The Path to Purpose is Through Your Values

Purpose is everywhere lately. Purpose, purpose, purpose. Follow your heart.
 
Who hasn’t heard about this? It’s everywhere, but I catch myself wondering… what does that even mean?
 
Your purpose is the final answer to why you are doing something. It is the answer that is so resonant that it feels settled and whole and real in the bottom of your belly.
 
Finding your life purpose is a practice. It is an iterative practice: we may have many purposes over our lives and purpose can shift and grow and change.
 
So- how do you get there? How do you identify what is your purpose?
 
Take a second, and get quiet. Be still. Quiet enough to hear that faint voice inside your belly.
 
Turn your brain off. Turn your heart on. I think it’s helpful to actually turn off an imaginary switch near your ear, and turn on an imaginary switch over your heart.
 
Take a piece of paper and fold it into quarters. Now, to help you figure out what your purpose is…
 
Part One:
On the top left corner, I want you to write words and draw pictures about the times in your life when you felt happiest. Who was there? What were you doing? Really think about each of the experiences, and the qualities that made you really happy and alive related to that experience. Label those qualities for each experience.  

On the top right corner, brainstorm about the time you felt most proud and visionary. What was happening? How did you feel, and what were you doing? Again, label the qualities.  

On the bottom left, note experiences where you have lost track of time because you were so engrossed, so in love, or having so much fun. Remember them in detail, and consider the qualities for each experience.
 
Part Two:
Review each of these life-giving experiences. What do you see across these stories? What are the qualities that keep showing up? What people, communities, relationships, or activities do you see in more than one place on your paper? In the remaining quadrant, list those qualities/ideas/activities that show up for you in multiple places. These are your values.  
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Ok- so now we’ve got an idea of your values. Like your purpose, your values will probably shift and change. You might want to add to them or change them- and you can. This is a living document. You can see mine at the bottom of this post (and yours doesn't have to look exactly like this, and you don't have to share with anyone, so let yourself be creative!). 

But- to get to our purpose, we need to know what we hold most dear. Check out my next post to learn more about how to move from identifying and working with our values to shining a light on and discovering our purpose.