Life Purpose: The Most Important Thing You Can Do
Are you clear on your purpose in life?
You must have a clearly defined, written purpose if you want to live life to the fullest. It is absolutely crucial. You will never achieve the satisfaction and significance you desire without it.
Stick with me here! I know this is tough. I’ve struggled with my life purpose too. But, once you get your purpose figured out, then it will make everything else start to fall into place.
I’m going to guide you through clarifying your life purpose and make it a lot easier for you. Once you’re familiar with this method, you will wonder why it seemed so hard before.
What Is a Life Purpose?
Purpose is the reason for an action being done, an object existing or being made or used.
~ Wikipedia
First, let’s get a clear definition of what a life purpose is. We can begin by looking at the definition above from Wikipedia on the meaning of the word “purpose”.
Based on this, we can begin to see that a life purpose is the reason we do what we do. It is a statement that puts meaning behind our actions.
According to Gregory K. Popcak in The Exceptional Seven Percent
A life purpose is a single sentence that sums up what we consider most important in life and serves as a compass to guide all our actions.
This may sound a little overwhelming, but it really isn’t as hard to come up with as you might imagine.
Three Practical Reasons a Clear Life Purpose Is So Important
You can probably get a sense of why a life purpose is so important just from the definition, but I think it is worth examining even closer. It has very practical implications.
Here are the three reasons a clear life purpose is so important:
1. Serves as a Foundation for Decisions and Actions
A clear life purpose gives you a foundation on which to decide how to act. You can (and should) filter all your decisions through your purpose to determine whether your actions will conform to your values and priorities.
Your purpose becomes a map to guide your life. Without it you are just meandering aimlessly along with no real direction. Of course, you will arrive exactly where you are aiming. This is the first reason that you should clearly define your life purpose.
2. Provides Clarity and Focus to Your Life
Smart Living Rule 4 lays out the reasons that clarity and focus are so important. Basically, your purpose helps you to set the proper priorities. It gives you something that you can use to zero in on the right next thing to do.
Our efforts are often diluted to the point that it takes us forever to accomplish anything. A life purpose solves this. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a clear and focused mind for once? It is possible. You just have to take a bit to define what you want your life to be about.
3. Allows You to Simplify and Declutter Your Thinking
When you have a clear purpose, you suddenly know what to say no to and eliminate from your life. This frees up your time to spend on the things that really matter. You can separate the wheat from the chaff, the good from the great without guilt.
A simpler life is a better life. You are less tired and stressed. Therefore, you have more to give the things that count for the most. Decluttering your life is a great step toward living life to the fullest. There is no better way to improve your life with so little effort!
Defining Your Life Purpose Is the Most Important Thing
Hopefully, this has convinced you of the importance of a clearly defined, written life purpose. It is critical to a full and rewarding life. Over the next few days, I will give you a simple method to define your strategy and I’ll share my own purpose with you as an example that will help to further reinforce the importance. I hope you’ll stay tuned!
What other reasons are there for a clear life purpose?
Photo by Richard0
Really challenging post Jeff. Everything I can think of is somehow related to the reasons you already wrote. But I guess one thing I may be able to add is that it gives you a sense of being by connecting you to your surroundings. It makes you human and attached to others so that you can clearly define your progress. Thanks for making me think so early in the morning! –Paul
Paul L’Acosta´s last blog ..marketingfails: "As an organization grows and succeeds, it sows the seeds of its own demise by getting boring." http://bit.ly/Z0KWw
I saw something funny the other day on a blog it had 3 pictures
Tree, Cat and a Human
It said
I’m a tree, i do tree things
I’m a cat, I do cat things
I’m a human, I haven’t a clue what the hell I do
Humorous look at purpose
Unfortunately, I am a man who still doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, especially after my Navy career is over. I would like it to have purpose though, so I look forward to the rest of this series!
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@Paul – Life purpose is a challenging subject. I think that’s why most people try to ignore it all together. I hope the method I outline in an upcoming post will really help a lot of people define a clear purpose. It is incredibly useful!
@Jon – I love your humor! It is sad, but true. This just reaffirms my commitment to write about it. Maybe my articles can help a few people get a handle on thier purpose.
@Dan – You are not alone! I think most people struggle with defining their purpose. A lot of it is a misconception about what a purpose should look like.
Thanks so much for your comments!
Thanks for this Jeff. It is important to have a life purpose clarify what we want to do in the future – not just short a short term goal, but very long term goal. It gives us more passion to why we’re here as well as gives us more meaning to our lives.
Tristan Lee´s last blog ..6 Golden Rules for Attracting More Wealth Into Your Life
Interesting post! I know that purpose is important. I want to please God with my life. I want to be a great husband and great dad to my children. Your post was thought provoking.
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