Nothing ever created exists without purpose. Even a dumb rock has a purpose. Likewise, every single person is born with a purpose, yet so few people actually know theirs.
Many have not realised that their dream is within them and are living their lives through something their parents desired for them or even worse, something convenience dictated to them. Most people never pursue their own inner passion. But until you find your voice, you will always be singing someone else’s song. However, the world needs your song! I love this quote by Maya Angelou:
“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
No one else can discover your purpose for you. A mentor plays an important role – he can guide you, but only you can lead yourself to the birthplace of purpose. I call this your “burning bush experience.” Taken from the biblical story of the Egyptian prince who became a great leader to his people. His name was Moses. He discovered his purpose when God appeared to Him through a burning bush experience.
If you listen to motivational speakers, all of them encountered a “burning bush experience,” each in their own unique way. This defining moment each one of them is able to trace it back to a particular place, to a particular hour and a particular date. This is how powerful your introduction is to destiny!
I hope that the following questions will assist you in illuminating your Destiny.
How To Discover Your Purpose
1. What do I stand for?
All of us have a particular conviction; a hot button, that when pushed, the juices flow. This marks the instance when we stand up, speak up and be heard, even at the price of death!
As the great Martin Luther Jr. said, “Life is not worth living for until you find something worth dying for.”
So what is it that presses your hot buttons and makes your juices flow? For some, it may be politics, education or religion. For others, it may be music, business or entertainment.
Regardless, something in life makes us stand up and be counted!
Ask yourself, “What will I stand and support even if I’m the only one standing?”
Finding this one thing in your life, is the foundation that you will use to build your future.
“By believing passionately in something that does not yet exist, we create it.” – Nikos Kazantzakis
2. What do I believe in?
Most people live their lives without a personal value system. They’ve never thought through their beliefs, instead they’ve been conditioned by outside influences.
A personal value system is a set of principles that drive and guide your behaviour. It gives you structure and purpose by assisting you to determine what is meaningful and important to you. It also helps you express WHO you are and what you STAND FOR.
A personal value system permits you the experience of joy in unwrapping the gift of belief. Without it, you become robotic in swallowing whatever useless dung is fed to you.
The average person goes through life strolling down the street of scepticism (sceptic about God, marriage, friendship, love, trust and forgiveness). Worse, they are quick to point out what they don’t believe and easily condemn those who believe in something.
When you have searched and struggled to find what you believe in, you won’t be careless to let it slip out of your hands. Moses paid a hefty price to find himself before the unveiling of his purpose.
When you have struggled to prove your belief, it will be even more precious to you than gold.
How many people do you know are travelling down the street of life, focusing on their doubts but are blind about their faith?
The law of focus teaches us that by focusing on what you don’t want, you will actually draw it towards you!
Stop being enchanted by what you despise and begin to focus on what you desire!
What is it that you believe in? Write it down. Speak it out loudly to yourself, when you wake in the morning and when you sleep at night.
Solidify your beliefs and your beliefs will begin to solidify you.
“Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul;
the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.”
— Napoleon Hill
3. What am I discontent about?
Discontentment or dissatisfaction has been characterised as a vice that should be avoided. And yet, ALL progress stems from a healthy discontentment.
When you understand that, Life’s purpose often derives from the place of pain. Progress begins at the point of pain. Pain acts as the ultimate motivator, spurring us on to change. But pain is NOT enough to change you, only knowledge can change you.
Until your present state becomes painful enough, you will not be motivated to change. Attempt to associate pain with losing and it will spur you on to winning.
I love what Maxwell says, “You don’t overcome challenges by making them smaller but by making yourself bigger.”
As long as losing is comfortable to you, you will not appreciate the dramatic actions needed to begin winning. By pinpointing what bothers you, you can begin to pursue what will make you happy.
“Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.” — William Shakespeare
4. What am I passionate about?
Uncovering your passion is to discover your distinction – your difference or uniqueness.
Uncovering your passion is to uncover your potential – your potential is in your passion.
By applying yourself to do what you are passionate about is to increase your chances for success by a thousand fold.
The world, sadly, is full of passionless people. Do not get lost in spending your life engrossed in work that disgusts you and frustrates you.
Boredom is not only the greatest insult to your Maker; boredom is the absence of passion.
“If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.” — Benjamin Franklin
5. What keeps me awake at night?
Do you remember being so excited about something or someone that you couldn’t even fall asleep?
For many people, it has been too long since such a moment existed. Listen to Benjamin Franklin on this pint, “Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.”
When you are young, you are full of energy, every new day holds a new discovery, you want to learn everything that you can and as fast as possible, you are full of ideas on how you could change the world – you are alive!
What stole this from you?
Worry shouldn’t keep you up at night, possibilities should.
Make your dreams so big, so vibrant, so invigorating, so impossible that your future begins to manifest in your present.
“A man is not old until regrets start taking the place of dreams.” Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t wait until tomorrow to start dreaming. Start now!
Perpahs the reason you have dreams when you are sleeping is because you never chose to dream when you are awake!
So God’s only way to get you to dream is to make you sleep! Even then, negativity consumes you so much that your dream turns into a nightmare.
But this isn’t your destiny! You are meant for greater things than this.
Don’t wait to go to sleep to have a dream; have one while you’re awake.
Discover your dream and live it!
“Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.” — Washington Irving
6. What do I want for my life?
Too many people wait until it is too late to ask this question, “What do I want for my life?”
Whatever your age, decide what it is you want to do with your life and then begin moving in that direction.
You have been given the gift of CHOICE. Open the gift and start deciding today!
If you don’t decide what you want for your life, somebody else will.
Without clear-cut goals, you’ll react like dry fallen leaves blown about by the “wind of whatever.”
Don’t let life blow you around in a thousand different directions – Nowhere!
If you do not know what harbour you are headed for, no wind will be the right wind.
Like driftwood, you will be tossed to and fro.
“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” — William Shedd
Start dreaming again, discover your purpose and be counted!
