What is this thing called life purpose and why is it important in our lives? Many people are feeling the urge to create more meaning and fulfillment in their lives, yet struggle with what that would be for them. It is an abstract concept, hard to put your finger on. They feel out of touch with what is meaningful to them; what might light them up.

In her book, Living With Joy, Sanaya Roman says, “Higher purpose is a stream of energy you join when you create something that serves humankind or your own spiritual evolution. Without higher purpose you are a wanderer, roaming around, taking various paths with many potential wrong turns and lost time. With higher purpose you choose every moment, knowing what to do with the hour, the day, the week. It allows you to grow and evolve more rapidly in this lifetime.”

We all have a higher purpose. It is the intention of your soul in this lifetime. You know you have found it when you are fully engaged in an activity. It is what you came to do in order to grow and to serve and it allows your soul (the larger, non-physical part of you) to know itself better. The importance of focusing on your purpose is to grow spiritually and to help the world along the path of growth in some way as well. Purpose is about what you love and about contributing to something larger than yourself. These will go hand in hand and when you discover it, you will know by the excitement you feel.

Higher purpose is never about what you or others think you “should” do according to some standards set by society, religion or your family expectations. It will always be about what you feel drawn to, what you dream about, what lights your inner fire and calls you forward.  It is the deep soul-level urge.  It will feel playful and joyful.

Process: What Do You Most Love?
Take the time to get quiet, go higher and ask yourself what you most love. What, if money were no consideration, would you spend your time doing? What activities cause you to loose all sense of time? Ask your higher self how these might benefit your spiritual growth and contribute to others or the planet. Answers might not come right away. Just allow yourself to sit with the questions. Write down what comes to you and revisit your answers in the next day or two.

One Step at a Time
When you are “on purpose” you let inspired ideas and actions lead you in the moment. It is not necessary to have a plan all worked out about how you will bring about what you want–whether it be a new job, the start of your own business, a new home or even a relationship. When you go with what feels good and right to you in the moment you can be surprised at the outcome all those little steps will lead you to. You can still go ahead and craft a plan of action–just be open to what the moment inspires within you and be ready to change your plans. Before acting on important decisions, get into a relaxed state and ask if or how this is for a higher purpose.

As Steve Jobs said in his commencement address at Stanford University regarding dropping out of school and ”dropping in” on the classes he felt drawn to, “..you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

And the process is really what it is all about. Who you become in the process of achieving your goals is the real purpose to what you do.

Process: Reflection
Think back to a time when you overcame an obstacle or achieved something you were proud of. What new insights or skills did you develop as a result? Think about how what you accomplished benefitted others. This needn’t be the whole world–just the people, animals, or environment around you. You can still have the job, the business, the home and the relationship, but they are the natural outcomes of letting inspiration guide your actions.

You can put higher purpose into anything that you do. Even if you are not yet where you want to be, you can act with higher purpose in any situation. All you need do is open your heart.

If you would like help taking this information and making it into lasting transformation in your life, contact me via my website form for a complimentary Life Purpose Discovery Session to see if we are a good match to work together!