Finding Your Life Purpose in 4 Easy Steps

Finding your life’s purpose is no easy task. Years ago, I came across a great tool on Steve Pavlina’s blog “How to Discover Your Life Purpose in About 20 Minutes.” It offers a simple four step process to answer that age old question “Why am I here, what’s my purpose?” It’s really more of a two step process if you don’t count step 1 getting out the paper and step 2 writing at the top “What is my true purpose in life.”☺

The reason I recommend doing this is because I’ve done the exercise three times and it worked every time. Why I’ve done it three times involves my lack of file management skills. I’ll write more about that another day. Let’s get back to you and finding YOUR purpose.

Steve says “If you want to discover your true purpose in life, you must first empty your mind of all the false purposes you’ve been taught (including the idea that you may have no purpose at all).”  (I’m adding WOW here!)

Basically, you brainstorm writing down every thought that comes into your mind when you ask yourself the question “What is my true purpose in life?”

Keep writing and listing everything that comes to you no matter how impractical or applicable it seems.  Steve contends that if you keep doing this you will eventually write something that brings you to tears.  THAT’S YOUR LIFE PURPOSE.  If it only gives you the sniffles he says to underline it and keep writing.  He wants actual tears/real crying. 

Okay, yes, when I did this I was very receptive and believed it would work and yes at times I can be a bit of a crier, but the truth is the truth and it comes out if you’ll let it.

Steve Pavlina’s  4 Step Process to find your life purpose

Steve writes: Here’s what to do:

1.      Take out a blank sheet of paper or open up a word processor where you can type (I prefer the latter because it’s faster)

2.      Write at the top, “What is my true purpose in life?”

3.      Write an answer (any answer) that pops into your head. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence. A short phrase is fine.

4.      Repeat Step 3 until you write the answer that makes you cry. That is your purpose.

Here’s a link to the original blog post http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/01/how-to-discover-your-life-purpose-in-about-20-minutes/ .

Today when I did the exercise AGAIN, I started more than misting up when I wrote “Honestly represent who I am, not be afraid to tell my stories.” Then a funny thing happened. When I no longer needed it, I found the file containing my previous exercise. The result then was (cue creepy Twilight Zone music do do do do do do do do do do) “Tell the truth about who I am and what I see.”

Give it a try. See what happens. I’d love to hear your results.

Go for it! – LIVE YOUR DREAM

Certified Organic Dream Creatrix -  Caren Albers is a writer, blogger, writing coach, and personal growth enthusiast who still colors outside of the lines. While learning to live her own dream she learned ways to inspire others to live theirs. Her eCourses based on Radmacher Focus Phrase™ use guided writing to explore, discover, and LIVE YOUR DREAM. http://carenalbersinspirations.com

WIGGLE ROOM

I don’t know about you, but I like to have a comfortable amount of wiggle room in my life. I define wiggle room as the space in between what’s supposed to happen and what actually happens. Pinning myself down to exact dates and times puts grimaces on my face and I really don’t any new wrinkles right now.

I’m discovering that wiggle room might be one of those loves that is bad for you. When exposed to the harsh light of day, wiggle room like comfort food tastes great going down, but in the weeks and months to come as our seams stretch and our muffin tops bulge, we regret eating so much of it.

I do enjoy my aimless wandering, but it doesn’t always get me where I want to go. Perhaps a little structure, a few hard and fast commitments, dare I say a deadline of two might be just what the doctor ordered.

I’m not sayin’ change WHO I am. I’m just sayin’ make a stronger commitment to WHO I am. Yeah, that’s it! I’m definitely, maybe gonna try that!

What new thing do you definitely, maybe wanna try? Let’s commit to doing it together. NO WIGGLE ROOM!

Go for it! – LIVE YOUR DREAM

Certified Organic Dream Creatrix -  Caren Albers is a writer, blogger, writing coach, and personal growth enthusiast who still colors outside of the lines. While learning to live her own dream she learned ways to inspire others to live theirs. Her eCourses based on Radmacher Focus Phrase™ use guided writing to explore, discover, and LIVE YOUR DREAM. http://carenalbersinspirations.com

TICKLE ME PINK!

I’m not your standard issue Crayola pack with only primary colors. I’m more of A rainbow, a color cornucopia, a 64 assortment box.

I want my today’s life filled with today’s Crayola colors like JAZZBERRY JAM, MACARONI AND CHEESE, OUTER SPACE, PURPLE MOUNTAIN’S MAJESTY, WILD BLUE YONDER, AND RAZZLE DAZZLE ROSE.  Maybe not MACARONI AND CHEESE, it’s kind of an ugly light orange color.

I remember when I first started coloring way back in the “brown age” as my son used to call it. The adult people insisted that we color inside the lines and gave us mostly red, yellow, blue crayons. It was exciting to get an orange or purple.

Per Wikipedia - in 1905 Crayola’s product line had reached 30 colors, in 1958 sixty-four, in 1972 seventy-two (how appropriate), today’s number is 120. I guess as the complexities of life increased so did the number of Crayola color choices needed to portray them.

Good news for today’s kids, they get applauded for coloring no matter where it lands inside or outside the lines. They’re also encouraged to have opinions and to think outside the box. LUCKY!

I was born way too early! I’m a 2011’er trapped in a 1950’s childhood. I can’t go back and fix the past. Not without a really great time machine and so far I haven't found one of those. I don’t mean to go all SCREAMIN’ GREEN OR BANAMA MANIA on you, but can I maybe, maybe just fix the future?

How ‘bout I take out my granddaughter’s PURPLE PIZZAZZ and color me a RAZZMATAZ future? Would that be too OUTRAGEOUS ORANGE to hope for? What would  TICKLE YOU PINK?

Go for it! – LIVE YOUR DREAM

((The colors (in all CAPS above) are the real ones being used today! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors)

Certified Organic Dream Creatrix -  Caren Albers is a writer, blogger, writing coach, and personal growth enthusiast who still colors outside of the lines. While learning to live her own dream she learned ways to inspire others to live theirs. Her eCourses based on Radmacher Focus Phrase™ use guided writing to explore, discover, and LIVE YOUR DREAM. http://carenalbersinspirations.com

Making the Most of the Last Days of Summer

If you haven’t had time to see this summer’s latest blockbuster disaster film, don’t worry. It’s coming to a neighborhood near you real soon.  It wasn’t enough that we weathered the UNNATURAL disasters like the debt crisis fiasco and the Standard & Poors downgrade creating a stock market plunge that smeared poop all over our retirement dreams, AGAIN!

But guess what, there’s a new game in town called NATURAL disasters. It premiered this week with Earthquake Tuesdays available in the DC and the surrounding areas followed by that irascible, uninvited houseguest Irene threatening to ruin everyone’s weekend and wreak havoc all up and down the northeast coast. What a beeach!

All I can say is God must be on another vacation, like the one he was on when the tornadoes ripped up the south and the floods raged in the Midwest earlier this year.

You can’t blame God for wanting to eke out a few last vacation days before school starts and we all know how sketchy cell phone service is on the beach. I bet his i-Everythings have stopped working and he has no idea what the devil is going on. I bet he’ll be more than a little embarrassed when he returns.

Remember when earthquakes and hurricanes were cutesy names for drinks we ordered in bars? AHHH, those were the days.

The Second Coming

My husband turned Vegan, low fat Vegan to be exact. I’m trying to remain positive, but he treats every new dietary approach like the “second coming?” Did I mention he was an Engineer, black and white are his team colors, fingers crossed that a rainbow appears soon.

I’m no slouch. I’m vegetarian 6 days a week and don’t cook meat at home. We belong to an organic vegetable club and are locavores buying at the farmer’s market every week. I’m just saying “would it be too much to ask for a sprinkle of cheese on my veggie pizza?”

He’s doing this for “big picture” health reasons. I completely support that. It’s the day to day “small picture” that’s chafes my hiney. When he asks every single server including the nice woman behind the counter at Taco Bell if her bean burritos contain animal products. BTW good news, she said no.

It’s the fact that I searched for a Vegan-friendly restaurant only to discover upon arriving that their Paella was prepared in chicken broth so he wouldn’t order it. UGHHHH! Hold on a sec, it’s hard to type and barf at the same time!

This too shall pass, just like the low carb Aktins revolution that invaded our home a few years ago. Unfortunately, the passing will signal another “second coming!” YIKES!

Silver lining….Skittles are Vegan and a friend just texted that Tequila is tool! Ta Ta for now! heading out to the liquor store. Sure hope that they have a candy counter!

Big vs. Little Picture

In the “Big Picture” I recognize everything for the experience and learning it provides. I make BIG decisions without regrets, without looking back, without future Caren finding even the slightest fault with past Caren. It's the "Little Picture" that still sometimes trips me up.

It's the thing I said or did twenty years ago that I thought was funny or necessary, turns out it was neither, AND the real kicker is that nobody but me still remembers it. Insignificant in the grand scheme of things small moments at times still rear their ugly heads to taunt and haunt me.

I’ve managed to heal my inner child, the large chunks anyway, the stuff that prevented my feet from moving forward but some small chunks still manage to occupy my deepest reaches.

I want the small things to share the same confidence I hold for the large things. I want always for the learning to be the lesson, to rewire my brain, no judgments today or ever, only learning. Yes, BIG love, no whammies!

Seeing the Light

I’m a HUGE Martha Beck fan but her article “Dear Me” in the April issue of O Magazine blew even me away!

You know how things other people do can drive you crazy. But when we you look more closely, more honestly you see that the reason it drives you crazy is because you exhibit some of those very same traits.

I’ll leave the fancy jargon to Martha because I still trip over the word “perseverating.” What I will say is that Martha offers an exercise that can provide you with amazing clarity and insight.

The first step is to write a letter (not meant to be sent) to a person you harbor unexpressed negative feelings for. I know this doesn’t sound new, but read on.

Martha encourages getting in touch with your inner judgmental witch with a “B.” At the top of the page write “Dear whoever your person is” and tell them in no uncertain terms what you think about them “in your lowest moments.” Remember, you aren’t sending the letter. So let it rip!

I had fun with it. It felt liberating to get it off my chest. Then I read Martha’s next instruction “cross out the person’s name and insert your own name!” What? YIKES! Ouch! WOWSER!

Now read the letter as if it is written to you. Martha encourages openness and thoughtfulness instead of defensiveness. Um hum.

Surprisingly, the things I thought I was writing to my friend like “you never have time for me but I see you making time for other people. I feel unloved, uncared for and unimportant” turned out to be true about me!

Right now, I find myself not making enough time for the things that matter most to me, to my higher self. With my friend as my mirror, I could see how much pain it’s causing me. BUSTED!!! It's so true that when you point a finger at another person, four fingers point back at you.

Martha’s process has a fourth step and a lot of other brilliant things. To enjoy every wise, wonderful note of Martha’s brilliant insight symphony I encourage you to read her column in April’s O Magazine. It will inspire you to turn things around and see them in a new light!