One way to motivate yourself to do anything is to develop a sense of purpose and meaning. What is something you do that adds meaning and purpose to your life?
No one wants to go through life feeling empty.
Defining your purpose is the first step to gaining clarity in life.
A sense of purpose meaning
It is referred to as “ikigai” in Japan. It alludes to the practice of establishing a specific aim each morning.
This is any thing you do or engage in that gives you a sense of fulfillment and joy.
It is part of our spiritual needs amongst other things like authentic self expression, time in nature, safe connections, finding true love etc.
Daily sense of purpose leads to wellbeing and, according to study, is also a factor in lifespan.
What gives you a sense of purpose?
In my early teens, I found meaning and purpose through music, pursuing goals and entrepreneurship.
I’ve grown and evolved; some are still part of the list but now in different priorities: Family, health, quality relationships, nurturing my soul, setting goals & accomplishments and overcoming obstacles give me the most meaning and purpose today.
How do you find purpose and meaning for your life?
7 things I found that gives a sense of meaning and purpose:
1. Family
In today’s hustle culture we attribute “success” to doing well in career and finances.
But it doesn’t just have to be related to money; success is also found in how well you’ve created and nurtured strong relationships and been of value to others in your family and community.
I was unhappy the most when I didn’t accept and prioritize the unconditional love my family gave to me.
It made me hold a lot of grudges at such period against my parents particularly my Dad. I felt he didn’t do “enough.”
But frankly, he’s been himself and would always do his best to his abilities and knowledge.
Put your family first
Success is spending time with family.
You didn’t succeed if you were grinding away at work for years, with your head down, to buy a big house and obtain an important job title only to look up and find your friends and family missing or left behind.
Design your life around your business, family & hobbies if you want to live life on your own terms and achieve freedom.
Can your family hold you back?
Sometimes, we struggle with unstable families and personal relationships. Fact is You don’t choose the family you’re born into. But you do choose the family you create.
Too often we battle with family members telling us what we should be doing or not doing especially in terms of taking risks – but realize that this is out of love.
And they don’t have to agree with your ideas or vision.
You may feel the whole world is against you… but you can decide to move to a different environment and grow into the person that you want to become.
Or still, you can disappear for 6 months, change your circle and transform your life.
2. Good health
I don’t have a “perfect health”, but you value your health the most when you lose it.
One of my mission in life is to help people especially entrepreneurs like me stay healthy doing what they love.
Your health is closely related to your lifestyle choices and you take control of your health through better lifestyle choices.
Each little habit is a vote for or against your health. It all adds up in the end.
Health is the greatest wealth
When you rethink fortune wealth is also found in good health, mental health/clarity, self care.
The goal is to become financially stable without neglecting your health
Take personal responsibility for your health
The sooner you realize that your health is a personal responsibility, the better. You can start with studying nutrition books and journals and implement what works for you.
Most times, you can’t explain randomly how broken our food & health system is – until people study for themselves.
Largely because of how much media they consume and have been made to believe. Studying seems to be a solution.
Health affects everything
Health, just like wealth is something that affects everybody we like it or not.
The goal is to move from being insecure and unconfident about your body & health to being confident and spending each day with mental clarity working toward your goals.
The saying is true, “Success in one thing leads to success in others.” For Example:
Success in your health leads to –> success in your relationships –> Wealth
3. Quality relationships
It involves connecting with others and forming deep, meaningful relationships with the most important people in your life.
It’s beyond sexual relationships to how much deep and quality relationship you have.
Are all your friends “acquaintances” that would run away immediately they get what they need from you.
I can tell you no matter how much money you make – you still judge the quality of your life by the quality of relationships you have.
Success is something you attract by the person you become.
It applies also to relationships and business: The partner you attract, clients you work with are often a reflection of yourself.
Ditch limiting beliefs, raise your standards.
Do a reciprocity audit in your relationships
You can’t make someone love you by giving them more of what they already don’t appreciate.
In business, develop close and enduring Relationships (to Employees & customers). Ditch Relationships that no longer serve your vision.
Harsh truth, some relationships are seasonal, some will likely last for a lifetime… but all have shaped me to become a better person.
Have healthy boundaries
Lack of boundaries in your relationships can make others irresponsible but happy and leave you miserable and responsible.
You don’t need people who can’t adhere to any boundaries or healthy relationship rules at all.
I once saw this quote on how relationships work:
“Chemistry gets it started
Similar value keeps it going
Shared vision makes it last”
I’ll add “Minimum effort destroys it all.” Got to keep making emotional deposits else your account goes dry.
4. Service
If you want more purpose in life, focus on service to others. I’m an introvert; I can tell you how much I love my own company.
But no lies, I find myself the most every time I lose myself to something greater than myself.
How do you put service to others into action
Focus in impacting the lives of others.
The world needs people who want to make a positive impact now more than ever.
You don’t need to be an “Expert.” You just need to be a chapter ahead!
Russell Brunson hit the nail on the head in “Expert Secrets” –
“You don’t have to be the most knowledgeable person in the world on your topic, you just have to be one chapter ahead of the people you’re helping..”
The first impact I made on others, was teaching other kids like me. No I wasn’t the smartest. First I was amongst the those that couldn’t catch things fast.
Then I stumbled into Entrepreneurship; it made me take more responsibilities and I’m still learning.
If you wake up every day and try to be as impactful as possible you will always win.
Even if you just manage to have an impact on one person that is a huge achievement. And the more you try and be impactful the more lives you will change.
5. Your Soul – faith & hope.
I believe without nurturing our souls we lose purpose and direction in life. It encompasses our Relationship with God, faith and love for him and others around us.
Lately I’m beginning to notice the level of my happiness is indirectly proportional to how much I feel hopeless.
Your Soul is Priceless
Our souls are among the most priceless things we have to know our purpose
Some habits decrease hope and faith:
- Doing things that go against our values
- Engaging in habits that directly tarnish our souls
- Speaking words that do not edify our souls
- Confessing negative (plus spreading negativity)
- Blaming others for our problems (as against taking responsibility)
- Playing reactive as against being proactive.
“Hope guides me. It is what gets me through the day and especially the night.” – Knight’s tale.
6. Setting goals and a sense of accomplishment
Setting goals and working towards them, no matter how small or large gives us a sense of purpose.
Can you remember your first sale or dollar online?
When you crush said yes?
Seeing the numbers of your successful company a year or two after
Accomplishing that goal you’ve been dreaming of.
When you are intrinsically driven by your purpose, you can accomplish 3 years of work in 3 months.
— DAN KOE (@thedankoe) October 6, 2021
7. Overcoming obstacles can give us a sense of purpose
Overcoming difficulties can be empowering and give you strength to face other challenges. It is the reason people are more confident when they get more competent in life.
Overcoming obstacles gives us a sense of meaning, joy and fulfillment.
Everybody goes through these challenges and obstacles, but those who succeed are the ones who fight through it and stay persistent.
You’ve got to get out of your own way:
- Challenge your inner critic
- Add up to your level of expertise by increasing your knowledge in both learning and action.
- Stay positive: It’s critical to replace any negative thoughts with positive ones in order to keep oneself motivated to keep trying no matter what obstacles arise.
CONCLUSION
If you feel stuck then there is ONLY ONE way to get out and live the life you’re dreaming about… You need to find your purpose and get clear about the next steps in your life.
Life gets dull when we live too easily, when we live without challenges. It is the challenges that help us grow and keep us lively.
So we should consider the problems and challenges as motivators for moving forward in life. Without challenges, we become complacent, life becomes boring and purposeless.
You are responsible to do what brings you a sense of happiness, purpose, and meaning.
I got attracted to tech from an early age getting close to my Father. Coupled with learning some high end skills i was able to build a 6 figure Ecommerce store a few years ago after graduating from Pharmacy.
The only way I have found to express myself as an introvert is through writing.
I’m convinced 100% that to build a 6-7-figure business and beyond you need to invest in yourself and your personal development.
The more you grow, the more your business will grow.
PS: I wrote a short book on why you don’t need more motivation and how to push through in such moments – get it here:
This is a very helpful article! I think it’ll help quite a few people find out what gives their life meaning
Excellent post. A lot of what you write follows inline with some that I write. You have opened my eyes some more and I believe you have helped me on my path. I do believe that #5 should be at the top, but we all find our path in different ways. Take care, God bless and thanks again for the great post