What’s my Why? How do I find my Purpose? Two of the most frequently asked questions during Life Coaching!
The first step to understanding is knowing that Your Purpose is all about you. Your Purpose can encompass others, but it must be driven by your dreams, visions, values, and have Your ‘kick-ass’ why driving it.
Purpose versus Why
It is often said: “When a Why is big enough, human beings are capable of achieving the most incredible things”.
So what is the difference between having a Purpose and having a why? In simple terms, your purpose is ‘to have something as one’s intention or objective.’ So, it is Your Mission, an ultimate goal or dream. Your ‘Why‘ is the reason behind wanting that outcome! This is driven by Your Vision.
Linking Purpose, Values to Your Why
Linking your purpose, allows you to bring your massive “Why” to everything you do and every corner of your life. But if you don’t know ‘why’ or do not have your values aligned with your goals, 
everything you do will be a low priority for you, and a high priority for someone else. Simply said: If you don’t know what you want, your day will be filled by creating satisfaction for everyone else.
Don Juan, the famous Mexican Shaman once said: “For me, there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking breathlessly.”
Heartfelt Purpose
What does this mean? In a nutshell: ‘Whatever you do in life, make sure it has heart.’ And it is impossible to put ‘the heart’ into anything until you give it meaning. The reason that Purpose is so important is that it gives meaning to whatever we do in life. Human beings are ‘meaning-making – Goal setting’ creatures and therefore, we constantly want to put meaning onto the tasks we are doing for us to remain enthusiastic and inspired and see the tasks through to completion.
Looking for Purpose
When you are looking for your purpose, it is essential that ‘the purpose’ relates first of all to you. What do I mean by that? We can get ‘enrolled’ by the enthusiasm of others thinking ‘their purpose is your mission’. “My purpose is to feed the starving kids in Indian”. It is a very noble idea, but what happens if that is resolved! If your Mission in life depends on you fulfilling the desires of someone else, then your happiness is at the mercy of other people, and you will always need others in order to feel fulfilled.
Knowing Your Purpose
Knowing your purpose is not about other people. You will feel inspired to do ‘a,b,c’ because it aligns with your ultimate goals. You will ask yourself questions such as: “Does this task I am about to do support my mission and vision in any way, shape or form?” If no, you won’t do it! If asked to do things for others, quickly subconsciously assess o your priorities and have no hesitation in saying “No” or “You know what that doesn’t align with my goals right now, sorry”
Everything you do will be justified, related to, or inspired by your highest value, your mission in life. Even time management becomes easier and simply seems to flow.
As I said, whatever you do, follow your heart, live authentically, follow your dreams! That is the key to happiness. It is all about you. When aligned, you can achieve extraordinary things and you will change the world.