There once was a time when kids would grow up and choose a career to go into. It would likely wind up being a trade of some sort or something they would need college education for. Once college was over, they would marry someone that was swell, have 2.5 kids, and things were merry. Finding your purpose more or less equated to being a productive member of society. Dotting all the “i’s” and crossing all the “t’s” were enough to earn you a good deal of favor.

Happiness, I’m not too sure. But favor for the sake of fitting in? Gold star! Chillin’ out in the middle class meant easy coasting as long as you followed the formula.

But these days, this reality is waning. As in…the middle class is shrinking. According to this article from Forbes Magazine, it’s getting harder and harder to make ends meet with jobs that once were enough to pay all the bills. In addition, many careers that are putting food on the table today are projected to be eliminated by the mid-2020’s. According to this article, although unemployment may be at an all-time low, these “jobs” are also low-paying, meaning that it takes holding more than one of them just to get by.

So what the heck are we supposed to do with this information?

I know that these facts are totally freaky. I mean, what in the heck are we supposed to do with this information? It seems as though the world is going to hell in a hand basket!

The fact is, finding your purpose is a key element of living an overall happy and healthy life. Things have changed. I know so many people that simply hate what they’re doing. They’re terribly miserable (and in some cases, even sick) because of it. Martha Beck, famous life coach, author, and contributor for Oprah Magazine, discussed how her career in academia left her body riddled with fibromyalgia (check out this article for the story). After following her body’s stirrings, she eventually found herself taking “turtle steps” toward what she does today…showing others how to live their lives in full alignment with what is true for them. She followed her heart, as well as the voices of her body, and today she is making a HUGE impact on the world. **Side note…I recently completed her Wayfinder Life Coach Training program and it was AMAAAZING!

Martha paved her own way. She knew that no matter what, there was no way that she could be 100% happy if she continued doing something that her mind and body HATED.

…and I’m right behind her. After teaching with the US system for the past 15 years, my mind and body began retaliating. This gave me the juice that I needed to begin doing exactly what I am doing right now…writing to you!

Your body is constantly providing you with clues as to what your true calling is. You just need to listen.

I could go on and on about this for decades. We are living in a time when finding your purpose is dependent on combining the things that you are naturally great at with what you LOVE to do. I fear that the consequences of not doing this are going to be quite hefty. It simply doesn’t pay to “fit into the box” any more. It’s time to start busting out and being creative. Yes, this means looking fear straight in the face, even when it is painful, and taking courageous action that FEELS right.

These aren’t normal times, my friend. These days we need to be more creative and courageous than ever. This requires getting really quiet and tuning in to what your mind, body, and heart want. It means doing some serious homework and exploring what FEELS right…in your body. It means sitting down and getting clear about who it is that you feel CALLED to help out during your time on this planet. It means creating a career that is ideally suited for just you.

You can read more about using the body’s wisdom to help you find your purpose in this post: How to Find Yourself Using Your Body’s Wisdom.

Tips for finding your purpose

There are a whole slew of things that you can do to find your thing. As was stated above, your thing is going to be a mixture of combining what you love with what you’re naturally good at, and then serving the needs of a particular group of people you are so passionate about that you wouldn’t mind giving up nap time so that you can see them smile. You want to find yourself so dang geeked about helping your people and doing your thing that you want to jump out of bed early every morning, singing like the VonTrappes. Why do you want this?

Gratitude. You will be so grateful that you are doing your thing, serving your people, that you will be overflowing with gratitude that you are on mission. You know what comes next?

Money. Fat cash. I know I haven’t talked much about abundance principals, but this is just a given. When you are livin’ in a space that is allowing you to feel the way you want to feel after you have mad cash rollin’ in, it’s like broadcasting to the universe, “Hey! I’m wide open to receive.” It just happens.

If you’re serious about figuring out what your “thing” is, grab a notebook and plan to go to town writing! Give yourself time. Allow yourself to complete this within a week or so.

Tip #1: What have you always loved doing?

Go all the way back to the time in your life where you have your earliest memories. What do you remember LOVING doing? Write all of these things down. It may look something like:

Age 3: I loved ballet. I also loved bugs. I wanted to heal them when people hurt them.

Age 5: I loved music and pretended to speak other languages. I also loved plants and even talked to them.

Okay, maybe I was a strange kid. You get the gist. Write out ALL of your interests up until the present day. Give yourself a day or so to do this.

Tip #2: What challenges have you had?

This was an assignment I had as part of my coaching program, and it was amazing. I keep going back to it.

Think about all of the times in your life that you learned a significant lesson. Make a bulleted list of events that happened for each of those stories. This assignment might take a few days, and even a week. You may only come up with a few stories at first, but then get ready for the faucet to start flowing. Before long, your revealing stories will come forward.

Remember that nobody interprets your stories like you do. This is what makes you unique. THIS, my friend, is your special sauce.

Don’t allow this assignment to end. For this, you may just want to open up a Google Doc and keep it running!

Tip #3: Find your tribe.

After walking through the few tips above, consider who it is that might benefit from your message. This is who you are being called to help. Plain and simple. Consider what motivates them. What is it that angers them? What are their challenges? What do they love? Where do they hang out? What are their biggest pain points? What brings them the most joy? Whatever you come up with, write it down. This will provide fuel for your fire. We, as humans, are pack animals. We want to feel like we are contributing. This tip alone is essential in helping you find your people…your “tribe”.

Tip #4: Use Your Body Compass.

This process is pretty straight forward. The first thing you need to do is this Body Scan Meditation. Next, think about an event in your life that you would never, ever want to experience again. Dive into your body. How did it make you feel (physically)? Where did you feel it? What did it feel like? On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the WORST pain, and 10 being AWESOME), how would you rank it?

Shake that off.

Next, think about an event in your life that you LOVED. Dive into your body. How did it make you feel (physically)? Where did you feel it? What did it feel like? On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the WORST pain, and 10 being AWESOME), how would you rank it?

Tip #5: Go with what FEELS good

This goes right along with Tip #4. You need to go with what FEELS good to you in order to live a purpose driven life. Take a second to feel what it was like to experience that AMAZING experience you thought up when you did the last exercise. Next, think about an idea that you are entertaining at the moment. How does it make you feel? It is moving the needle more toward the “not so good” or the “good” end of the spectrum? Again, you’re going to need to make sure that you do a good practice like the Body Scan Meditation prior to trying out the previous exercise.

Finally…

Look…our system is not made up to create little entrepreneurs. It just isn’t. Our system was created for college-bound kiddos that are GREAT at fitting in behavioral boxes and filling in the correct bubbles for math and language arts tests. The thing is, our economy and our infrastructure depends on purpose driven entrepreneurs to create a world that is extraordinary. Why else would we, as humans, be created with the incredible range and “flavors” that we have been gifted with? It is our duty, on this planet, to show off what our mamas (and papas) gave us so that we can create the world of tomorrow.

Careers are no longer careers. They’re callings. I know the tremendous weight that this places on your shoulders. At the same time, this is exactly why you need to step into it. You were born with gifts and talents. You were given a mission. Step into it!

Remember, the first step to understanding the signals that your body is telling you and living a purpose driven life is by stepping into it. Make sure that you download the Body Scan Meditation and practice it every day in order to get more acquainted with the language that your body is speaking to you!

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