10 Questions For Finding Your Purpose
The more we can work within our purpose and passion, the more at peace and happier we will be.
Some of us might be wondering what does purpose even mean and why is it so important to our health and success? Great question!
The definition of purpose is “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.”
Simply put finding our purpose is important for our health and success to keep us going through natural life stressors. For example, if we can discover why a cucumber exists and the benefits it has for us, we will most likely eat more of them (if you are not sensitive or allergic to them). If we knew that the purpose of veggies to humans is to provide us with micronutrients to help heal and fuel our bodies most of us would be inclined to eat more veggies.
If we shift the way we look at food from “all food should be indulgent”; “we only live once” mentality, to the purpose of food, is to fuel us and help us feel better and more energized, we won’t want to eat burgers all day every day. Thus, will actually feel better, probably lose excess weight, and feel more energized to tackle stress!
If we apply the same concept to our career, we can discover why we do what we do, why we picked the career we did, or can even discover what our gift is. When we make this discovery, we feel a higher sense of fulfillment and in turn, live a happier life.
In other words, by finding our purpose we drastically reduce the stress of not wanting to do something or the stress of feeling unfilled!
Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we lose is called passion.
Simon Sinek
Professionals have been studying the effects of someone’s individual purpose and the daily pull they have towards it for many many years. The people of Okinawa, Japan call purpose ikigai which translates to “a reason to get up in the morning”. (spoiler alert: that is one of the kick-starting questions below!) Furthermore, a Japanese study came out showing that people who felt a sense of meaning reduced mortality rates! An American study found that older Americans with a low sense of meaning or life purpose were twice as likely to pass away within 4 years!
Finding your purpose and living it could very well extend your life! How crazy is that?
On the contrary, people who have a higher sense of meaning or life purpose showed less cortisol and inflammation in their bodies! Cortisol is a stress hormone that spikes when you feel stressed or anxious.
With multiple studies showing the health benefits of finding your purpose, why do so many people go their entire lives not living their purpose or having a sense of meaning?
Well, it can be downright frustrating, confusing, and draining to search for your purpose. Especially if you have no clue where to start or do not have a support system to cheer you on! You know it is out there, but you don’t know where to begin.
For a full activity to help guide you in finding your purpose check out the post here
If you are short on time, in this post I narrowed down the top 10 questions that will kick start your search in finding your purpose. It is super important you answer these questions without any outside influences, such as your friends, family, partner, and most importantly society!
Your purpose is extremely unique to you and your joyful life. Not anyone else.
Once you can carve out more time, I highly highly recommend going through the full activity here.
Your purpose doesn’t have to be something huge.
Although if you find that it is to end world hunger don’t ever stop your dream!!! If you find that your purpose is volunteering at the local Humane Society or helping homeless dogs find their forever home, that is also a great purpose!! Actually, anything is a great purpose! *except for illegal activities or anything that hurts others. That is generally frowned upon and not recommended by me at all.
If you are just starting your search, begin with these simple 10 questions.
- What do you like to do for fun?
- What makes you smile?
- What gets you excited?
- If you were not afraid of failing, what would you do?
- What gets you up in the morning?
- What keeps you going?
- What would you do if money wasn’t an issue?
- What are your hobbies?
- What was your favorite subject in school?
- What does your vision of success look like?
When answering these questions, there are some tips that will help you get the most out of them and bring you closer to discovering your purpose.
Activity Tips
-Be in a creative safe space (I like coffee shops, libraries, my favorite area in the home, etc)
-Have your favorite paper notebook & favorite pen. You should be writing down the questions and answers on paper in a dedicated journal. Which I like to call my creative journal.
Here is an example of my favorite creative journal:
This Lilly Pulitzer journal/notebook is one of my favorites as well:
Linked here Lilly Pulitzer Notebook
Favorite Pens are linked here Felt Pens 4.9 Stars!
Other Favorite Pens and notebook:
More Tips to Get The Most Out of These Questions
-Write the questions down, but don’t move on to the next question until you have answered the previous one.
-Do not answer the questions the way someone would want you to. This can super scary and intimidating but essential to your success.
-Answer what first comes to mind. Trust your intuition even if you haven’t in the past.
-Come back to the questions during different times of the day when you feel the most inspired for change and improvement.
-Don’t rush through it. There isn’t a due date.
Once you have answered the above questions, see if there is a commonality between them.
If you answer multiple questions with a common response recognize that, as it could be your purpose or gift to share.
In other words, that is your intuition telling you something. Pause and dissect why you answered the questions that way. Take notes in a different colored pen of the feelings that you have when reading your answers.
Remember you are putting your ultimate problem-solving skills to the test. Be kind to yourself, it is no easy task!
For the full activity and next steps, check out the post “Finding Your Purpose”.
After you have discovered your purpose be sure to go celebrate that is so so amazing!! It is also now time to plan for success and execute on the plan you’ve created!
As always, be brave, stay strong, and BE YOU!
Love Always,
Kari Kohal
Please be sure to read my disclosure statement. I love to share with my readers my experiences and what has worked for me. By no means do I believe what works for me will work for you, however, I am here to hold you accountable if you want. If you experiencing health concerns, please reach out to a medical professional. As I am not one, and never claim to be one.
