People feel stuck! People feel torn between too many passions. People don't know what their passions or purpose are, then they begin to feel sad and empty. How does one begin to find one's purpose?
I've gathered advice from the many speakers on the Living On Purpose Telesummit that is underway. Many coaches, therapists, and doctors agree that the place to start is to get clear. They advise to picture your perfect life and write it down. Design it just how you like it. Then take small action steps by assessing all your daily decisions against your future goal.
If you can't envision anything pleasant to design your life around, perhaps it's time to bring your attention to feeling your emotions. There is a good possibility you've shut down to avoid feeling unpleasant emotions. Raphael Cushnir advises to recognize and release your resistance around feeling an emotion. To do that, be aware of an emotional contraction in the body and place gentle and close attention on it. (This is also one way to treat thoughts during meditation: just watch them like they're in thought bubbles.) Then allow physical discomfort to be experienced and let the emotion move through you.
Another way to begin to find out your purpose is to redefine success and purpose. Barbara DeAngelis advises that these two things have very little to do with monetary rewards. After all, you are NOT your things, or your body, or what you do. If you didn't have to worry about paying the rent, what would you do? What do you love? What makes your heart sing? Lots of people put their passions on hold until they can get paid to do it--then the passions just stay on hold, don't they?
Ellie Drake defines living on purpose this way: I know I'm living on purpose when I feel that I'm growing as a human and evolving as a woman. I say bravo to that definition of success and purpose. Life is all about growth, and if you're growing, you're on purpose!
And, of course, READING is how lots of people start their path to purpose. All the experts mention that self help books got them started on their journey. Two on the telesummit mentioned "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. I still love and recommend the classic "As a Man Thinketh" by James Allen.
LINKS to info about these speakers.
Adoley Oduntun's Living on Purpose Telesummit. (Finished Feb. 2010)
Raphael Cushnir Main web site
Barbara DeAngelis Bio
Ellie Drake Huffington Post introduces a BraveHeart View TV |
Live On Purpose is about helping you become conscious
of your thought patterns, so you can make better decisions in your life. Don't live an accidental life! Live on purpose. This month's focus is How do we start living on purpose? 