You’re the only person who can discover your greater reason for being.
So I want you to ask yourself the following questions. Take your time with each one, but listen to your gut.
Don’t analyze or second-guess. What does your inner voice say?
- What specific aspects of your career (or vocation) do you find most fulfilling?
- What aspects of your volunteer/community time do you find most fulfilling?
- List 3 moments at work in the past year that you found truly meaningful.
- What do the 3 moments from Question 4 all have in common?
- When you think about the world we live in, what brings you discontent? If it were up to you, what would you fix about the world? Martin Luther King found his purpose in his discontent with civil rights. Steve Jobs was discontent that no one was making computer technology easily accessible to everyday people. What about you?
The insights you glean from these questions will be clues to your greater purpose. Don’t worry if it isn’t crystal-clear right away. It can take time to emerge. But if you’re open and patient, the answer will arise.
Leadership Development: Do more than just reading these questions and doing a quick answer in your head. Actually get out a notebook or a piece of paper and write your answers down. Circle the moments/themes that emerge and post this on your mirror or your computer screen for the next two days. Then schedule time in your calendar to re-evaluate your answers and hopefully feel closer to your greater purpose.
If you liked this blog post, you’ll love my book Lead + Live: 6 Practices to Live Bigger.