How to Uncover Your Purpose, Part 1

Knowing that I walked a way from “good jobs” at “good companies” (go here to learn more) and have successfully followed my dream of becoming a writer, people often ask me for advice on finding their spiritual Purpose. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I have searched out and now live in my Purpose, which is uncommon. I’ve also worked with people like Lisa Price, founder of Carol’s Daughter, Venus & Serena Williams, Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance, Nick Bollettieri and other people live in their “lane” in life and experience a high degree of personal freedom because of it. Although I find it strange and even disconcerting at times that people look to me -- little ol’ me! -- for answers in these areas, I have to accept that as a result of my experience, I have become somewhat expert in a hands-on, grassroots sort of way. So this is the first of several posts based on my first-hand experiences in this area.

Early morning on the water

One important piece of advice is that your Purpose is bigger than any job title, job description, career category or other human construct. Man-made conceptions are smaller than -- are subsets of -- higher, spiritual ideals like your Purpose, which some people call God’s Plan for your life. 

Job and career categories cannot contain your entire Spirit; whatever you do for a living (read: to make money) only reflects a fraction of who you are. Your job title may be accountant, but you are also a parent, PTA member, SPCA volunteer and coach of the community baseball team, for example -- aspects of your existence that cannot necessarily be expressed at work. 

Now, it is possible for your Purpose to involve performing a certain job or participating in a given career -- but your Purpose is not the job or the career itself; the job or career is a subset of your Purpose. I am a writer, which, because it is a somewhat unusual profession and, to some people, exotic, may seem Purpose-like. But writing is merely a way of expressing my Purpose (I’ll write more on the distinction soon). If you limit your search to identifying the right job title or career, you will certainly miss some of the amazing ways God works -- including ways of providing that transcend and defy job description.