“If you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to build theirs.”
Tony Gaskins
Are you living with intention and purpose in your journey of life right now, or letting life happen to you and reacting to it accordingly as it comes? I recently saw this 5-minute TED Talk that beautifully captures my belief that life is too short to not fully live our purpose, and would love to encourage you to consider living with more intention today as the speaker encourages. While my personal belief about this comes from suddenly losing my dad when I was 19 years old, it’s absolutely not necessary to have a life-altering event for you to start living intentionally. If you’ve read this far, I’d be willing to bet there a little voice inside tugging at you, telling you that you’re meant for something more, and that there are steps you could take to more fully live the purpose you were put on this earth to fulfill.
You may feel skeptical reading this; perhaps you have family or financial responsibilities to meet, or have built a substantial career in an area other than the one you secretly dream about and are hesitant to change direction. If you’re in a situation where you feel you have to live something other than your purpose for now, my question to you would be: is this the story you want to tell about your life? You have full authority and ability to write any story you choose, and if you don’t, someone else (your boss, your family, or life itself) will write your story for you. There will always be some reason not to go after what you really want in life. Conversely, when we’re living our purpose and fully expressing our unique gifts to the world, others around us not only benefit from those gifts, but also feel inspired to live their purpose, too. If you truly believed that you were meant to do and be so much more, how would you live differently?
Most of us are living in the more reactive than intentional mode, and I see this on a near-daily basis with my coaching clients. There are so many completely rational reasons that can hold us back – the leap from a “stable” job can be terrifying, we may not know what we want to do, or know what jobs exist in the area of our dreams. I won’t “sugar coat” the process: I can tell you with certainty based on my own experience that it is indeed hard work to find and live your purpose. It took me nearly 7 years of searching and learning about myself, exploring different career paths, getting a degree in the area I wanted to go into, finding the courage to quit my salaried job, and walking down a lot of scary paths to be able to fully express my gifts and live my purpose on a daily basis – BUT – it was 100% worth the work.
If you feel you have room to live life more fully, you may be wondering what you can do today (or even right now) to start living more intentionally. If so, I would encourage you in this moment to start by thinking of 1-2 moments in your life that were particularly meaningful or transformative. What did you get in those moments that was so meaningful to you? Or, what did you or a loved one not get that you needed? The answer to these questions often provides insight into what you can give to the world to find fulfillment. For example, someone whose sibling passed of a particular disease could find great meaning and purpose in life by working in a health care industry that emphasizes preventive screenings that help others from losing their loved ones.
This is just one question of many that I ask my clients on the path to their purpose. If you’d like to walk through this or more and live more intentionally today, please set up time to chat with me so I can learn more about how I can help you on the path to your purpose. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you’re living intentionally today in the comments below, and whatever you do, don’t let another day go by without reflecting on what you want your story to be!