Finding Your Life Purpose

Last Updated on January 12, 2023 by Tracey McGrath

Why do you need to know your Life Purpose?

Knowing your life purpose can profoundly affect your happiness. Feeling like you are living up to your potential gives you a feeling of pride and accomplishment. And utilizing your unique gifts to help others is also a wonderful way to increase your own well-being. When you know your life purpose you feel confident to share your gifts with the world.

What is Bliss? 

The concept of finding your bliss was introduced by the author Joseph Campbell.  In The Power of Myth , he talks about finding your bliss and going after it without fear. 

The journey to your bliss is learning to recognize the things that you like. And then doing those things! He encourages moving closer to those things that you enjoy because they are what make you unique.

Bliss is that feeling when you’re having so much fun doing something you totally forget about time.  It’s the things that light you up, and get you excited. You feel joy just thinking about them.   When you imagine yourself doing these activities you feel free and lighter.

Merriam-Webster defines bliss as “complete happiness”.  So, how do you find joy and happiness in your life? Finding your life purpose, or bliss, is the first step to finding happiness.

Sometimes these things come easily to us. Sometimes they are actually a bit of a challenge to figure out. You are drawn to these things because they are what your soul is drawn to. It is what makes you special. These activities help us to expand into our life purpose.  

Why Do We Steer Away From Our Life Purpose?

Why do you stop doing things that you enjoy? There could be lots of reasons but for most, it all goes back to our survival.

Our brains’ sole purpose is to keep us safe. In doing so, it wants to make sure that we are accepted. And that means getting approval from those around us.

When we are children this may be our parents, teachers, and other persons in positions of authority. We desperately want (and believe we need) them to accept us. So, we learn to listen and gauge their approval.

You may have put away your ambition to become a drummer or singer if your mom thought your music was too loud. Even indirect disapproval can affect your opinions or beliefs. For example, a sibling makes mention of not liking actresses for x, y or z reasons. That may have created a belief in you that all actresses are like that. And because you want to be liked (especially by your family) you told yourself that you don’t want to be an actress. But all the while feeling a tiny little voice inside that says you might want to try acting. You squelch it until either it won’t allow itself to be silenced anymore or you go in search of your bliss.

Why Did You Lose Your Life’s Purpose?

We all have our own paths to follow. Sometimes that path leads us far away from where our soul will shine its brightest. Why is that? Well, life is full of twists and turns. We encounter many different things that influence our decisions. And events occur completely outside of our control that may change your life forever.

Those who were influencing us in our early years were only doing the best they could with the knowledge they had at the time. Yes, their beliefs and opinions may have shaped yours but you still have a choice. No one is to blame.

Sometimes you just veer away from activities and interests that give you great joy. It could be for a number of reasons.

Other reasons could be circumstances, money, time, and societal influences. Of course, these factors affect everyone in different ways. Some people allow them to push them toward their blissful activities. For others, it causes them to turn away from their life purpose.

But it doesn’t mean that you can’t change your beliefs or circumstances! The great news is that these beliefs were all learned. Like Louise Hay says in her book “You Can Heal Your Life”, beliefs are just thoughts and thoughts can be changed!

How to Reconnect to Yourself

We also tend to identify with our brains more as we grow up. You become disconnected from your soul. It seems natural to lean into the power of your brain. Oftentimes we get caught up in the be smart and put our heads down mentality. And you end up following the path that someone else says makes you smart or accomplished.

You are not your brain! Your brain is merely an organ, albeit a powerful one. You determine what you allow into your brain.

You also have great power over maintaining a connection with your soul.

Ways to Reconnect to Your Life Purpose:

• Reconnect with the activities you liked as a child (see exercise below).
• Meditation. Just by getting quiet and “doing” nothing you can tap into your inner knowing. This is a great way of listening to that quiet voice within you. For more details on how to start your meditation practice check out my article on the Benefits of Meditation. Sign up for a FREE guided meditation to try it out for yourself!
• Journaling. Journaling is a great way to process emotions. It is also a wonderful way to tap into your desires as well as your hopes and dreams. Check out my article on How to start a journaling practice for some great journaling prompts to get started!

You Are Special

No one else in the world likes the exact same combination of things, activities, foods, places, etc as you do.  And no one else brings the same experiences, thoughts, or concepts to those very things. 

You are special because there’s no one else like you. There’s no one else that has had the life you’ve had.

 “If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.”

-Joseph Campbell

Are you reading this and thinking, “I still don’t know how to find my bliss”?    

No fear, my friend!  I will help you figure out what makes you feel blissful with a quick exercise!

How to Discover Your Bliss (or Life Purpose)

6 Steps to Find Your Bliss:

Adapted from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

1- Make a list of things you typically enjoy doing now as an adult. We’ll call this your Adult List.

2- Next to each one write down the feeling you get when you do that activity.  Why is it that you enjoy it?  Does it make you feel happy, relaxed, joyful, or proud?

3- Next to each activity write down the last time you actually did it.  Might be surprising when you actually did the things you like to do.  

4- Next, write a list of things you remember really enjoying as a child. We’ll call this your Child List. 

What did you spend your free time doing? 

Where were you most likely found?  In the library? Outdoors? Playing a sport?

What type of books did you like? 

What electives in school did you gravitate towards? 

What did you think you would be when you grew up?  What did you want to be? 

What are some of your fondest memories?

5- How does this list look different from your adult list?  Are there any similarities? 

6- Now, take the second list and circle your 3 favorite childhood activities.  The ones that just made you smile thinking about yourself as a kid. 

Where to go from here? 

In order to find your bliss or life purpose, you need to commit to actually doing things you enjoy. Schedule time this week to do just one of those things on the list you created. I recommend scheduling at least 15 minutes for the activity.       

It takes commitment and consistency. But finding your bliss is the key to finding joy and happiness in your life. I truly believe that following your bliss is how to find your life purpose. 

Your Most Important Journey

The path to your bliss is perhaps the most important one of your life. Each step on that path leads you to somewhere new and different.  Find the courage to keep following that feeling of joy. By doing the things you enjoy you discover where your unique path leads.

I know it will lead you to a new and joyful place to further discover who truly you are. That special and unique person that the world needs TODAY!

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