Finding your true purpose: a tailored tool to find meaning in your existence
In a fast-moving world where uncertainty is at its peak, finding a purpose is essential to grounding ourselves. It helps us move from passive participation in society to taking an active role in shaping the future we desire. Finding meaning in our existence is key to thriving.
This tool is an invitation to find and make space for ourselves to operate from a place of fulfilment. It is a step-by-step guide to identifying your North Star and unleashing your full potential. It goes hand in hand with the Bio-Leadership principles and the Think into the Future Canvas to equip you as a future-fit leader.
Be ready to enter a new world where you can lead from what your inner self is calling for.
Exploring the unexplored
Life in itself is a process of iteration. Nothing is static. We evolve as we breathe, listen, and feel. Imagine a never-ending staircase where each step would represent a life event. Our journeys are about climbing it up, one experience at a time. From each of these events, we capitalise on our previous knowledge building up a more substantial base to welcome the next experience.
When aiming to find answers to some of the uncertainty we face, high is the temptation to rush into solutions. Nevertheless, there are no perfect solutions but only meaningful pathways bringing us closer to the answer. Wisdom comes from an endless process of back-and-forth experiences of emotions, decisions, and interactions.
If you are looking to open a new chapter of your life driven by a strong sense of purpose, it is your role to welcome this new path leading you closer to your aspirations.
Exploring your purpose is like embarking on an unexplored journey.
The first step is to accept exploring and dealing with the unknown. It requires you to acknowledge that the experience will require your full attention to slow down and build upon your lived experiences.
Who we are today is the result of our past. By better understanding yesterday, you will come to a greater understanding of what’s meaningful to you in the future. Your future cannot be written until it becomes the now. Take the time you need.
This tool aims to help you get clues about the path ahead by reflecting on what has shaped you until today. This path is something you will carve for yourself. It is a self-introspection activity helping you to zoom out getting the big picture vision of what your life has been until now.
After identifying the patterns of your journey, you will be guided to zoom into what tomorrow is holding for you in accordance with who you are and the unique contribution you can make to the world.
Let’s deep in!
Finding your North Star — The tool in 6 steps
The Finding your North Star tool is the result of several years of supporting individuals on their quest for a more meaningful life. Beyond your professional engagement, this tool will help you make sense of your pathway in life to unleash your full potential.
The activity is organised into six main sections flowing in a specific order.
1. Reflecting on your personal journey
Being a citizen of the Earth means going through challenging and fulfilling times. It also means having moments of doubt and clarity. For this reason, the first section of the activity invites you to pause for a moment to look back at your journey in time.
It invites you to use a chronological frame to list all the memorable events that have influenced who you are today. You are invited to map out your journey naming events, describing how you felt at that time, and what you learned from it.
Eg. A challenge in your childhood, beautiful memory in your teenage hood, a unique friendship bringing you joy, a dark time of uncertainty, a health issue, a feeling of fulfilment because of a specific event, a new experience…
2. Identifying the key patterns of your journey
Based on the previous activity of mapping out your journey with key events, this part invites you to list the key takeaways of your experiences. Zoom out of your journey timeline and look for patterns.
You will probably identify similar elements repeating over time that tell you something about what affects you positively or negatively. Look at similarities in the situations you have experienced in life.
Is there a particular type of situation that helps you be fulfilled or gain clarity? Are there situations that negatively affect your emotions? Can you identify patterns that are repeated over your life journey?
Eg. You identify a place that feels safe and where you have been able to gain clarity, you know that some type of working environment is making you feel uncomfortable, you realise that working alongside people helps you to be more creative…
3. Better understanding your personality and skills
Following your personal introspection and identifying the patterns of your journey, we encourage you to zoom into your personality traits and skills acquired over time. It is an invitation to look at what makes you who you are and how you can leverage your skills.
Based on your experiences, what are the skills you have acquired? What have you learned that makes you a more informed person today?
Eg. You have been through challenging times and therefore became very flexible and resilient to change, you have been invited to support groups of individuals so you know how to build trust, you have lived in a different culture than yours and adapted to it so you probably have the capacity to work in diverse teams….
4. Listing your personal needs
As you reflect on your journey, you will get a better understanding of what your needs are. Get some insights from the situations that have brought you joy and clarity. Also, consider the situation you are in now making sure that you make space for yourself to list what you must have to be fulfilled. We all have different needs and it is essential to be able to know what the “musts” are for you.
What are the personal needs you have that must be fulfilled to thrive? (financial, wellbeing, social, creative, cultural…).
Eg. You need a certain salary to afford a decent life, you need to have some time off every day after work to spend time with your beloved ones, you need to work with a team so you can interact, you need the freedom to be creative within your role…
5. Inquiring about your unique contribution
We all have special talents and gifts that can be put in service to a greater cause. While finding the cause you want to serve is the objective of the overall activity, this part invites you to zoom into what you can bring to the world. There is for sure much more than what you could have imagined until now!
This section invites you to sit with four main questions about your unique contribution.
What do I like and enjoy doing?
What are my main strengths and abilities that I can put in service to a greater cause?
What are the most important societal issues that require people to work on?
What would be the ideal contribution(s) I could make to the world while being rewarded for it?
The final part of this section will invite you to write your purpose statement in one sentence. This won’t come in a minute.
Take the time you need to gather your thoughts and come back to the activity several times before moving to the final section.
6. Imagining the possible futures
Now is the time for you to seat with all the insights you have from this activity and imagine what you could do that is truly a passion for you and fulfils your needs. Consider the purpose statement you drafted and ask yourself “What if…?”.
Create and hold a boundaryless space where anything is possible. Think of what it would mean to play by your own rules to lead the way you feel you can be true to yourself and your values.
Imagine you could do anything in this world that aligns with your purpose, what would it be?
Carving your own path
Now that you’ve been guided to start the work, the time has come for you to reclaim the power of your dreams and aspirations. It is your opportunity to transform the challenge of finding the right way to become the master of your destiny.
Imagine a blank page where the story has yet to be written. You have the freedom to become the change you want to see in the world. Make sure you write it with your heart, soul, and deepest will.
In sourcing the power from within, you will reach the stars!
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Get your Finding your North Star template (click on the link below the image) 👇
GET ACCESS TO THE MURAL TEMPLATE
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If you need some additional support to find your way, feel free to get in touch at niels[at]empoweringpotential.org
I support people and organisations in their transition to meaningful futures. I offer free services to young people.
