A lot of people talk about how to find purpose in life. It’s one of those things that many people feel like they should have figured out by the time they reach a certain age. But what if you don’t know what a purposeful life is? How to identify a fulfilling life? How to discover your true purpose in life?
I’m Coach Vladimir, and I have developed a unique step-by-step system for finding one’s life purpose that is based on working with your Past, Present, and Future with the help of many innovative, practical exercises.
In short, I’m sharing the exact blueprint that I use to help thousands of my clients worldwide take their own lives towards ultimate fulfilment.
If you are feeling lost and would like to have a greater sense of a purpose-driven life, then you are in for a treat since this article also contains helpful cheatsheets, tables, and workbooks in order to make your journey easier.
Look for a sign that says 🔥 to download and fill in the workbooks to start on a lifelong journey of happiness, success, and meaning.
Step 1 – Identify the roles that you have played in the past.
The first step to a healthy life is to identify the roles that you have played in your own life. These can be from your job, your family, or any other areas. Take a deep breath and think about how these roles have shaped who you are and what you think about yourself.
Some examples may include:
– Employee
– Parent
– Volunteer
– Leader
– Friend
Consider the experiences and lessons you have learned from each role.
Now that you have identified the roles you have played, it’s time to think about the experiences and lessons you have learned from each one.
What did these roles teach you about yourself?
What did you learn about other people?
What did you learn about the world around you?
Identify some limiting beliefs.
As you think about the roles you have played in your LifeLife, it’s likely that you will start to notice some patterns. These patterns may be positive or negative, but they can give you some insight into your own beliefs and core values.
One way to start identifying your negative thoughts is to think about the times when you have felt stuck or unable to move forward.
What were the thoughts and beliefs that were holding you back?
These may be some of your limitations in leading an extraordinary life.
Another way to identify your limiting beliefs is to think about the things you have been told by others.
What did they say about you that you started to believe?
These beliefs may be holding you back from reaching your potential.
Once you have identified some of your limiting beliefs, it’s time to start working on changing them. Remember, these beliefs are just thoughts – they are not facts. You can choose to believe whatever you want, so why not choose to believe something that will help you reach your goals?
Fill in the Roles Worksheet🔥
Use the below table to get a strong sense of your roles and how they affected your purpose in life.
From left to write state the Role, then the Age you experienced this at, a brief Description of the role, Role Models or people who tough you that role, things that you Gained from playing that role, and the things that you Lost, your Self-Concept at the time, as well as some Limiting Beliefs that this role had put on you.
Role | Age | Description | Role Models | Gained | Lost | Self-Concept | Limiting Belief |
Son | 3-7 | Being a child, attempts at making friends, relationships with my siblings | Mom and Dad | Social skills, sense of right and wrong | N/A | I am just a kid, I have my family and the things that I like | I am dependent and I cannot do whatever I want |
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The main questions you want to answer at this stage are this:
How did the Roles that you lived/played affect what you are doing right now?
Where would I be if I didn’t have the play some of these roles?
Step 2 – Discover your Talents
The next step is to discover your talents and abilities. These are the things that you are naturally good at or that come easily to you. They are often things that other people have commented on or complimented you on in the past.
Some examples of talents and abilities include:
– Writing
– Singing
– Drawing
– Public Speaking
– Sports
– Acting
Think about the times when you have felt most in your element or when you have felt the most successful. What were you doing? Chances are, you were using your talents and abilities.
What about the time when you had to make a difficult decision? What abilities helped you manage that?
If you were to ask your friends to describe you, what would they say? These are all clues that can help you discover your talents and abilities.
Outsource your Talents and Abilities
A great way to ‘outsource’ your life purpose is to ask your friends.
Use the template below to send out emails or messages to a group of people that you trust will make a fair judgment. Aim at least 8-10 people and try to diversify the types of responses that you get by including your close friends, relatives, co-workers, and loved ones.
Once all the responses are collected, look for the commonalities and patterns to come up with a list of talents people associate
Send out the Talents Letter Template🔥
Dear Friends,
I am working on discovering my life purpose, and I would love for you to help me. I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions for me:
- What am I good at?
- What would you recommend me for?
- What would you pay me for?
Please answer as honestly as possible, as your answers will be very helpful to me.
Thank you so much for your time!
Fill in the Talents Worksheet🔥
Based on the responses that you got from sending out the letter and reflecting back on your decision-making process, fill in the template below starting with a summary of the 10 most prominent talents.
Start with scoring your talents from 1 to 10 based on How Often you demonstrate them in everyday life, How Important is it for you to have these talents, and finally How Uncomfortable would you feel if you could not use them day in and day out.
Score each talent to get a total and rank them from highest to lowest.
Talents | How Often [1-10] | How Important [1-10] | How Uncomfortable [1-10] | Total Score |
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Step 3 – Explore your Passions
The next step is to discover your true passion. These are the things that you are interested in or that make you excited and you feel lost without. They may be related to your talents and abilities, but they don’t have to be.
Some examples of passions include:
– Helping others
– Learning new things
– Spending time with family and friends
– Traveling
– Experiencing new cultures
– Making a difference in the world
To discover your passions, think about the things that make you feel excited or energized. What are the things that you can’t wait to do? These are your passions.
Another way to discover your passions is to think about the times when you have felt most alive. What were you doing? These are the things that make you feel most alive, and they are likely your passions.
Discovering passions requires some self-awareness and discipline. It’s not always easy to identify the things that make you feel good, but it’s worth taking the time to do so.
Answer the Passion questions🔥
To help steer you in the right direction try answering the following questions:
- When I was a child, I wanted to do this when I grew up.
- The activities I participate in now, that bring me pleasure, include:
- Things I am not currently doing, but I know I love and would like to be doing include:
- Aspects of life that bring me joy, excitement and that energize me are:
- Things I have been passionate about in my life:
- I am most myself when I…
- If I could have anything I want, what would I choose?
- If I could do anything I want, what would do?
- What would I like to change in the world?
- In what ways can I BE the influencer to bring the change I want to see in the world?
Only pick those questions that you feel an emotional connection with that resonate with you.
Hunt for Passion signals
The most important information often comes in a form of ‘signals’ – things that we either heard, discussed, stumbled upon, or read that left a lasting impression on us and inspired action.
These may be people you are subscribed to, books that you have read, interesting conversations that you have heard, or your search queries history.
So, for a week straight, write down any of the topics that got you interested and make a list ranking each one of them.
Fill in the Passion Worksheet🔥
Use the below table to evaluate your findings. Start by listing the Top-10 topics and evaluate each one according to the Recency (how long have you been interested in the topic) and level of Engagement.
Score each topic to get a total and rank them from highest to lowest.
The key is to be as honest with yourself as possible. It’s OK if some of the things on your list don’t seem like they could be passions. They may just be interests that you haven’t explored yet.
At the end of the week, take a look at your list and see if there are any patterns. Are there any topics that keep coming up? These may be your passions.
Topic | Recency [1-10] | Engagement [1-10] | Total Score |
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Step 4 – Align your Values
Values are the underlying beliefs that guide our actions and decisions. They are your inner compass that is related to your beliefs about what is important in life.
Some examples of values include:
– Honesty
– Integrity
– Loyalty
– Family
– Friendship
– Community
Explore Difficult Decisions..
Values can be difficult to identify because they are often subconscious. To discover your values, think about the times when you have made a decision.
What was important to you in that decision?
For example, if you decided to leave a job, what values were important to you in that decision? It may have been something like family or freedom.
Once you have identified your values, it is important to live by them. Values are the foundation of who we are, and they should guide our actions.
Fill in the Values Worksheet🔥
On a basic level values can be split into 8 categories.
These are Health, Family and Friends, Significant Other, Personal Growth, Leisure, Environment, Career, and Money.
Use the table below to rank your values according to two metrics.
Score each value against Importance to evaluate the significance of them in your life.
Rank all of the values for Fulfilment to see how developed they are in your life currently.
A score of 7 for Importance in Health and a score of 3 for Fulfilment would mean that Health in general is very important to you, however, you are not completely satisfied with how it is going.
Popularity Score is calculated as [Importance + Fulfilment]. This will give you an indication of overall popularity of each value.
Gaps Score is calculated as [Fulfilment – Importance] and is meant to highlight underperforming values (eg. values that are Important, but are not developed enough).
This will give you a good indication of which values are most important to you and which ones you need to work on.
Value | Importance [1-10] | Fulfilment [1-10] | Popularity Score | Gaps Score |
Health |  |  |  |  |
Family & Friends |  |  |  |  |
Significant Other |  |  |  |  |
Personal Growth |  |  |  |  |
Leisure |  |  |  |  |
Environment |  |  |  |  |
Career |  |  |  |  |
Money |  |  |  |  |
Step 5 – Formulate your Mission Statement
Not that you have identified your talents, passions, and values, it’s time to formulate your mission statement.
A mission statement is a short, powerful statement that summarises your purpose in life. It should be clear, concise, and easy to remember.
Your mission statement should be something that you can aspire to, and it should be achievable.
You can use the below formula to come up with a list of at least 5 different Mission Statements.
Fill in the Mission Statement Template🔥
Mission Statement = [Talent] x [Passion] x [Value]
or
[What do I want to do] x [Why am I doing this for] x [What problem am I solving for others]
My Mission Statement, for example, is as follows:
“I want to help people find their true calling [My passion], so they can live their lives without regret [Value/problem to solve] by explaining complex concepts that are easy to understand and applicable [My Talents].”
Step 6 – Life Purpose Integration (Goals and Objectives)
By far, the most important aspect of finding your life purpose is the integration of that purpose into your everyday LifeLife.
It’s not enough to just know what your talents, passions, and values are. You need to take action and integrate them into your life.
The best way to do this is to set goals and objectives that align with your life purpose. This will help you live a life of purpose and meaning.
I always advocate using S.M.A.R.T. goals when setting objectives. This stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
An example of a SMART goal would be:
I want to start a blog [Specific] about minimalism [Measurable] that will help people declutter their lives [Achievable] in order to live a more fulfilled life [Realistic] within the next 12 months [Time-bound].
As you can see, this goal is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. This makes it much easier to take action and achieve your goal.
The key is to take small steps each day that will help you achieve your long-term goal.
For example, if your goal is to start a blog, then your daily task might be to write one blog post.
Or, if your goal is to declutter your LifeLife, then your daily task might be to throw away one item that you don’t need.
By taking small steps each day, you will be surprised at how quickly you can achieve your goals and live a life of purpose.
Fill in the S.M.A.R.T. template🔥
 | S | M | A | R | T |
 | Specific about the approach. What? Where? Who? Why? | Measure the progress and performance | Accomplishing the objective requires skills, tools and resources | Relevant goals make sense | Time bounding is necessary to define the task in full |
 | OBJECTIVES & ACTIONS STEPS | SUCCESS MEASURES | TOOLS & RESOURCES | RELEVANT | TIMEFRAME & MILESTONES |
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Before you commence, it is important to engage in some sort of accountability practice to maximize the end result.
This can be achieved through the support of peers and friends, mentors, and coaches.
It is also a good idea to start a journal by documenting the whole process of working with your Past (Roles and Talents), your Present (Passions and Values), and your Future (Mission Statement).
So, how to discover your true purpose in life?
In short, you discover your true purpose by tuning in to your talents, passions, and values and then taking action to integrate them into your LifeLife.
I hope this article has helped you to understand the steps that you need to take in order to find your life purpose. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.
I would love to hear from you!!!
Also, note that I provide 1-1 coaching to help people find their purpose in LifeLife. If you feel like you need some guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be more than happy to help you on your journey. Thank you for reading. Until next time! 🙂
Life Purpose Frequently Asked Questions:
- What is Life Purpose?Aristotle said that Life’sLife’s purpose is at the intersection where your gifts, talents, and abilities meet a human need; therein, you will discover your purpose. So Life’sLife’s purpose is about using your unique gifts and talents to help others in some way. It’s not about what you want to do or what will make you happy. It’s about finding a way to use your gifts to make a difference in the world.Add Image
- What are the benefits of finding your life purpose?The benefits of finding your life purpose are many. A sense of purpose gives your LifeLife meaning and direction. It can help you to feel more fulfilled and lead a more satisfying life. It can also help you to set goals and achieve them, as well as give you a sense of accomplishment.Add Image
- How do I know if I’ve found my life purpose?There are many ways to know if you’ve found your life purpose. The first is by looking at your talents, passions, and values. If you can find a way to use your talents and passions to help others in some way, then you may have found your purpose.
Another way to know if you’ve found your life purpose is by looking at the goals and objectives you’ve set for yourself. If they align with your talents, passions, and values, then you’re on the right track.
Finally, you’ll know you’ve found your life purpose if it feels right. When you’re doing something that is in line with your purpose, it will feel effortless and natural. You’ll be in flow, and everything will come easily to you.Add Image - What’s the difference between talent, passion, and value?A talent is something you’re naturally good at. A passion is something you love to do. A value is something that’s important to you.
For example, my talents include writing and coaching. My passions include personal development and helping others. My values include growth, contribution, and service.Add Image - How can coaching help me find my life purpose?A coach can help you to clarify your goals, values, and passions. They can also help you to find a way to use your talents and passions to help others in some way.
Finding life’s purpose can be a daunting task, and you need structure and guidance to succeed. Coaching can provide you with both of these things and help you to find the meaning and fulfilment you’re looking for.Add Image - Why is it so hard to find your purpose in life? There are many reasons why it can be hard to find your purpose in LifeLife. It can be difficult to know where to start looking. You may not be aware of your talents and passions. And even if you are, you may not know how to use them to help others.
It can also be hard to find your purpose because you may not have a clear idea of what you want to do with your LifeLife. You may feel like you’re not good enough or that you don’t have anything to offer.
Finally, it can be hard to find your purpose because it’s something that’s so personal. What works for one person may not work for another. It’s important to find what feels right for you.Add Image - Is it OK not to have a purpose in life?This is a difficult question to answer as each of us has varying levels of self-awareness and understanding. You may not be at a place where you’re able to find your purpose yet. And that’s OK.
It’s important to live a life that feels authentic and true to you. If you’re not sure what that is, it’s OK to explore and experiment. Try new things and see what feels right. The important thing is to stay true to yourself.
These are just a few of the steps you can take to find your purpose in LifeLife. The most important thing is to keep searching and never give up. Your purpose is out there waiting for you. Go find it!Add Image
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