Forge your path to purpose
Design Your Purpose and Forge your path to a purposeful life and career
Purpose is the “Why” that drives us. It can also be the “What” people want to achieve. Purpose gives us the energy to go above and beyond what is possible. We hear inspiring stories about people finding their purpose and living fulfilled lives, making an immense contribution to society, and living lives aligned with their values.
“Finding” our purpose is not easy. Neither is it too hard. I spent years researching purpose, people living purposeful lives, and learning from great thought leaders who say the purpose is irrelevant. I am living a purposeful life and have helped many answer this question for themselves. This workbook is a result of my learning and application.
With thoughtful reflection, you can define your purpose and forge your path toward it. I have curated a workbook that will help you with prompts for you to define your purpose statement!
Your purpose statement is what will guide you in deciding what to do and what not to do. It will be your compass on how to live your life and how not to.
Before you start, remember
Purpose doesn’t have to be one BIG thing
Purpose doesn’t have to save the world
You can have more than one purpose
Your Purpose could change over your life.
You might not find your purpose but you can design it
You can find purpose in whatever you are currently doing.
10 Steps to Defining Your Purpose
Reflect on your life: Your life so far has deep insights about what your purpose is. Reflect on it.
Identify your values: We all have a set of values, whether we acknowledge them or not. When we know our values, we are able to better align our work, life, and priorities with them. Identifying your values is critical to defining your purpose.
Identify ‘Who’ You Care about: Who do you care about? Whose life do you want to make a difference in? Everybody has a purpose to serve someone.
Identify your Strengths: Think about what you are good at or what your friends, family members, or colleagues say about you. You can also take tests like Strengths Finders to find out your strengths.
Know your Passion: What do you love? What are you passionate about?
Identify What problems do want to solve: What are some problems in the world that you would like to solve?
What could you be paid for: Identify which of the problems from the previous exercise can be ones you could be paid for solving
Bring it all together: Bring all your thoughts from the previous steps into one view as below
Design your purpose statement: You can write as many purpose statements as you like. They can be in your personal life or professional. They can be paid or unpaid. Use the template below to write them. Your purpose statement should be simple and clear. It should be actionable. It should be focused on the effect you want to have on others. It should be expressed in affirmative language that resonates with you.
Forge Your Path To Purpose: Get input from your colleagues, friends, and family. Their feedback and input will help you keep editing your purpose statement. Review your current life to see if you are living your life according to your purpose statement. Are there things that you can improve to be more aligned with your purpose? The following questions can help you adjust
Does my life seem to be aligned with my purpose statement?
Am I living by my values?
Am I helping those who I care about most?
Am I working on solving the problems that are most important to the people I care about?
Am I leveraging my strengths?
Am I working on things I am passionate about?
Do I feel joy in my work and life?
If your answers are No to any of the questions, adjust your life to get back to leading a purposeful life by making changes to align with your purpose statement.
You can download the full free printable workbook to design your purpose and forge your path towards it.
This workbook is a result of years of research, the application of frameworks, and my own experiences of designing my purposeful life and helping many others0000000. Resources that inspired me over the years are
📚 Find Your Why By Simon Sinek, David Mead, and Peter Docker
📚 HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose by John Coleman
🔗 HBR Article: You Don’t Find Your Purpose — You Build It
🔗 Let’s Work Magic: Where does the Purpose Diagram come from?
➡️ Many articles on Ikigai and purpose
➡️ People living their purpose
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