Living A Life Of Purpose | 10 Tips To Find A Fulfilling Career
The best way to start living a life of purpose is to create a fulfilling career that brings meaning to your life. Why? Because we spend most of our waking time at work.
If you spend a significant amount of time from your day doing something that is not aligned with your life purpose, it will be just a matter of time until you start feeling low, unfulfilled, and that something is missing in your life.
So what do you need to do to live a life of purpose and build a career that makes you feel alive and fulfilled?
#1. Ask yourself how you want to feel.
Have you ever stopped to think about how you want to feel throughout your life?
Here’s a list of emotions that we experience throughout life so you can get a better idea of what I’m talking about:
- energized
- creative
- motivated
- inspired
- joyful
- fulfilled
- connected
- belonging
- meaningful
- useful
- abundant
- valued
- appreciated
When you start living a life of purpose, you’ll be able to experience those feelings on a daily basis. Now feel free to make your own list of how you want to feel or choose from the above list.
If the career that you’re currently in does not make you feel this way, it means that it’s time to be brave and make a change. Taking the first step can be scary, but trust me it’s so damn worth it!
Be honest with yourself and find the courage to make the necessary changes so you can start living a life of purpose.
#2. Check in with yourself to see what you want out of your life.
If you don’t check in with yourself to understand what you want out of your life, you’ll easily end up walking the wrong path. Since we are kids, we are influenced by our parents, the school system, and society in general.
With so many external influences, how can you live a life of purpose if you don’t check in with yourself to see what you actually want out of YOUR life?
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#3. Listen to your intuition & trust your inner voice.
Most of us don’t know that we have an internal guidance system that acts like a compass. Even you have an intuitive inner voice. You might not be aware of it because you’re used to shutting it down.
This means that you trust other people’s advice more than you trust your own.
But does it make sense to you that other people know what’s best for you more than you do? Read that again and let it sink in.
Other people can give you advice with good intentions, but their advice is based on who they are and how they perceive the world. To live a life of purpose you must listen to your inner voice, and trust yourself that you know what’s best for you.
Related: Soul Purpose | I don’t know what to do with my life
#4. Choose a career based on purpose not fancy titles.
When choosing career paths, most of us are misguided. School and society teaches us to pick our careers based on these requirements:
- secure job
- high salary
- career progression
- fancy titles
The problem is that I don’t see ‘fulfillment’, ‘meaningful’, and ‘joyful’ in that list. No wonder why we have so many people who graduated, build successful careers, but feel miserable inside.
Even if you manage to get all the above listed characteristics along with external validation.
Guess what?
You’re still going to feel that something is off or that something is missing in your life because you’re not living a life of purpose and fulfillment. You’re living a life of social validation and survival.
Related: What Is A Basic Requirement For A Fulfilling Career Path? | How to Overcome Fear of Failure in Your Career
#5. Ask yourself what gives your life purpose.
It’s completely natural for humans to seek a meaningful life with purpose. We are evolved conscious beings that are not living just to survive, we’re beyond that.
The fact that we are aware that we’re only here for a limited amount of time is one of the reasons why we feel like we need to do something meaningful with our life. We want to feel useful, and that our time was used for a good cause or to make a difference.
Everyone has a purpose. Whether it’s making a great impact in the world, or whether it’s creating your own business to serve others in any way, you still have a purpose.
Ask yourself what is your purpose and see what answers come up without judgement!
Related: Every Person Has A Purpose In Life | 15 Questions To Discover Your Life Purpose
#6. Write down what kind work would you do for free.
Eliminating the money factor when it comes to choosing a career can help you get some clarity on how to live a life of purpose.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make a lot of money. But money will flow naturally when you’re able to find your life purpose and create a fulfilling career aligned with who you really are.
So ask yourself, if you had all the money you need, what kind of work would you enjoy doing for free?
#7. Figure out your authentic qualities and skills.
What makes you uniquely you? Don’t roll your eyes just yet. You might say that you have the same qualities that some other people might have. But the truth is that you can bring something to life in a unique way which nobody else can.
So write down your authentic qualities and what you’re naturally good at. Combine your authentic qualities with your skills and with what you enjoy doing so you can start making sense out of things.
#8. Map out your core values.
Your core values represent your truth and what is important for you in your life. You might not realize how important your core values are to live a life of purpose. Until you find yourself feeling completely misaligned with your career or your company’s direction and motives.
If your core values are family, freedom, and connection with nature, working as a lawyer doesn’t sound like it’s a good idea.
Mapping out your values helps you understand what’s really important to you so you can respect your core values and live in alignment with your truth.
#9. Not every passion leads to living a life of purpose.
This one can be really tricky. Some people get confused because they have more than one passion. So they feel like they’re being pulled into different directions.
The thing is that not every passion is linked to your life purpose. There are some things that you just enjoy doing them just because. And that’s okay, let them be just passions and enjoy them.
Living a life of purpose goes deeper than a passion and what you enjoy doing. The secret lies behind the ‘why?’ Why do you enjoy doing what you’re doing and what are you trying to achieve with it?
If you learn how to truly listen to your inner voice without judgement, your heart will reveal to you what your life purpose is. You might not know how to make it happen yet, but that’s something that you can work and develop.
Related: Can't Find My Passion In Life
#10. Choose a company that is aligned with your values or create one.
Living a life of purpose doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to quit your job and start your own business. If that’s what you really want, go ahead and do it.
But it’s not the only way. Once you identify what a fulfilling career path looks like for you, you can start seeking companies that are aligned with what you want to do.
Check what vision the company has, the motives, values, and objectives. If you can get some inside info about the company culture even better.
If you have a calling to start an entrepreneurial journey so you can be your own boss, then go for it. Building your own company, brand and career is an thrilling journey that gives you freedom, and the opportunity to create your own community and company culture.
Final thoughts on living a life of purpose
Living a life of purpose requires personal and spiritual growth. This means that you need to challenge yourself out of your comfort zone which will feel scary and uncomfortable.
The truth is that to grow and expand, getting uncomfortable and overcoming your fears is essential. Letting go of my corporate career to become an entrepreneur and start living a life of purpose felt risky and scary.
I had to face my fears, overcome self-doubt, ignore what others thought of my plans, make peace with uncertainty, and just follow my intuition.
Do I regret following my heart and intuition? Hell no!
Was it worth it? 100% YES!
Related: How To Find Courage To Pursue Your Dreams
The best way to start living a life of purpose is through a fulfilling career. We spend most of our waking time at work. So choosing a career based on purpose instead of salaries and fancy titles can help us create a meaningful life with fulfillment.
Living a life of purpose means that you feel that you are doing something meaningful with your life. You feel like you are using your time for a good cause which makes you feel useful and that you’re making a difference no matter how small or big it is.