I’m so glad you decided to take a step toward living your life on purpose! Making a choice is always the first step toward change.
We all long for a purpose.
We desire to know that we matter and that what we do matters.
But what is our purpose?
How do we find it?
And then, how do we walk in it?
How do we live our lives on purpose and avoid wasting the time that we have?
It’s so easy to get swept away by the current of busyness. The pull of the social media scroll and “keeping up with the Joneses” can easily sweep us off course if we don’t know our purpose. It takes concentrated effort to live a life on purpose.
Swimming against the current and not letting it pull us down the easy-flowing path takes focus and a plan.
However, it can feel daunting to decide how to be more intentional about the way you’re living your life, discovering your purpose, and living for a purpose beyond yourself.
That’s why I created this guide to help you get started thinking and processing how you want to spend the days and moments you are blessed with.
Are you ready?
Grab a pencil, notebook, and something to sip, find a quiet space free of distractions, and let’s get started!
(Don’t forget to bookmark this page to come back to after working on your exercises)
Seek God’s Purpose for you
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. –Psalm 90:12 NIV
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” –Psalm 32:8 NLT
As a Christian, the first and most important step one should take in living a life on purpose is to become quiet before The Lord and ask Him to reveal His purpose for you in this season. If you ask with a sincere heart and pure motives, He will be faithful to guide you in the way you should go. We often run ahead doing many “good things” thinking we are doing them for God, when in reality, He may never have asked us to do them in the first place. Seeking Him for instructions for your everyday life is critical to living on purpose.
However, if you are uncertain about hearing God’s voice specifically, there are some questions you can answer to help you evaluate your life and give you some clues about how you should be focusing your time and attention as you pursue living with intention.
We all have experiences, natural gifts and abilities, and unique circumstances that can be used as clues on our paths to living intentionally.
*First Exercise: Write the first thing that pops into your mind. Don’t overthink–you can look over and ponder your answers after completing this exercise.
Questions to reflect on:
- What makes you laugh?
- What activities do you get so engrossed with that you lose track of time?
- Who inspires you the most and why?
- What were your favorite things to do when you were younger?
- What is your happiest memory?
- What are your favorite things to do now?
- What three things are you the proudest of in your life? Is there a common theme in them?
- What three things do people ask you for advice about or for help with most often?
- What are you naturally good at? (organizing, leading, speaking, writing, serving, encouraging, creating, teaching, etc.)
- What have other people consistently noticed about you (and commented on)?
- If time or money didn’t matter, what would you do?
- When you’re old and gray, what three things do you think you will regret not doing?
- How do you want people to remember you?
- What are your deepest values?
- What do you believe in?
- What do you like about your job? What do you dislike about it?
- What is the thing you would try if you knew you couldn’t fail?
- What are you passionate about?
- What ideas keep you up at night?
- What do you most want to change about your life?
- Where do you have influence? (Home, Community, Work, Neighborhood, Church, Online, etc.)
- What are some hardships, challenges, and difficulties you have overcome? (God often uses the hardest parts of our lives to bring light to the dark places of others).
- How could you use your past life lessons, passions, natural gifts, and values to serve and contribute to others? (often, our greatest purpose and missions are found through helping others)
- If someone were to write a book about you right now, what would the title be? Describe in 3-5 sentences what would be said on the back of the book.
Assessing How You Spend Your Time
One of the best ways to begin living on purpose is to evaluate how we’re spending our time.
Each one of us has the same 24 hours in a day and we all have the responsibility to determine how we’re spending them. Are we using our minutes and hours wisely and with intention, or are we floating along down the path of least resistance?
We all have blocks of time that are non-negotiable, such as how much time we need to sleep to function well or how many hours we are required to be at work, but the remaining hours can disappear without much to show for it if we aren’t making intentional choices.
**The second exercise is to track how you’re using your time over the next week. Try to live as you normally do to see the most honest depiction of your days, but take note of how much time you spend on which activities. Account for all the hours of your days for one week.
- How long do you spend sleeping?
- How many hours are you at work?
- How long did you spend on Social Media or surfing the web? (Try and make note of all the minutes here and there–you may be surprised how long you’re actually spending on the “mindless scroll” every day.)
- How long did you watch T.V.?
- How much time did you spend nurturing relationships with family or friends?
- How much time did you spend on cooking and taking care of your home?
- How much time did you spend with God?
- Keep track of anything else you have spent your time on.
After the week is up, honestly look at how you’re spending your time. How does it line up with what you discovered about yourself in the first assignment? Evaluate what you want to accomplish and focus on vs. how you’re actually spending your time. You may likely discover that how you want to live or the number of things you want to accomplish doesn’t fit into your days. This brings us to the third exercise:
**Determine your priorities based on Good, Better, and Best
There are so many wonderful things we can spend our time on, but we cannot do it all. We need to have a system to evaluate what is most important and then be intentional about making choices accordingly. We so often use the convenient excuse of “I’m too busy” as a reason we don’t focus on what in our hearts we know we should. There are more than enough reasons to stay busy, but at the end of the day, it really comes down to choices, priorities, focus, and commitment.
(Tip: For a shift in perspective, try saying “It’s not important enough to me” instead of “I’m too busy” because when we say we’re too busy, what we’re really saying is that thing wasn’t high enough on our priorities to make the list. It’s a little bit of a wake-up call!)
We need to determine which priorities are most important to focus on in this season before adding more. That’s where the Good, Better, Best works well.
For example, reading an enticing novel or watching a fun movie might be a good thing because it brings enjoyment and rest. Participating in a Bible study with peers might be a better activity because it nurtures your spirit and your relationship with God and others. However, if one of your priorities in this season is to be more present with your family, a Bible Study outside the home might not be the best place for you. Perhaps, a family Bible study would be the best option in this season.
This is just one example, but the concept can be used to make choices as you learn to order your days according to your priorities and purposes for this time in your life.
Finding Your Purpose vs. Living on Purpose
After completing these exercises, it’s possible you may start to recognize what your purpose is. You may even have had an “ah-ha!” moment.
If not, don’t be discouraged! Honestly, there are only a select few people who have that impactful ah-ha moment when they suddenly discover their purpose and calling. For the vast majority, our purpose is wrapped up and revealed in the choices we make each day.
It’s much more likely that these exercises have helped you to get to know yourself a little better and will give you some ideas of where you’d like to be more intentional. These clues are your starting point. Use what you have learned about yourself to start making changes in your everyday living. Don’t try to change everything all at once so you don’t get overwhelmed and fall back into your old patterns. Determine your non-negotiables and start there.
Once you have a handle on your non-negotiables, pick up the next clue and act on that. Over time, each intentional choice made will lead you closer to your purpose as you live on purpose. Every time you chose better over good and best over better, your ability to live on purpose will grow stronger.
Your list of non-negotiables will likely evolve as the seasons of your life change. Make regular time to reflect on what may need to be added or subtracted as God leads and your journey grows.
Just remember:
It’s in our everyday mundane moments of choosing, again and again, that will shape us, define our purpose, and create our legacy.
Purpose and calling are not usually a “big reveal” event, though sometimes those pop up when we least expect them. Rather, living on purpose is a lifestyle found in countless little choices– choices based on our natural gifts, abilities, unique experiences, and most importantly, partnering with God.
Adding and Subtracting
One of the biggest things that happen when one decides to start living on purpose is discovering that in order to focus on the most important things, something else has got to go. The solution to living on purpose is usually found through subtraction, not addition.
We may need to take the desserts off our plates in order to make room for the main course of meat and vegetables. In other words, eliminate the “fluff” to make room for substance.
Living on purpose takes focus, determination, and accountability
Living life on purpose may sound enticing, and it is! But choosing each day to be intentional about how you’re spending your time will take focus. It will take grit and endurance that will make you wonder if living this way is worth it. Our feel-good, instant gratification society has forgotten that more often than not, the best things are found through the slow, long process of small everyday choices. Transformation usually doesn’t happen overnight. Mountains are not scaled in one giant leap, they are conquered through small step after small step and a whole lot of determination.
The main thing is to stop drifting through your days without intention. Make it a habit to ask the Holy Spirit each day to lead you in the way you should go. As you listen to His leading, prioritize, plan, and focus, your purpose will become clear.
Still unsure? I can help you discover your purpose and develop goals and a plan to achieve them in my Life on Purpose one-on-one signature coaching program!
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