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Your life’s purpose is unique to you, as singular as your fingerprint. Some refer to their life’s purpose as their calling or even their destiny.
Essentially, your life’s purpose is the reason you are here. Since your life’s purpose is about accomplishing what gives you meaning and fulfillment, it naturally affects you on other important levels of your existence:
Soul: Your whole heart and being are deeply connected to your purpose. As such, you must nurture, protect, and cherish it at all times.
Spiritual: As the French Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once said: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Spirituality is a broader concept than religion, although religion can be one expression of it. Other expressions of spirituality include prayer, meditation, spending time in nature, generosity to causes, and more.
Essentially, spirituality is a deep, soulful connection to God — or however you choose to identify God: Divine Source, Higher Power, Source Energy, Spirit, or Infinite Intelligence. You are connected to Divine Source Energy at all times. Therefore, your life’s purpose is also a manifestation of your spirituality.
Emotional: Since your life’s purpose impacts your heart, soul, and spirit on a deeper level, your emotions and feelings are also naturally impacted. The main emotion that your life’s purpose can bring you is love, including love for your purpose, love for your passion, and love for how you can affect others and the world.
Psychological: Your mind-set plays a major role in helping you nurture and accomplish your life’s purpose. Having the right strategies and tools at hand will be a source of support for you. When you do encounter obstacles and experience limited states of mind, know that these represent only temporary clouds (your thoughts) that eclipse the sun (your true state of being).
Physical: Accomplishing your purpose on the physical level means taking consistent and intentional actions to make it a reality, since without action, the best plans will not bear fruit. Taking intentional actions also includes trusting your intuition, leveraging the various Universal Laws and Spiritual Laws, and not letting opportunities pass you by.
The Difference Between Life Purpose, Vision, and Mission
We need to distinguish life purpose from vision and mission since the three are sometimes used interchangeably. Simply, your mission is the way you choose to fulfill your purpose, and your vision is a compelling image of the future.
Your life’s purpose, however, is what Paulo Coelho calls your “Personal Legend.” He describes it in his book The Alchemist as “what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend.”
As we grow older, it becomes easier to get disconnected from our authentic and innermost dreams of what we really wish to accomplish. Our fears and doubts begin to surface, as well as the fact that society, and even our family, does not always help us to nurture these dreams. As a result, we tend not to honor our dreams for fear of failure, fear of hearing those dreaded words “I told you so,” or fear of getting it wrong.
Often what happens is that people become resigned to what they think they “should” be and do, and they move forward in their lives by just existing. In other words, they settle, accepting less than what they originally sought and felt they truly deserved.
Soul-Searching to Reconnect with Your Life Purpose
When I work with clients, I am amazed at how often they become tearful when they start reconnecting with their real purpose and dust off their innermost dreams. The truth is that life happens, and we simply do not take the time to check in with ourselves and nurture what really brings us joy, meaning, and fulfillment.
As for myself, my life’s purpose did not automatically surface for me, and it did take some soul-searching to reconnect with it. My life’s purpose is to understand and create wealth — in all its forms — and to help others do the same. As my path unfolded, I realized a more meaningful way to express my purpose by empowering women to claim their wealth and to thrive — living lives of purpose, wealth, and significance while being a force of good in the world.
Let me ask you this:
- What is your life’s purpose?
- Are you living it?
- What gives you fulfillment and meaning?
- How are you expressing your life’s purpose through your life’s work?
Each of us has a wonderful opportunity to express our passions and achieve our goals and dreams through our life’s work. In fact, when you are aligned with your purpose, your work becomes an expression of your passions and of the contribution that you want to make to the world.
The three best ways to discover your purpose and align it with your life’s work are, first, tapping into your passion, because your passion leaves clues as to what really fulfills you; second, reconnecting with your greater “why” and purpose with money, which will act as a motivator for why you are doing what you are doing; and third, creating your purpose and impact statement. Let’s talk about these three techniques in greater detail.
Fuel Your Passion
The first and most important way to discover your life’s purpose is to connect with your passion. Many people may confuse searching for their passion with an external pursuit. The truth is that your passion is already within you at this very moment.
Your passion already provides you with a source of enthusiasm, energy, and focus in any activity you are drawn to. And when you can express your passion through your life’s work, you are better able to get into alignment with the energy and flow of attracting abundance into your life.
Here I want to share a fun exercise that I created called the Passion Treasure Quest, which will help you tap into your passion by providing clues about what awakens your enthusiasm, as identified in everyday situations. (You can download the complete exercise here). In the same way that success leaves a footprint, so does your passion. This exercise will help you discover it.
To go on your passion quest, please answer the following questions:
- What do you love to do that makes you feel alive?
- What were you passionate about as a child? Why?
- What have you always secretly wanted to do but were held back from doing by fear, doubt, a lack of confidence, and so on?
- Whose life would you love to have? Why?
- What do your ideal life and work look like?
Reconnect with Your Greater “Why” and Align It with Money
The second way to align your purpose with your life’s work is to reconnect with your greater “why.” By this I mean gaining clarity as to why you are doing what you are doing, and how you can align it with money in order to experience greater fulfillment.
Moving beyond generating income, ask yourself these questions:
- Why does your business exist? Or why did you choose this specific career or job?
- What makes it right for you?
- Why do you use your precious energy and time to do what you do?
- What is the driving force behind what you do?
Many women I work with have experienced a high level of success through their former corporate roles. So when they decided to strike out on their own, they often had a bigger “why” that pulled them forward. Deep within there was a strong pull for them to accomplish their goals, while also being richly rewarded for doing what they love and making a meaningful impact.
NICOLE’S STORY
Nicole is a journalist and former executive in the television news industry. When the network downsized, she was let go and found herself at a crossroads.
At forty-two, Nicole knew she could start a brand-new career if she wanted. She was grateful for having received a generous severance package, which if she was careful with it, could last two years while she pondered what she wanted to do next. She knew for sure that another executive position was not what she was looking for. She felt that it was time for her to reconnect with her dreams.
When we began working together, Nicole shared that she missed traveling and covering inspirational stories that motivated and uplifted people and that she wanted to do that instead of covering the latest disasters and scandals to score TV ratings. She got into journalism in the first place because of her childhood dream of writing and traveling. Over the years she had lost that connection.
Nicole reconnected with her dreams and rediscovered that she really wanted to share messages of inspiration and hope with people around the world, especially with women in developing countries. Through our work, she decided to start her own documentary film company and took advantage of all the contacts she had made from years of working in the television and media industry. She also leveraged her contacts in large corporations that support finding solutions for social issues. The documentaries Nicole went on to produce focus on inspirational people from around the world who overcome adversities and make a difference in their communities.
Nicole was living her dream on her own terms, combining her life’s work and income with her passion and purpose.
Included in this step is aligning your greater “why” with money. This will help you to anchor what it means to experience prosperity and fulfillment. It will also provide you with clarity about the amount you want to generate and for what purpose. It is essential to understand what motivates you to generate this income.
Ask yourself:
- What is the money for?
- Why do I want this amount?
- What purpose will it serve?
- Why is it meaningful to me?
Once you have clarity on your money goal and the purpose behind that goal, this clarity will fuel your motivation, especially in times of frustration and doubt, and will help move you toward your vision.
Using your journal, complete the exercise below to help you further align with your money “why.”
Exercise: Harmonizing Your Greater “Why” with Money
Please complete the sentence below:
My big money goal is to make (amount) ____________
by (date) ____________, so that I can
(your “why”) ___________________________.
This is important to me because
______________________________________.
Remind yourself often of your purpose and mission by reviewing this exercise daily.
State Your Purpose and Impact
The third way to align with your purpose is to create a purpose and impact statement. This is similar to having a memento or reminder that you can use as a reference point to keep you focused.
Your purpose statement is personal to you. It can be as splendid and bold as you want it to be. You can share it with others, incorporate it into your business vision or personal mission, or simply keep it to yourself. Whatever you decide to do, it can be helpful to also include a larger impact statement that goes beyond you, describing how you would like to affect others personally and professionally through your work.
There are many ways to approach developing your purpose and impact statement. The exercise below is just one way. Feel free to create your own process (see the examples below).
Exercise: Purpose and Impact Statement
Draft your purpose statement in your journal:
My purpose is to __________________________
so that (outcome) _____________________________.
Here are some examples of purpose and impact statements that some of my clients have developed:
- My purpose is to be a catalyst so that people are motivated to make positive changes in their lives.
- My purpose is to live joyfully by helping others so they can direct their challenges into sources of learning and growth.
- My purpose is to lead organizations in a positive way so that others are inspired to contribute meaningfully.
- My purpose is to inspire others so they can achieve their dreams (shorter version).
A Bonus Tip
First and foremost, you must feel drawn to your purpose and impact statement. It must stir excitement, and you must feel passionate about it. Here are some guidelines for developing your statement. Your statement must:
- have a strong emotional connection with your purpose.
- ring true for you.
- feel joyful and exciting.
- motivate and inspire you to act on it.
Copyright ©2018 by Meriflor Toneatto.
Reprinted with permission from New World Library
www.newworldlibrary.com.
Article Source
Money, Manifestation & Miracles: A Guide to Transforming Women’s Relationships with Money
by Meriflor Toneatto
Author Meriflor Toneatto, an award-winning leadership and coaching executive, shows you how to extend your limits and create the life of your dreams, one that is rich and fulfilling in every way — financially, spiritually, and emotionally. This powerful book explains how money is “emotional currency” and prescribes eight Holistic Principles that help you overcome deep-seated blocks, “pay forward” your own successes, and live the life of your dreams.
Click here for more info and/or to order this paperback book or purchase the Kindle edition.
About the Author
Meriflor Toneatto is a professional coach, speaker, and entrepreneur. She is the CEO and founder of Power With Soul and creator of the Millionaire Difference Makers™ Path, specializing in helping ambitious women entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders reach financial prosperity and success while fulfilling their social promise in the world. Visit her website at https://meriflor.co/
