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4 Questions for Figuring Out Your Purpose · The Daily Writer

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, welcome to the Daily Writer, where we help writers become authors of their own lives.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Everywhere I look, I see people searching for their purpose.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let me give you a couple of quick examples.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: The other day on Instagram, I came across a post featuring a middle-aged woman who was really upset and crying all throughout the video.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: She had lost her job and was talking about her lack of direction and purpose in life.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I see these kind of videos quite often actually on social media.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Another example is a good friend of mine, I'll call him Steve, is very, very good at a particular kind of business.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: It really excites him.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: He's great at it, and he's also had some past success with it.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: But for some reason, he resists going really all in on this business.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: He just kind of dabbles with it, but he has not really gone totally all in on this business.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you could name lots more examples as well.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: But when we look around us, we see that people are searching for purpose and direction in life.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And even though this is kind of a mystical question, this question of purpose, I actually look at this as a very pragmatic question, which is how are we supposed to spend the very limited time that we have here on planet Earth?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have been feeling a bit lost and you've been searching for your purpose in life, I want to share four questions that can really help you.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: But first, let me make a couple of quick observations.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Observation number one is I believe that your purpose can change throughout your life.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: For example, when I was in my 20s, I believed that my purpose was to be a church worship leader.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: But over time, my interest and opportunities changed, and I realized that I was supposed to be a writer.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Observation number two is you can discover your purpose by action and experimentation, not by sitting around.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, you discover the road by actively walking on the road.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure some wise person said something to that effect in the past, and I'm just borrowing that phrase.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if you know who said that, let me know.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: I would actually love to know.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: I could probably Google it, but I'd rather just hear from my listeners.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then the third observation is that purpose doesn't necessarily equal your career.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: By the way, I just realized I said I had two observations when I actually had three.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not going to go back and edit.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Purpose doesn't necessarily equal your career.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: For example, I once wrote a book for a very successful entrepreneur who is not especially passionate about his particular business.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: His business is really just a mechanism for him to make a lot of money so he can be more generous and support the causes that he cares about.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, your purpose in life overall doesn't necessarily have to equal your career or a specific business.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, with those principles in mind, here are five questions to help you figure out your purpose in life.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I recommend grabbing a journal and working through these if it's something that you want to dive into.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is what do you enjoy doing?
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this sounds like a very simple, maybe even a ridiculous question, but it's really not.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because many people completely dismiss the importance of their own joy when it comes to how they spend their time and energy.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And let me say that again because this is a real this is the most important thing I say in the whole podcast episode.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Many people completely dismiss the importance of their own joy when it comes to how they spend their time and energy.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: My philosophy in life is very simple.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Why would you want to spend time doing something that you don't enjoy?
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because the more that you enjoy a particular activity or the more that you enjoy your work, the more good at it you're probably going to be, and the more good you will do in the world.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I just think that's a great principle to live by because if you like doing something, you're going to do more good for others and you're going to do more good for yourself.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So if something brings you joy, don't dismiss that, rather, embrace it.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Question number two where have you gotten results in the past?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: I believe that your past can be a clue to your future.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've succeeded in a particular area before, you probably will succeed there again.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: I recently talked to a friend who had basically discounted much of her career, thinking that her various jobs had been a total waste of time.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: But what she didn't realize was that she was exceptionally good at several different things.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it is so easy to forget about our past success because when you're feeling lost or purposeless or a little discouraged, it's easy to forget that, hey, in the past, I did some really cool things that can actually be a mile marker or can point me in the right direction.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Question number three: What do other wise and trusted people confirm about my gifts?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think that discovering your purpose in life is not a solo activity.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's something where you look around at a handful of trusted people in your life and you ask, what have they confirmed about my gifts, talents, or skills?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if certain wise people in your life that you trust are confirming the same kinds of things, it's probably a pattern that you should pay attention to.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Question number four, what do you think about when you go to sleep and wake up?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is a major clue to what's really going on in your heart.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think about books a lot, for example.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: A few nights ago, as I drifted off to sleep, I was thinking about a book that I'm going to be publishing next year.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I was picturing the cover, how the book would feel in my hands, and even the way the text would look on the page.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I have very specific ideas about that.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I believe that the thoughts in your head just before and after you sleep are a big clue to what's important to you.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I also just realized I said that I had five questions when I actually had four.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: So boy, I'm really off track on this today, so forgive my misnumbering.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a podcaster and a writer, not a mathematician.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, as you know, this podcast episode is certainly not the last word on purpose, but I really hope this gives you something to think about if you're in a season of searching.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I would actually love to hear how this episode helped you.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: You can shoot me an email at Kent at KentSanders.net and let me know.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, as always, thanks for listening.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Keep writing, keep showing up, and I'll see you tomorrow.