Is there a purpose in life? Life itself has no purpose but we are the ones creating meaning in life.

Why is finding your Life Purpose important?

Finding your Life Purpose is important in order to:

• create motivation in life
• fulfil the soul’s desire to have meaning
• learn, heal, grow and evolve

A person without motivation or purpose in life will easily fall into depression when one feels disconnected from the inner self. The life purpose affects the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being.

Have you ever felt like life is a drag or that you are dragging yourself out of bed every morning like a zombie? Or looking forward to Friday when it is only Monday?

Or do you feel zest, enthusiasm and passion the moment you wake up? Do you feel a great sense of gratitude for every brand new day?

Do you know the stress level in Singapore for the different age groups? The stress level increases as we age especially those who are over 55 years old.

Stress levels are the highest among Singapore’s over-55 employees (humanresourcesonline.net)

Looking inward

Studying for a degree and getting the certificate does not guarantee that you would get a job. Having a degree also does not define you in terms of life purpose or meaning. You are the one who defines yourself. Who do you want to be?

Finding your life purpose is mostly associated with helping others in your own unique way. Helping others is actually helping yourself and good for your health. It is a way to feel happiness and gratitude by helping others.

Helping Others Is Good for Your Health | Psychology Today

Life purpose does not necessarily have to be grandiose or heroic like saving the world. Life purpose can be as simple as volunteering for a charity, helping the elderly people, writing to express your views on social causes or participating as a social worker. Everyone has their own uniqueness and different ways of contribution to the greater good.

Difference between a Job, Career and Life Purpose

There is a difference between a job, career and life purpose.

A job is mostly to fulfil the bread and butter issue that focus on salary as the reward.

A career is a specialized occupation on a longer term focused on passion, fulfilment and personal advancement. It can interface as the life purpose or life’s work.

A life purpose is aligned to your personal values and inner self’s desire that focuses on helping others for the greater good. It can be your career or something totally different. It usually carries a certain message for humanity. For example, to build a community of like-minded individuals to come together, to bring awareness of social injustices, to inspire young children to be more creative or to promote more compassion and empathy for the elderly.

How do you find your life purpose if you are unsure of what it is? There are a few innovative ways to find your life purpose.

1. Introspection or soul searching

Ask yourself these questions and write down what comes to your mind or heart. Be open and honest with the answers. Do not try to analyse or brush the ideas aside. Do not put yourself down for the thoughts that come. Simply write down whatever that arises.

• What are your personality traits?
• What are your strengths, talents, skills and weaknesses? What are you naturally good at?
• What do you enjoy doing as a child or in your younger days? What do you still enjoy or love to do now?
• What are your values? What is most important to you in life if money is not a problem to you? What are you most concerned about based on what you observe in the world? In what areas would you like to improve or re-create?
• What kind of person do you want to be or hope to be? Why?
• Have you any aspiration on what you want to do in the future? If there is, what is it? Why?
• Are you living to fulfil a family member’s or someone else’s expectations? Are you choosing a path that is not aligned to your personal values? Are there anything that stop you from moving into your ideal career or life purpose?

After you write down the answers to these questions, see if there is a connection to  all the answers or a common theme.

2. Gather feedback from your loved ones, family and close friends

Ask those who know you very well or close to you on what your strengths and talents are. What are the qualities that people praise you about?

3. Try Personality and Aptitude Tests

There are several personality and aptitude tests such as Myers Briggs, Enneagram and Career Explorer that can serve as a guideline to indicate what you are suitable for.

Official Myers Briggs Test & Personality Assessment | MBTIonline

Enneagram Personality Test – Take The Free Test – (enneagramuniverse.com)

Career Test by CareerExplorer

4. Get an astrological and numerology report

This is another fun idea to play with. Your birthday hides a great secret to the universe. It tells a lot on your personality, life purpose, home and family relationships, jobs, career, finances, hobbies, creativity, friends, community, health and spiritual aspects.

5. Get a Human Design or Gene Keys report

In the system of Human Design and Gene Keys, they are built on various concepts and calculations combining astrology, chinese i-ching and Hindu energetic chakra system. You can get your free profile from these hyperlinks below:

Jovian Archive

Free Profile – Gene Keys

6. Talk to a Therapist or Life Coach

Sometimes our Life Purpose is not clear to us because of an emotional or mental block. When you have self-worth issues or low self-esteem, you might have issues trying to identify your strengths and talents. Removing the emotional or mental blocks can help to address the problems to reach more clarity. Or you may feel that you lack the resources to do what you want to do. But it can be just a perception or limiting belief that stops you from moving towards your direction or goal. Talking to a therapist or life coach can give you some advice on how to remove those blocks and the way forward.

If you are still struggling to find your life purpose, fret not. Your life purpose will find you one day when you are ready to embark on that journey. I can assure you that it will be life transforming. In the meantime, be open to what life has to offer you and be willing to learn new knowledge, skill sets and tapping into your inner self’s wisdom and intuition. Learn to listen to your heart and follow your heart to what makes you tick!