Hey everyone, and welcome to TopThink.
Today, we are going to learn about how to know your life purpose in 2 minutes.
Now, let’s begin.
Everyone wants to find their purpose.
You want something to dedicate your life to—something to satisfy and fulfill you.
But only a select few discover their calling.
The majority of people spend their lives searching for a meaningful path.
According to the New York Times, about 25% of Americans have a clear purpose in their
life.
That’s a very small percentage.
That means 75% of people lack a sense of purpose.
They feel unfulfilled and unsatisfied.
But how do you know what to look for?
What does purpose actually look like?
Purpose is a tricky thing.
Most people misunderstand or simply don’t know what it means to find your purpose.
They’re not looking in the right places, so they never find the satisfaction they crave.
Imagine a successful businessman.
He lives in a beautiful house by the beach.
He has a happy family, drives an expensive car, and owns his own company.
On the surface, he has everything.
Surely he has found his purpose, right?
Wrong.
Day in and day out, he feels unhappy.
He doesn’t like the life that he’s living.
Yes, he is successful, but his successes are meaningless to him.
He made the choices he thought he was supposed to make.
He chased the lifestyle he thought he was supposed to have.
On the surface, he constructed the ideal life.
But, along the way, he forgot to make himself happy.
He ignored his passions, and now he feels unsatisfied.
What went wrong?
Why does our businessman feel unfulfilled?
He got wrapped up in everything purpose isn’t… and forgot what purpose really is.
People will tell you that purpose is a myth.
A cliché.
A fairytale reserved for books and movies.
To some extent, they’re right.
Society pushes on you a fairytale version of purpose and calling.
People imagine their purpose as one all-consuming passion that motivates and brightens the rest
of their life.
That kind of purpose… doesn’t exist.
But that doesn’t mean purpose is a fantasy.
It’s just misunderstood.
The truth is… you have a purpose.
Your calling exists, and it’s something you can discover all on your own.
Before you can find your purpose, you need to understand what purpose really looks like.
Not the fairytale or the cliché.
I’m talking about the real thing.
First, let’s ask a basic question.
Is purpose a good thing?
Should you spend your life searching for a sense of purpose?
Luckily, we have a healthy backbone of scientific studies on our side.
In 2019, a study from the journal Frontiers in Psychology discovered a significant relationship
between purpose and happiness.
Researchers used a purpose-driven support system to increase productivity, performance,
and happiness over time.
In other words, purpose improved their quality of life.
In 2016, another study investigated the power of purpose.
This study, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, found that a sense of purpose
impacts your career.
Individuals who felt purposeful were more likely to find long-term success.
These are just a few of the many studies detailing the positive impact of purpose.
So, is purpose worth pursuing?
The research speaks for itself.
Now, let’s get to the hard part.
When I say “your calling” or “your purpose,” what do you think of?
Most people think of a job or a career path.
The term purpose has become synonymous with professional ambitions.
You hear phrases like, “business is my calling” or “writing is my purpose on this earth.”
But is that what purpose really means?
Purpose is not a role, a job, or a physical thing.
It’s abstract and intangible.
It can be a feeling, a question, a goal, or a journey.
People think their purpose stems from their career.
You may say your job title is your calling.
But is the job itself a source of meaning in your life?
Or is it the impact you have on others?
Is it the feeling you experience when doing something you love?
Let’s say someone works at a food bank.
On a daily basis, they distribute food to the less fortunate.
This person may say, “my purpose is to give food to people in need.”
But that’s not quite right.
Their purpose is not to distribute food.
It’s to spread kindness in their community—to help other people and improve their lives.
Their job, like most jobs, is just one avenue to bring their purpose to life.
The Arts are another path commonly associated with purpose and calling.
A painter may say that painting is her calling, but that’s not what she really means.
Through her work, she discovers something greater—a feeling, an idea, or a concept
that makes her work worth doing.
That is her calling.
That is her purpose.
Here’s another common myth about your purpose.
People say you can only have one purpose, but that’s not true.
Purpose is not a singular or static thing.
In other words, it grows, changes, and multiples throughout your life.
Our painter, for example, may paint for different reasons at different stages in her career.
In her younger days, she paints to be recognized.
After years of experience, she may change her focus.
She may paint to teach others or make a statement about society.
Her career remained the same, but her calling changed.
One purpose faded, and another rose to take its place.
My point is… your purpose lives in the present.
Your purpose is something you love today.
Something that inspires you today.
It may inspire you tomorrow too, but it may not.
And that’s okay.
You’ll find something new, but never stop searching for your calling.
Without it, life begins to feel empty.
You forget why you do the things that you do.
Over time, you grow unhappy.
Now, we know what purpose is.
It’s abstract.
It changes.
And it stems from things you truly love in your life.
But today’s big question has yet to be answered.
How do you find your purpose?
Can you find your calling in just 2 minutes?
Purpose is not as evasive as you think.
Because you’re not searching for some fantastical idea to occupy years of your life.
Your purpose will start small and grow over time.
But, unless you challenge yourself to identify that purpose, you’ll never start growing.
Here’s the good news.
You already know what your purpose is.
Your purpose is already somewhere in your brain.
You just don’t know where to look.
Purpose is like a piece of cake hidden in the back of the fridge.
You open the fridge, and you see a bunch of food that you don’t want.
You don’t see the cake, because it’s hidden in the back row… but that doesn’t mean
the cake isn’t there.
For the rest of this video, we’re going to find the gem or piece of cake hidden in
the back of your brain.
How?
With three simple questions.
Question #1: What do you love to do?
Passion will always be the foundation of your purpose.
If you aren’t passionate about something, then you’re not going to feel satisfied
or fulfilled when you do it.
The problem is… few people take the time to figure out what they love.
They go through the motions.
They satisfy expectations.
They live like the businessman we talked about earlier in this video.
Right now, you’re to get specific with the things you love.
To get the most out of this exercise, take out a sheet of paper.
Put your passions into words.
Write down three to five things that you genuinely love.
For this question, and the next two, be completely honest with yourself.
If you don’t love your job, don’t write down your job.
Only write down the things you truly enjoy.
Maybe it’s a hobby.
Maybe it’s spending time with your family.
Everything you love belongs on this list.
Question #2: Why do you do the things you love?
Take a look at each item on your list.
Can you explain why you love each of these things?
Challenge yourself to write down two reasons for each one.
Again, be as honest as you can.
If you like something because it makes you feel powerful, write that down.
If you like something because you feel attractive, that’s okay too.
There are no wrong answers.
As you work on your list, you may notice some patterns developing.
These are important.
You may, for example, notice that you like creating things.
Maybe you write, draw, build, or craft because you enjoy making something from nothing.
That’s a pattern worth paying attention to.
Patterns like these get you one big step closer to your purpose.
Question #3: What impact do your favorite things have?
The final question may be the most revealing.
Think about how others are impacted by each thing you love.
Do your favorite activities improve peoples’ lives?
Do they make your friends smile?
Do they help your family when times are rough?
Again, you’ll notice patterns.
You may notice many of your favorite things positively influence the environment.
Or your community.
Or yourself.
Every impact is important and valuable.
Look at your list as a whole.
Using these three questions, you have defined your life purpose.
You’ve discovered what you love.
You’ve explored why you love it.
And you’ve seen the impact you have on others, your environment, and yourself.
That’s where the meaning in your life comes from.
Channel that meaning or purpose into something that inspires and fulfills you.
Find a job, a group, or a hobby that aligns with your calling.
If you follow that calling, no matter where it leads you, you will discover happiness
and personal success.
Thank you for watching TopThink, and be sure to subscribe, because more incredible content
is on the way.