To understand your purpose, look at what you can’t stop doing
Your purpose is much more important than individual goals. It’s the direction that’s right for you. Your purpose arises from your talents and your values. It’s like the horizon. You’ll never get there. You can pursue your purpose for the rest of your life. Martha Beck calls it your North Star.
The fact that your purpose is infinite makes it hard – if not impossible – to pin down. It may only become clear towards the end of your life. Albert Einstein once said, “Strange is our situation here on Earth. Each of us comes here for a short time, not knowing why, yet somehow seeming to divine a purpose.” Fortunately it’s enough to have a sense of purpose, i.e. a sense of direction. You don’t necessarily have to put it into words. You may just have a feeling about whether a particular direction is right for you.
You can gain valuable insights into your purpose by looking at the things you can’t stop doing. When you’re immersed in these activities, you’re likely to lose track of time. This experience has been given many names. Athletes often call it ‘being in the zone’. You don’t think about what you’re doing. You just do it.
I invite you to take a blank sheet of paper and make a list of all the things you can’t stop doing. Then ask your friends and colleagues for ideas on the subject. They will have noticed some that you may have overlooked. To help you get started, here are some of mine:
- Introducing people who may be able to help each other or work together.
- Helping people to develop a new business, book or film.
- Writing books and blog posts that will help people to fulfil their potential.
- Connecting with people on Facebook and Twitter.
- Taking photographs, particularly of people I know and places I visit.
What is it that you can’t stop doing? All comments welcome.
Great post John!!
I did a list of ten things, connecting people came out as the first thing interestingly, followed by nine other things relating back to a sense of purpose and meaning. Following the North Star fills my days with optimism and my nights with visions of what can be.
JP, good stuff; great talk. Made me think about how I started doing some of what I can’t stop doing and what doing it actually means to me. Some of my ‘repetititve’ acts’ are very useful to myself and others, and a few of these behaviours/actions are not. I am also still unravelling those things which I love to do but which I do not let myself do enough of…thanks for the nudge in thinking!
Thanks Zanna – sounds as though you’re on a voyage of discovery. I like adventures.
Another way to approach this is to ask yourself:
Which section of the paper do you always read first? (eg I was a Finance Director but used to read the Arts and international news sections of my FT!)
What do you always talk about (ask your friends to help you out)?
Those are two very interesting questions. I supppose in the latter case it would need to be something that you always talk about because you love it. Many of us have had the opposite experience, i.e. repeatedly discussing something we’re afraid of with our friends. Either way, it’s revealing.
EXCELLENT !!