Life purpose and clear meaning of life help you create a life you love. Reach your potential by discovering your life purpose through personal growth and development.
Discovering your life purpose may be easier than you think by exploring the 14 tips in this article.
When you have a clearly defined life purpose statement, life just gets easier, more efficient, and a lot more satisfying.
If you find yourself asking…
What is my life purpose?
or
What is the meaning of life?
…you will find clarity around your unique life purpose by going through the full article here.
Table of contents
- What is a legacy?
- Discovering Your Life Purpose vs Meaning of Life
- 3 Reasons Finding Life Purpose is Important to Reach Your Potential
- Pros and Cons of Having a Life Purpose
- What is my life purpose?
- Life Purpose Examples
- How to Find Your Purpose in Life: 14 Tips to Reaching Your Full Potential
- 1 – Know Your Value
- 2 – Explore Your Passions
- 3 – Develop a Growth Mindset
- 4- Turn Your Pain and Trauma into Life Purpose
- 5 – Practice Self-Acceptance
- 6 – Create a Vision and Mission Statement
- 7 – Tell Your Personal Life Story
- 8 – Listen to Your Heart
- 9 – Step Outside Yourself
- 10 – Be Part of a Positive Community
- 11 – Give Back
- 12 – Teach and Coach
- 13 – Create an Online Course
- 14 – Make a Living and a Fortune Helping Others by Fulfilling Your Life Purpose
- 3 Things That Keep You From Finding Your Life Purpose
- Take Massive Action with Personal Growth and Development
- Final Thoughts on Finding Your Life’s Purpose and Unlocking Your True Potential
- Additional Reasons to Help You Find Your Life Purpose
What is a legacy?
One way to get more clear on your life’s purpose is to get out of the present moment and think much further into the future.
Think about your life after you are gone.
If you could wave a magic wand, what impact did your life have?
What legacy did you leave behind?
Legacy (noun) – a gift by will especially of money or other personal property.
Merriam Webster
Traditionally a legacy is thought of as money and property (like real estate) that people inherit from their ancestors after they die.
But legacy can be so much more than money, real estate, and other physical valuables.
Broaden your idea of legacy to also include the positive impact you will have had on the lives of others during your life, and even after you are gone.
In terms of who will benefit from your life’s work, think bigger than the legacy you would like to leave your immediate family.
“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”
Steve Jobs
Look for legacy inspiration from historical leaders who left a lasting impact on the world.
- Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity, which revolutionized our understanding of the universe.
- Martin Luther King Jr was a non-violent activist who fought for civil rights in the United States.
- Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, which provides care for the poor and sick.
- Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid revolutionary who became the first black president of South Africa.
- Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity.
These leaders all faced challenges, but with a clear purpose, they persevered and achieved lasting impact on the world.
What is your learning legacy?
There are many ways to impact the world, but one of the most powerful ways to create a legacy of impact is through teaching.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
Not all teaching and education happen in traditional schools.
Anybody can teach in any location or context.
“Teachers” go by many names:
- Teacher
- Coach
- Mentor
- Instructor
- Guide
- Parent
- Instructional Designer
- Course Creator
Learning is the acquisition of information, knowledge, and skills. It’s an ongoing process that takes place throughout your life, not just in the classroom.
If you could help people learn something specific based on your skills, knowledge, and life experience, what would that learning experience be?
“Helping another human being learn and grow is your learning legacy.”
Chris Badgett, LifterLMS CEO
Your learning legacy could be one on one through private coaching or mentoring.
It could be in a group format through seminars or virtual meetings.
Your learning legacy could even have an infinite impact through a self-study online course you create.
What if part of your reason for being was to help others learn something?
Discovering Your Life Purpose vs Meaning of Life
What is the difference between your life purpose and your meaning of life?
The meaning of life is more about significance, whereas purpose is more about a specific direction of action.
For example, my meaning of life might be to embody love and nature connection, but my life purpose might be to lift up others through education.
The meaning of life is an existential concept. It is our way of being in the world.
Life purpose is a life energy concept. It is what we aim to do in the world.
3 Reasons Finding Life Purpose is Important to Reach Your Potential
Finding your purpose is like having a map in the wilderness.
Everything in your life gets easier and more clear when your life purpose is known.
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
Nietzsche
Speed
Your life gets much more efficient when you find your purpose.
Making hard decisions gets much easier. Simply ask yourself, does this decision bring me towards or away from my life purpose?
Having a life purpose is like having a clear destination programmed into a GPS. It’s much easier and faster to get where you are going when the destination is clear.
Not having a life purpose, at its worst, is like a slow-motion life of reacting to life circumstances, chasing pleasures, and falling into escapism behaviors.
Certainty
When your life purpose is clear, life becomes much less uncertain.
You have clear goals and objectives.
You have a sense of agency and control over your life.
It’s easy to get trapped inside some societal narrative or someone else’s goals for you if you haven’t found your life purpose.
Insight
The world makes more sense when you have a clearly defined life purpose.
You have more understanding of who you are and why you’re here.
When you’re actively working towards your life purpose, you see reality through the lens of fulfilling your life purpose.
Without a clear life purpose, your reality can feel much more confusing, random, and chaotic.
Pros and Cons of Having a Life Purpose
Counterintuitively, there are also negative aspects of having a clear life purpose.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| You’ll be able to make faster decisions | Your purpose will likely require much hard work and sacrifice |
| You will have more clarity on what you need to do in life and the results you’ll achieve | It will be harder to spend time with others who aren’t in alignment with your life purpose |
| Your life will have greater depth and meaning | You will experience disappointing setbacks |
What is my life purpose?
Reaching your full potential by discovering your life purpose is not easy.
You were likely not born with a clear purpose ready and waiting for you in your mind.
“Only around 25% of American adults say they have a clear sense of what makes their lives meaningful”
New York Times
Discovering your life purpose requires you to invest in your personal growth and development.
Some of the most powerful life purpose statements are short and clear. But that does not mean your life purpose will be easy to find and articulate.
Keep reading through the examples, tips, and resources below to find your life purpose.
Life Purpose Examples
Here are 3 modern examples of people who took their skills, knowledge, and life experience to discover and express a life purpose by helping others through some kind of learning experience.
Sal Khan – Democratizing Education
Sal is a Bangladeshi-American educator and entrepreneur who is best known for creating Khan Academy, a free online educational platform that provides interactive video lessons on a variety of subjects.
Khan is a self-taught mathematician who began creating videos to help his younger cousin with his math homework. His videos quickly went viral, and he eventually decided to create Khan Academy as a way to share his knowledge with a wider audience.
Khan Academy has since become one of the most popular educational websites in the world, it received 5.5 million dollar donation from Bill and Melinda Gates, and it has helped millions of students learn new concepts and improve their academics.
Kris Carr – Fighting Cancer with Hope and Healthy Living
Kris is an American author, speaker, and cancer survivor who teaches people how to live healthier lives.
Carr was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at the age of 35, and she used her experience to write the book “Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips: How to Get More Out of Life (Even When You’re Dying).” Carr’s book became a bestseller, and she has since gone on to speak to audiences around the world about her story and her message of hope.
Carr is a passionate advocate for healthy living. She teaches people how to make small changes in their diet and lifestyle that can have a big impact on their health.
Hannah Fry – Sharing the Beauty of Mathematics through Love
Hannah is a British mathematician and author who teaches people about the beauty of mathematics.
Fry is a professor of mathematics at the University of Bristol, and she is also the author of the book “The Mathematics of Love: How Math Explains the World of Relationships.” Fry’s book explores the mathematical principles that underlie our human relationships. It shows how math can be used to understand everything from attraction to breakups.
Fry is a gifted communicator, and she uses her knowledge of math to explain complex concepts in an engaging and informative way.
How to Find Your Purpose in Life: 14 Tips to Reaching Your Full Potential
Finding your life purpose is not easy.
Explore these 14 tips to help you discover your unique life purpose.
1 – Know Your Value
Many people discount their unique value and contribution to the world.
You are unique and have something extremely valuable inside of you.
It’s ok to not be humble when you think about the meaning of your life. Dream big.
How will you change the world in this life and beyond?
2 – Explore Your Passions
Life’s purpose is often hiding in plain sight inside of our passions.
Skills are important. You’re likely paid at your job for your valuable skills. But do you love what you do for work? What are you actually passionate about?
Ziv Raviv is passionate about tying animal balloons as a form of entertainment, and he made $277,000 per year teaching others how to tie animal balloons.
What do you love to do, that you would do all the time (and lose track of time while doing it)?
List out all of your serious and casual passions.
3 – Develop a Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is a belief that intelligence and talent can be developed through effort
A fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence and talent are innate and cannot be changed.
Maybe you are still becoming the person you’re meant to be.
Have you gotten trapped away from your life purpose because of a fixed mindset?
How can you help people grow that already have a growth mindset?
How can you help people with a fixed mindset, overcome and transition to a growth mindset?
4- Turn Your Pain and Trauma into Life Purpose
Maybe the worst parts of your life hold the seeds of your life purpose.
Perhaps what hurt you the most in your life is the very trauma that you’ll help others overcome.
As examples, you could turn:
- The pain of growing up poor into helping people become wealthy through entrepreneurship and investing
- Your battle with obesity into a health and fitness empire
- Your miserable marriage and divorce into a healthy positive dating and relationships program
What wrong in your life would you want to make right in the world?
5 – Practice Self-Acceptance
You don’t have to have the same life purpose as someone you respect or admire.
You are unique in this world, and your life purpose is unique to you.
Don’t let others choose your life purpose for you.
Accept who you really are and what you care about.
Without judgment, what do you really want out of life?
6 – Create a Vision and Mission Statement
Vision is the world you want to create. Mission is how you’re going to get there.
If you’re lucky your personal and professional vision will be the same and roll up into a unified life purpose statement.
“For me, my personal and professional vision is to lift up others through education. Lifting up others through education is my life purpose.”
Chris Badgett, LifterLMS CEO
What kind of world do you want to create for yourself and future generations?
7 – Tell Your Personal Life Story
We all have a story to tell from our life experiences.
You may not think your life is exciting or notable, but there’s unique value in your life story.
Maybe you have already achieved some goals in the direction of your life purpose, even if you haven’t articulated what your life purpose is yet.
What life lessons have you learned?
If a writer wrote a biography about your life, what were the key events so far?
What is the story of your life?
8 – Listen to Your Heart
Sometimes your life purpose finds you.
Without trying to control the process, ask your subconscious mind at bedtime:
- What is the meaning of my life?
- What is my life’s purpose?
- Why am I here?
Go out into nature with the intention to discover your life purpose.
Meditate on your life’s purpose.
What is your heart trying to tell you?
9 – Step Outside Yourself
Making lots of money, achieving a strong healthy body, and being loved and adored by others is cool. But what if your life purpose is not just about your success?
If your purpose were only about helping others…
Who would you help?
What outcome would you help them achieve?
“If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”
Zig Ziglar
10 – Be Part of a Positive Community
We can find shared purpose and meaning in the communities we participate in.
Maybe part of your life’s purpose is to go on a journey within a positive nurturing community.
What group of people do you love spending time with?
When have you been part of a group that had a significant positive impact on others?
What community of people are you not in currently, but would love to join?
If you could design an ideal community, what would it look like?
11 – Give Back
Did other people, institutions, or inventions help you achieve some success in your life?
Maybe you don’t need to invent anything new. Maybe your life purpose is about “carrying the torch” and giving back to those that nurtured you in a positive direction.
Who and what contributed most to your success and helping you overcome challenges?
If you had a million dollars to give away today, where would you donate it to as a form of gratitude for helping you and empowering the future?
Who or what is your biggest debt of gratitude to?
12 – Teach and Coach
Teaching and coaching others is a powerful way to fulfill your potential.
Perhaps you learned something valuable in your life, and you became an expert in using that knowledge, regularly putting it into practice successfully. Have you ever taught that thing to someone else?
If you could teach or coach others on any topic, what would it be?
Could you help people create:
- Wealth
- Health and fitness
- Better relationships
- Something else?
What are your areas of subject matter expertise?
What’s your niche?
What specific results could you help others achieve?
13 – Create an Online Course
There’s a course inside all of us.
Your life purpose and legacy may include creating a free or paid digital online course that is available worldwide to anyone.
Similar to a book, your online course could survive beyond your life and help people for many generations to come.
If you were to productize your most valuable impactful knowledge, skills, and life experience into an online course, what would the topic be?
What would you name your online course?
If you were to chunk your online course down into individual lessons, what would the course outline look like?
14 – Make a Living and a Fortune Helping Others by Fulfilling Your Life Purpose
Making money and making a difference do not have to be separate activities.
If you could teach online, make the world a better place for some, and become wealthier as a byproduct, what would you teach?
Who would you help?
Who do you admire that is both wealthy and helped a lot of people?
What could you do that if it made you extremely wealthy, you would have absolutely no guilt around how you made the money?
3 Things That Keep You From Finding Your Life Purpose
These are the 3 main obstacles to discovering your life purpose. Try and avoid and overcome these common challenges.
Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is the feeling of inadequacy, even though you have achieved success. You may feel like you don’t deserve your accomplishments, or that you’re going to be “found out” as a fraud.
To overcome imposter syndrome, you need to challenge your negative thoughts, focus on your strengths, and celebrate your accomplishments.
Limiting Beliefs
Limiting beliefs are negative thoughts about yourself that hold you back.
Common limiting beliefs include:
- I’m not good enough.
- I’ll never be successful.
- I’m not capable of doing that.
Overcome limiting beliefs by identifying them in the first place, challenging them (feel the fear, and do it anyways), and surrounding yourself with supportive people, peers, & mentors.
Lack of Progress
There’s nothing more demotivating than not making any progress in the direction of your life’s purpose.
Don’t give up early.
The key to unlocking your true potential is making consistent progress over a long time horizon.
Celebrate the small wins.
Setbacks are part of the process.
Surround yourself with helpful people, resources, and habits to keep you motivated and moving consistently in alignment with your life’s purpose.
Take Massive Action with Personal Growth and Development
A life purpose is lived more than it is described.
While it is important to craft a life purpose statement, living on purpose is the most important part.
We are all a work in progress.
Focus on your personal growth and invest in personal development so you can continue to become the best version of yourself.
“Life is a journey, not a destination. The important thing is not to arrive but to travel well.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Final Thoughts on Finding Your Life’s Purpose and Unlocking Your True Potential
Reread and spend some time with each of the 14 tips to find your purpose in this article.
Practice writing a short 1 sentence life purpose statement. Try multiple variations. When it’s right, you’ll know because you will feel very clear, energized, and inspired when you read it.
Consider creating a learning legacy as part of your purpose where you teach online through an online course on some topic that you are an expert in.
When you teach online, you have the potential to reach anyone in the world, make a difference in the lives of many, and make money online.
Additional Reasons to Help You Find Your Life Purpose
Sometimes it’s helpful to look to others who are expressing their life purpose. Explore these examples of people teaching online as part of their life purpose.
Also take the free 5-Day Course Plan Challenge to figure out more clarity around what your life purpose is and what exact course you could make that is in alignment with your unique life purpose.
