The beauty isn’t in the purpose, it’s in the process

As a self-aware thinker, I'm continuously looking to solve problems that may or may not be there. This can often lead to anxiety - continuously questioning am I on the right track? Am I living my purpose? Am I where I should be at this stage in my life? Having a purpose should provide us with direction but not weigh us down. So what are my key tips for finding and then living with your purpose?

There is so much hype about finding and working to your purpose. But maybe it’s all overrated.

In actively trying to live to our purpose are we missing the beauty that is around us.

Now don’t get me wrong, knowing your purpose is a motivating force. When you are working towards your purpose you work in flow. Time just passes, you deliver great things, and you are content. There is something magical about it. I am lucky enough that right now I am working towards my purpose.

I have spent numerous hours thinking about what I love, what I don’t love and where I think that I can add value to this world. However, as a self-aware thinker; I am continuously looking to solve problems that may or may not be there. I am looking for the bigger picture, the reasons why. This can often lead to anxiety, and gosh doesn’t anxiety suck! Continuously questioning am I on the right track? Am I living my purpose? Am I where I should be at this stage in my life? Having a purpose should provide us with direction but not weigh us down, especially if we haven’t yet figured out what our purpose is, or if it has changed (as we change, so will our purpose) or if it seems too big to be able to achieve in our lifetime.

So what are my key tips for finding and then living with your purpose?

1. Ask yourself some key questions to begin with.

Take the time, light a candle, sit outside, wherever you have time and space to think. Ask yourself:

• What do I love doing?

• When am I operating in flow?

• What do I really dislike doing?

• If I died, what would I want people to say about me?

Your purpose doesn’t need to be massive, it can be raising beautiful children, connecting others to solve problems, whatever resonates with you. This is what you need to do. You may have multiple things that resonate with you and that’s also ok. Your purpose will be as unique as you are.

2. Break down your purpose into manageable parts.

Start to think about how you can include this in your everyday life. What are some of the big goals that you want to achieve? What will take time and what are some things that you can do today that will help you live closer to your purpose?

I love breaking down problems to really understand what it is I need to do, but also to make it less overwhelming. Breaking your purpose down, think about what you can do even something small every day that would help you feel like you are living a life aligned to where you want to be going.

Measure it, make it visual, talk about it with others that you care about. Showing others your progress also helps to cement that you are on your way, and you are doing things every day.

3. Stop, breathe and be grateful.

As you start to live out your purpose, take time to really take in what you are doing and be grateful to yourself for the time, for the people around you, for the environment, for the beautiful life that you are living. Things may not always be easy, and they may not always go perfectly and in fact can sometimes go totally off track but remember to stop and appreciate the beauty that is around you.

There is a great Instagram page called @itslennie and there is a wonderful reel talking about purpose that really resonated with me. The key message often we worry about how big our splash is going to be, we get so caught on the splash, but we forget about the experience of making it happen. So, whilst we chase our purpose don’t forget how wonderful the experience is.

I know this is often easier said than done, achieving balance can be really hard. I am a shocker at beating myself up when things get out of whack, but I am slowly learning to acknowledge these anxieties and realise I am still on track, I am still working towards my purpose, but I am having fun whilst doing it. Life isn’t perfect and that is where the beauty is. It’s the parts of life that happen whilst we are going after our dreams that are the gold we need to treasure.

Go after your dreams, in bite size pieces but not in place of everything else!

If you’d like the experience and expertise of a team that can break down your business dreams into manageable chunks, and use process to deliver great experiences for your team and for your customers, get in touch with Three6 here or email us at hello@three6.com.au and let’s have a conversation about how we can assist your company!