just self-reflection. According to Bronk, it’s also about trying out new things and seeing how those activities enable you to use your skills to make a meaningful difference in the world. Volunteering in a community organization focused on something of interest to you could provide you with some experience and do good at the same time.
- Imagine Your Best Possible Self: Imagine yourself at 40 years of age if everything had gone as well as it could have in your life. Then, answer questions, like:
- What are you doing?
- What is important to you?
- What do you really care about, and why?
The why part is particularly important because purposes usually emerge from our reasons for caring.
- Cultivate Positive Emotions Like Gratitude and Awe: To find purpose, it helps to foster positive emotions, like awe and gratitude. That’s because each of these emotions is tied to well-being, caring about others, and finding meaning in life, which all help us focus on how we can contribute to the world.
- Look To the People You Admire: Sometimes the people we admire most in life give us a clue to how we might want to contribute to a better world ourselves. Reading about the work of civil rights leaders or climate activists can give us a moral uplift that can serve as motivation for working toward the greater good.
It is however important to note that in finding our purpose in life, we don’t need fame but rather to look to our inner compass and start taking small steps in the direction that means the most to us. Every so often I am reminded of John 1: 9 which tells us clearly that the True Light, which is Jesus Christ lights every man that comes into the world. Each of us has that inner Light that will guide and lead us to our purpose if we seek it and pursue it.
References:
- https://www.discoveringmypurpose.org/support-us/why-purpose
- https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/seven_ways_to_find_your_purpose_in_life
