The world is full of inspiration through art, nature, literature, music, people, or experiences. The best way to find what inspires you is to open your senses and enter the world with an open heart. 

This article will discuss inspiration, how it works, and the benefits it brings us. We will suggest five ways to help you find what inspires you.

What is inspiration?  

The Oxford Learners Dictionary defines inspiration as “the process that takes place when somebody sees or hears something that causes them to have exciting new ideas or makes them want to create something, especially in art, music or literature.” 

While I appreciate creatives rely on inspiration, I want also to recognize that inspiration is not solely for creatives. I know most athletes take inspiration from their sporting heroes and people doing incredible things. Inspiration helps us drive harder toward our personal goals. 

Doing anything creative requires a source of inspiration in the first place. 

Sometimes flickers of inspiration help us start something, other times, they help us continue something. 

Why feeling inspired is so important 

Feeling inspired by something or someone galvanizes us into action – creating something, pushing ourselves forward with renewed energy, or simply initiating a brainstorming process.

Inspiration brings sparkles and glitter into our lives. It helps us live with intention instead of sleepwalking through our days. 

In this study from 2014, authors suggest inspiration is a “motivational state that compels individuals to bring ideas into fruition.” 

Without actionable ideas, we become stuck in inertia. Inspiration is the vital source behind Mozart’s Requiem and Leonardo De Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Without inspiration, we wouldn’t have planes, cars, the internet, or literature.

How inspiration works 

In their study from 2003, Thrash and Elliott introduced inspiration as a psychological construct. They suggest the tripartite conceptualization, consisting of: 

• Evocation. 
• Transcendence
• Approach motivation. 

In layperson terms, an external source evokes inspiration within us; we don’t create inspiration internally. This first stage of inspiration ignites new thought processes, illuminating new possibilities for our conundrums. Lastly, with our newfound vision, we can actualize our inspiration and take action. 

Thrash and Elliott created an inspiration scale that consists of four key questions surrounding experiences of inspiration and the scale and regularity of this. This is a useful tool in assessing your relationship with inspiration and if you allow external influences to inspire your thoughts. 

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

5 ways to find what inspires you

When we find our source of inspiration, our productivity and creativity surge, and our excitement and energy increase. Inspiration helps us find a state of flow. 

Here are our top five tips for how to find what inspires you. 

1. Notice the little glimmers  

Most of us know what triggers are, but how many understand what glimmers are? 

Gilmmers are the opposite of triggers. When we feel triggered, we experience internal discomfort and distress. Our heart rate may rise, and we may feel agitated and frustrated. Glimmers, on the other hand, induce feelings of safety. Glimmers are those small moments that spark joy and induce feelings of peace and comfort. 

Most glimmers go unnoticed. But if you learn to pay attention to your glimmers, you will quickly find what inspires you. 

Animals and nature provide me with little glimmers. Unsurprisingly, spending time in nature and with animals helps me clear my mind and find clarity of thought. 

2. Listen to your energy 

If we pay attention, we can hear the messages our body is trying to give us. Our energy levels are a key indicator of what inspires us. 

Listen to the rise and fall of your energy. What situations increase your energy and leave you feeling tingly and excited? Energy is a strong indicator that you are around a source of inspiration. This energy boost may be derived from a person, an experience, or an environment. You may feel a surge in your energy after watching live music or visiting a museum. 

If you struggle to discern your energy changes, why not keep a journal?

Sometimes we can get stuck on autopilot and fail to notice the subtle shifts in our energy. To help tune into yourself, jot down a few sentences about your energy levels and learn to attribute the causes of your energy changes. 

Once you recognize the rise and fall of your energies, focus as much of your time and attention on what increases your energy and try and avoid the things that drain your energy. 

3. Pay attention to your thoughts 

We can’t control our thoughts. Even when we find ourselves in moments of peace, our thoughts are still churning away. While this can be distracting, it can also be a helpful indication of what captivates us and draws our attention. 

If you want to know where your heart lies, look at where your mind goes when it wanders.

Vi Keeland

What do you daydream about? What fantasies do you play out? Do you dream of playing the violin in the Sydney opera house? Maybe you picture yourself competing in the Olympics.

Your daydreams are inevitably a wonderful pool of inspiration. Follow them and see where they may take you. 

4. Trial and error  

They say you have to kiss many frogs to find your prince. Inspiration is similar to this. We must open ourselves up and explore what life has to offer. This exploration means we have to endure a lot of experiences that don’t inspire us to find things that do inspire us. 

It stands to reason that we can’t find our source of inspiration if we aren’t exposed to it. So trial and error is a huge factor in the search for inspiration. 

Last year I took guitar lessons. They were OK, but my fantasy of mastering the guitar was certainly brighter than my enthusiasm for learning. I didn’t particularly enjoy the process, nor did it excite me, so I stopped. And that’s OK. 

Compare this to my recent kayaking trips with my new vessel. Bobbing up and down on the water and watching the seals felt invigorating. I didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day and am already planning the next kayaking trip. 

Put yourself out there, and be open to trying new things. You never know when the claws of inspiration will sink in. 

5. Does it garner awe and respect? 

One of the biggest races on the ultra-running calendar occurred on the weekend. The first female smashed the course record and ran a mind-blowing race in tough conditions. This phenomenal performance left me in awe and greatly respecting the athlete. It leads me to wonder what I can do if I continue to commit to my training and do everything possible to achieve my dreams. 

We may not match the outcomes of our heroes, but we can harness our admiration for their success to fuel our actions. 

If we are full of awe and respect for what someone else has achieved, they are likely a great source of inspiration for us. Use this admiration to tap into the inspiration resource, follow them on socials, and read up on their story. Let them be your unofficial mentor. 

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up 

Sometimes we feel stuck in a rut and rudderless. But when we find what inspires us, we start to live with intention, and our surging motivation becomes action. 

Here are our top five tips to help you find what inspires you. 

• Notice the little glimmers.
• Listen to your energy. 
• Pay attention to your thoughts. 
• Trial and error. 
• Does it garner awe and respect? 

How do you find sources of inspiration? What’s your favorite tip to find what do l inspires you? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Ali Hall Author

Kindness is my superpower. Dogs and nature are my oxygen. Psychology with Sports science graduate. Scottish born and bred. I’ve worked and traveled all over the world. Find me running long distances on the hills and trails.

The post 5 Ways to Find What Inspires You (and Live With Intent) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

You need to find and define your own personal “Why” in life. Every single person has a deep motivation that fuels their life in the grand scheme of things. If you keep questioning why you do the things you do, you will eventually find your own personal “Why” in life.

This article shows you how you can find your personal “Why”. I’ve included actionable tips and different examples of others. After finishing this article, you will know exactly how to find your “Why”.

What is a “Why” in life?

What is your “Why” in life?

This question is very common but makes you think about what you truly want out of life. How do you find out what your “Why” in life is? By asking as many questions as possible:

• Why do I do this?
• Why do I value this over that?
• Why am I not happy when X happens?
• Why am I stressed now?

If you keep asking these questions, it’s likely that you’ll eventually end up with the same answer. That answer is almost always your “Why” in life. That’s the reason that makes you go forward in life.

The reason why you’re unhappy now is that your situation doesn’t align with your “Why”.

Common answers to these “Why” questions are usually a variation or combination of the following:

• Providing for my family.
• Success.
• To leave a legacy.
• Feeling loved.
• Having a positive impact on the lives of others.
• Fortune.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking: “I want everything you just said!” And without giving more thought to this question, you might plan out your life to be a successful and rich person with a huge positive impact on the world.

Because that sounds like a good reason to be alive, right?

Finding your “Why” in life

So how do you find your “Why” in life? Here’s how you don’t find it:

• By sitting in a chair by the window, waiting for someone to tell you what your “Why” should be.
• By having a “eureka!” moment.
• By copying someone else’s “Why” in life.

No. In order to find your personal “Why” in life, you really have to take a shovel and dig deep down in your conscious mind. How do you start digging? By asking yourself the questions that I’ve listed above.

Here’s an example:

A: Why am I so stressed all the time?

Q: Because my work makes me stressed.

Q: Why do I work every day from 7:00 to 16:00?

A: Because I need money in order to do the things that I value most.

What do these answers show me? That my “career” has absolutely nothing to do with my “Why” in life. I only work because the money allows me to do the things that I value more. Let’s continue.

Q: What do I value most?

A: To live a happy life and to be surrounded by people who I can have positive interactions with.

Okay, so this already becomes more existential, right? Your “Why” in life is usually not connected to a single factor in your life (like a career, a hobby, or a single good cause). It usually is bigger than that.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Let’s go on.

Q: Why do I want to have a positive influence on the world?

A: Because I’ve been given an opportunity in life that not a lot of other people have gotten (good upbringing, basic needs, family, health, education). I don’t just want to take these for granted. I want to use this opportunity to give back to the world.

A-ha. There we are. This is a “Why” statement that I can personally be happy with. With just 3 questions, I’ve dug down to the bottom of my “Why”, which shows me what drives me to do the things I do in life.

Examples of corporate “Why” statements

The “Why” statement has become quite popular ever since the book Start With Why by Simon Sinek became a global best-seller.

This book covers the importance of “Why” statements in the corporate world, and how leaders can inspire more people to do the same by starting with the question “why?”

What this basically comes down to is that everything you do – whether you’re a business or a person – should have the same fundamental reason. So if somebody started to question your actions (why do you do that? Why this? Why that?), eventually, you’d ideally circle back to your main “Why” statement.

Since “Why” statements are very common in businesses already, I’ve included some well-known examples here. Personal “Why” statements are still less common, but by reading these examples, you might get inspired to reconsider your own versions!

• We aim to challenge the status quo. We aim to think differently. – Apple
• To connect millions of people in real life all over the world, through a community marketplace– so that you can belong anywhere. – Airbnb
• To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. – Microsoft
• To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. – Google

Why it’s important to find your personal “Why”

A “Why” statement is often used in the corporate world, but why is it also important to determine your own “why” statement?

Because you’re more likely to be happier when you live a life that’s aligned with your purpose in life. We’ve written an entire article about this topic here.

We’ve studied this topic in a large-scale survey recently and found that 34% of people associate their purpose in life with their happiness.

Another interesting study followed 136,000 people for about 7 years and came to the revealing conclusion:

The analysis showed a lower risk of death for participants with a high sense of purpose in life. After adjusting for other factors, mortality was about one-fifth lower for participants reporting a strong sense of purpose.

Purpose in Life and Its Relationship to All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events: A Meta-Analysis

So it’s clear that finding your “Why” in life is important and beneficial for your happiness. But how do you find yours?

Defining your own personal “Why” in life

You can’t go around and copy & paste somebody else’s “Why” statement and expect to be happy by doing the same things.

No, you have to define your own personal “Why” in life.

Just as much as happiness is something that’s unique for every single person, the “Why” differs from person to person.

Richard Branson’s “Why” in life might be “to have fun in my journey through life and learn from my mistakes“, while your own personal “Why” can be to just provide the best life to your family and children.

Copying and pasting the “Why” of somebody that you respect and look up to will probably leave you unhappy and unfulfilled. For example, I think Richard Branson is doing spectacular things, but I wouldn’t be happy if I were in his shoes. My own “Why” is wildly different from his!

I have defined my own purpose in life, and I advise you to do the same!

Examples of personal “Why” statements in life

Even though you have to define your own “Why” statement in life, it’s still interesting to read about other people’s statements. That’s why I’ve asked around to include examples of personal “Why” statements in this article.

I don’t want you to copy and paste these “Why” statements and make them your own. I only want to show you how diversified these statements can be!

Here are actual examples of personal “Why” statements of the people I asked!

“My why is to share the power of therapeutic humor with others.”

This personal “Why” statement comes from David Jacobson, who is the president of Humor Horizons. I think this is a great example of how simple a personal “Why” statement in life can be.

My why is to share the power of therapeutic humor with others. Humor has been life transforming for me. It has enabled me to cope with chronic pain and severe arthritis. I have been able to do a 50-miles unicyle ride as a fund raiser which I partially attribute my sense of humor to helping me complete. I wrote a book on the humor habits that I use to help me cope and I am now beginning a research project to use positive depression tests rather than negative (how happy are you vs how sad, etc). My sense of humor is my source of happiness!

“My why is to help people be more connected in their life, career, and business.”

This “Why” statement comes from Beth Bridges and shows how a life event can solidify your purpose in life. Beth is an author and specializes in the power of networking. She also runs The Networking Motivator, a website about sharing networking strategies with others.

Here’s how she defines her “Why” in life.

My why is to help people be more connected in their life, career, and business. A year and a half ago, my husband of 17 years had a massive heart attack and was gone in minutes. What saved my sanity? The friends and business connections who gladly helped me with things small and large. Without that community, I would have been lost in despair and sadness. Now, I want to make sure that everyone has the tools and knowledge to build their own community so that they can survive whatever life throws at them.

“To push myself to be the best version of myself so that I know my mom is smiling down on me.”

This personal “Why” statement comes from Colby West, who shares a very touching story on how a life event can influence your “Why”. I think this is a great example of how you can be driven to make the most of yourself by defining a fundamental reason, a.k.a. your “Why”.

I lost my mom to alcohol abuse on the 14th of March 2017, which I didn’t know the degree of until it was too late. It took me about 2 years to realize that I needed to make a change in my life in order to become the person I know she would want me to be. Almost 4 months ago, I decided to work smarter AND harder and “spread my wings” a bit. I quit drinking alcohol, committed to health and wellness so much that I got my body fat % down to about 5%, all while adding 3 (soon to be 4) income streams to my life. Though I’m nowhere near finished, and will likely never be satisfied, I will continue to push myself to be the best version of myself so that I know my momma is smiling down on me, 100%.

“To leave the world better than I found it and be remembered by the people whose lives I touched as a force for good in their lives.”

This one comes from Paige, which I find a really inspiring example. “To leave the world better than I found it” is such a simple but powerful purpose. Paige started a global branding and marketing firm – called Mavens & Moguls – 18 years ago. She’s been happily married for 27 years, has a close circle of friends, nieces, nephews, and god kids.

She says:

Quite simply I want to leave the world better than I found it and be remembered by the people whose lives I touched as a force for good in their lives.

I lost 7 people very close to me in 6 years and know first hand no one on their deathbed wishes they worked more, made more money or won more awards. They just want to be with the ones they love most and to tell them they mattered. I think of those people often and the roles they played in my life. I want to be remembered for passing along the very best in me to others so their lives are better and happier in some way because I was part of it.

I hope these examples of personal “Why” statements inspire you to reconsider your own. What is the fundamental driving force in your life?

Here’s my personal answer.

What is my personal “why” in life?

Here’s a short version of my personal “Why” statement:

“To be worth it.”

In order to explain what this means, I have to go back in time. Actually, I have to delve through my happiness journals.

On the 17th of July, 2014, I wrote a journal entry that eventually went off-topic into a rant about how lucky I was. This is what I wrote down:

“Seriously, I’ve been extremely lucky in my life so far. I have great parents and financial security. As a result, I’ve gotten a solid education, friends, safety, hobbies and I can easily get around. More importantly, I’ve not had any major setbacks in life so far.

That leads me to think: Am I worth it? Do I actually deserve all these things? More importantly, how can I make sure that I actually deserve everything that I’ve been lucky enough to have so far?

Simply appreciating what I have is definitely NOT enough. No way. I want to give back to my parents and to make them happy. I want to help other people as much as I’ve been helped in the past. And most importantly, I want to have a positive influence on the world.

Come to think of it, I need to be the best version of myself I can. I need to reach my full potential.

But what is my potential? I think I can potentially do a lot of good things in my life. I’m smart, physically fit and mentally healthy (I think). But why? Because I’ve been so lucky in the past already. My luck has given me so many potential opportunities, and if I want to be “worth it”, I need to make sure that I don’t let these opportunities go to waste. There are people with fewer opportunities (aka less luck) that still manage to have an amazing influence on the world by reaching their full potential. I need to do the same. I need to be worth it.

How?

• By giving my “luck” to others as much as I can.
• By “paying it forward”.
• By not letting my opportunities go to waste.
• By appreciating everything that I have and not just taking it for granted.
• By being the best person I can.

I don’t believe in karma, but if I did, it basically comes down to accumulating as much positive karma as possible. That’s how I can be worth it.”

Even though I wrote this years ago, this is still exactly how I feel about my life. At the time, I didn’t worry about my wording. Instead, I just wrote whatever thoughts raced through my mind.

But now, after giving it some more time, I have redefined my personal “Why” in life like this:

To be worth everything that has been given to me, and to have as much of a positive influence on the world as possible.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

There you have it. There are many different reasons to do the things you do in life, but they generally follow the same fundamental driving force. If somebody started to question your actions, you’d have to be able to circle back to your main “Why” statement. If you’ve made it all the way down this article, I hope you know how to define your own personal “Why” statement.

I’d love to hear from you now! What is your “Why” in life? What makes you do the things you do on a daily basis when you really think about it? Let’s share more examples in the comments below!

Hugo Huijer Author

Founder of Tracking Happiness, with over 100 interviews and a focus on practical advice, our content extends beyond happiness tracking. Hailing from the Netherlands, I’m a skateboarding enthusiast, marathon runner, and a dedicated data junkie, tracking my happiness for over a decade.

The post What is Your Why? (5 Examples to Help You Find Yours) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

But what are some examples of a purpose in life? There are a lot of commonly known purposes in life, like providing for your family, living a successful life, making positive connections with others, and traveling the world.

But what is your purpose? In this article, I’ll show you how to discover and define your purpose in life, with actual examples of people that I’ve asked.

What is my purpose in life?

What is my purpose in life?

This question is very common but makes you think about what you truly want. Answers are usually a variation or combination of the following:

• Success.
• Feeling loved.
• Having a positive impact on the lives of others.
• To be happy.
• Fortune.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking: “I want everything you just said!” And without giving more thought to this question, you might plan out your life to be a successful and rich person with a huge positive impact on the world.

Because that sounds like a good purpose, right?

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Why it’s important to truly discover your purpose

So here you are. You have a purpose “to become a successful and rich person with a huge positive impact on the world”.

You’ve written it down in your journal as one of your goals, and off you go.

Fast forward 10 years:

Let’s imagine you’re now successful and rich and have a huge influence on the world. You have spent your early years building a company that develops – say – portable toilets, that people in poor countries can use. Your company makes a nice profit, and people all around the world look up to you because you seem to be successful, rich, and have a positive influence on the world.

You now check all the boxes of what you thought your purpose in life was 10 years ago.

But are you happy? No. Because in the process of fulfilling your life purpose, you’ve had to sacrifice other things, like:

• Dating and finding a loving partner.
• Spending time with your family.
• Going on holidays with your friends.
• Getting kids.
• Traveling the world.
• Running a marathon.
• Etc.

Even though your purpose in life wasn’t necessarily a bad purpose, there’s one problem with it: it wasn’t your purpose in life. Maybe your purpose in life was to simply build a loving family and to be happy?

That’s why it’s extremely important to discover your own purpose in life!

Discovering your purpose in life

People don’t wake up one day and have a “eureka” moment and suddenly know what their purpose in life is. No, you have to discover your purpose by trial and error.

So how do you discover your purpose? Not by sitting in a chair by the window. You find it by doing things and taking action.

What’s important here is that you try new things. If you haven’t yet discovered your purpose in life, then you are not going to find it by trying the same things over and over again.

It’s also important to know that your purpose in life and your job are not the same things. Too many people look for a job that is simultaneously something that can fill their purpose in life. A very small percentage of people find actual purpose in the work they do.

For example, I personally have a very simple purpose in life, and it has got nothing to do with my work! That’s not to say that I hate my work, I just don’t regard it as something I’m passionate about.

Long story short: you have to discover your purpose in life by trying out new things. If you feel like you haven’t yet found your purpose in life, that means you need to try something new that sparks your interest again.

Defining your purpose in life

You can’t copy & paste somebody else’s purpose in life and expect to be happy by doing the same things.

No, you have to define your purpose.

Just as much as happiness is something that’s unique for every single person, the purpose of life differs from person to person.

Elon Musk’s purpose in life might be to develop futuristic ideas into reality, while your purpose can be to just provide the best life to your family and children.

Copy & pasting the purpose of somebody that you respect and like will probably leave you unhappy and unfulfilled. For example, I think Elon Musk is doing spectacular things, but I wouldn’t be happy if I were in his shoes. My purpose in life is wildly different from his!

I have defined my own purpose in life, and I advise you to do the same!

Examples of life purpose statements

Even though you have to define your own purpose in life, it’s still interesting to read about other people’s purposes. That’s why I’ve asked around to include examples of life purpose statements in this article.

I don’t want you to copy and paste these life purposes and make them your own. I only want to show you how diversified life purpose statements can be!

Here are actual examples of life purpose statements of the people I asked!

“My purpose in life is to solve problems by changing the status quo”

You will love the story of how Michael Arnold found his purpose in life. This is a great example of how straightforward your purpose in life can be.

I don’t remember my grandpa, he passed when I was 9 months old but I sat on his knee while Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. I always wanted to be an astronaut even studying Astronomy, Geology and Physics in high school.

But when I checked into the requirements of becoming an astronaut, I realized I had been lied to… I was told work hard and you can reach your dreams.

But there it was in black and white, maximum height 6’1”! I was 6’4”! I couldn’t be 3” shorter.

So, I decided to become an engineer and build taller spaceships, discovering my new purpose solving problems by changing the status quo.

“My purpose in life is making positive connections with others and enjoying those around you”

I got cancer age 30 and am currently grappling with this question. My focus has completely shifted and I feel like the whole point of my life now is just 2 simple things:

This is what a Redditor answered when asked about her purpose in life. The first simple thing that she recognized:

Making positive connections with others and enjoying those around you. It is a lot easier to sit on the couch and watch a feel-good show than it is to go have dinner with your in-laws when you are tired – but what is the point in sitting there watching TV? We all waste way too much time doing crap like that. Better to build meaningful connections while you can. There are millions of super isolated people in the world as well who would kill to have someone to have dinner with.

The second purpose of her life is:

Squeezing every bit of enjoyment out of life. I need to walk home – I can either take the subway for 5 minutes underground or I can walk 30 minutes through a park and tree-lined streets and truly enjoy it.. maybe get an ice cream on the way. I’d pick the fast way every time before, now I’m constantly looking for the most enjoyable route instead.

“My purpose in life is to teach other parents of kids with ADHD how to positively parent to help their kids”

My oldest (who are 18 and 21) were really difficult kids. I didn’t know until they were about 10 years old that they had ADHD. I probably made every parenting mistake possible as a result. It wasn’t easy. I became a therapist and as a result, specialized in ADHD, specifically in parenting.

This is the story of Merriam Saunders, who found her own purpose in life is helping other parents deal with ADHD.

What I realized was that by constantly reprimanding my own children for behavior outside their control, I was ruining their self-esteem and leaving them (and, frankly, me) feeling like failures. Instead of asking them to change, I needed to ask it of myself. I changed my parenting approach to one of finding the things they were doing right, scaffolding the things they weren’t, and letting them make mistakes without shame. We became a happier family for it, and they are now well adjusted and academically succeeding.

“My purpose in life is to make things”

This idea was the center of my thoughts for the past few years. And I did a lot of testing out who I was and what I wanted out of life. Trying on different careers and always second guessing myself. And I was struggling and unhappy and went through a lot of different situations to figure this out. Find a career, find a partner, find something else to fill the void in my life.

This is the story of another Redditor. This shows that a purpose in life doesn’t have to be sophisticated or impressive. We don’t need to one-up each other with a bigger and better purpose. You need to find what your own purpose is. What makes you happy?

The example continues:

But the idea of making things was always there. Even as a kid just fucking around or even when I was at my most depressed as an adult. I always turned to making things.

Make ceramics, make sculptures, make music, make a garden, make good food, make a book, make my own clothes. Make something that didn’t exist.

I make things because that’s how I understand myself in this world. It soothes me. It shows me that I’m strong. It comforts me, in a mental and physical sense. It makes me proud and it makes me happy.

It’s simple, but it seems to be the one true thread in my life that makes absolute sense. And it’s a path I can follow without doubting myself.

“My purpose in life is to use my writing to better the world”

For a class in high school we had to write a mission statement for our lives. Mine was simple: to use my writing to better the world. And I have tried to live up to that. I have written about the environment, diversity and bullying as well as a host of other topics. But I was happiest when I wrote something that addressed a problem and even happier when I would get feedback saying that my writing touched someone.

This is the story of Walter Meyer, who is an author and speaks about anti-bullying. His purpose has slowly changed into something broader. This shows that we don’t have a single purpose in life, but that it is something that evolves as we grow and try out new things in life.

Like this:

A few years ago, I fell into a part-time job working for a nonprofit. At times, the job has gotten in the way of my writing, but I also know I am making a difference in my community and getting kudos for it. So I slightly modified my life mission statement: to better the world.

I still write and use that as a major tool, but I teach, put on seminars and exhibits and other events to educate the public. I am at my happiest when I am doing what I love, getting paid for it, and getting feedback saying I am doing the right thing. We only have a limited amount of time in life so I want to make the most of my years. And because any of us might go tomorrow, I would like to think that I have left a mark in many lives and will leave my little corner of the world better than I found it.

“My purpose in life is to empower myself to empower others”

As a recovering perfectionist, anxiety warrior, and depression fighter, my purpose in life is to empower myself to empower others. I define my purpose in life as a continual journey of becoming the best possible version of myself. By doing this, I can help other people become the best possible version of themselves.

This is the story of Nicole, who reached out to me with her life purpose example. I personally feel connected to her purpose in life, as I am also constantly looking to be the best version of myself.

“My life doesn’t have a purpose, and I don’t want it to”

My life doesnt have a purpose, and I don’t want it to. A purpose puts too much pressure on me. I just want to be able to say I lived a happy, ethical, and compassionate life. If I do, then I will have hopefully improved the world for a few people, animals, and the planet. That is what really matters, I think.

This is another interesting take on a purpose in life by a Redditor. Instead of having a clearly defined purpose, she’d much rather like to be happy above anything else. She continues:

I see too many people driving themselves mad trying to change the world. They put all their happiness on the line for their “purpose” and end up miserable. Too many people want to be remembered after they die, but I don’t care because I don’t think it really matters. I’ll be dead so I will have no idea if people remember me! So I just focus on being a happy, good person, because I am the only thing I can truly control.

This last example is actually pretty funny when you think of it. Why would I include it in this article, if it directly seems to counter the point that I’m trying to make?

Well, maybe this article is not so much about finding a purpose, but more about finding things in life that make you the happiest you can be.

These examples have shown you that the following things can be seen as a purpose in life:

• Solving problems by thinking outside the box.
• Make positive connections with others and enjoy those around you.
• Teaching other parents how to deal with ADHD.
• Making things.
• Leaving the world a better place.
• Empowering others.
• Providing for your family.
• Living a successful life.

Happiness is a purpose too

The life purpose examples that I’ve mentioned so far can all be thought of as things that simply make you a happier person.

You see, these purposes in our lives are only there because we have reason to believe that we’ll be happy when we either:

• Chase these purposes, or…
• Reach these purposes.

Before I started to track my happiness, I wanted – among others – to become financially free. Why? Because I was working a job that I did not like (this is an understatement).

During the last 10 years, my happiness has moved quite a bit (this is an understatement too). Throughout this time, I constantly forced myself to think about these questions:

• What is my purpose in life?
• What makes me happy?

I’ve learned that it’s not so much that I wanted to be financially independent. I just wanted to not have to work a job that I didn’t like. Instead of focusing on a vague pipedream (being able to quit my job), I focused on actively steering my life in the best direction right away.

What did I do?

• I steered my career in a different direction.
• I focused on being happy now, instead of only planning for my future happiness.

A fun example:

When my girlfriend and I were in a bad long-distance relationship, I noticed that running long distances made me extremely happy. On a whim, I signed up for a marathon that was just 3 weeks away. Running a marathon had always been on my bucket list, but it was only when I re-evaluated my happiness that I decided to be bold.

3 weeks later, I crossed the finish line feeling broken, shattered, and physically dead.

Was it the smartest decision I ever made? Probably not, but I still did it. The result? Running long distances is still something that I dearly love, and here is the proof.

The point of this story is – and this is where I might sound cheesy – that it’s truly the journey that matters much more than the destination. You can spend your whole life working towards something that you think you want (a so-called purpose), while you should really focus on being happy now!

Life is just too short to only focus on eventually reaching that purpose. You have to start focusing on your happiness now. Do more of what makes you happy now.

With all that out of the way: here’s my purpose in life

My purpose in life is to live a long and happy life.

Sounds cheesy and anti-climatic? Maybe, but here’s the thing:

Everything that I do is a result of my purpose in life. There are a lot of other things that I feel are part of my purpose in life, like:

• Making others happy.
• Making the world a better place.
• Spending as much time as possible with the people I love.
• Challenging myself intellectually and physically.

But I only care about these things because they will eventually result in my main purpose, which is to live a long and happy life.

Purpose in life FAQ

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

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Wrapping up

This may not be the climax you were hoping for after reading this entire article, but it’s the way I feel. I hope I have at least shown you multiple aspects of this purpose in life. If you now have a better idea of how you can discover and define your own purpose, then I have reached my goal!

Now, I want to hear from you! Do you want to share your purpose in life? Do you feel like you don’t have a purpose in life? Do you disagree with something I said in this article?

I’d love to hear more from you in the comments!

Hugo Huijer Author

Founder of Tracking Happiness, with over 100 interviews and a focus on practical advice, our content extends beyond happiness tracking. Hailing from the Netherlands, I’m a skateboarding enthusiast, marathon runner, and a dedicated data junkie, tracking my happiness for over a decade.

The post 5 Purpose in Life Examples and How to Find Yours? appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Drifting is fine, but if you are a drifter, you may experience a sense of failing to meet your full potential and a lack of achievement and purpose. When we discover what we want to do and follow this path, we become alive with the energy of synchronicity. 

This article will outline why knowing what you want to do is essential. It will also touch on the consequences of not knowing what you want. It will also suggest five tips to help you discover the right path. 

Why is it important to know what you want to do in life? 

Those who know what they want in life control their future. They hold the power to create the future of their imaginings. 

Many people fall into their lives and go along with the herd without considering things for themselves. An excellent example is those who have children without giving enough thought and reflection as to whether parenting is for them. A staggering 1 in 5 people in Germany regret parenthood. Orna Donath’s book Regretting Motherhood explores this taboo topic in greater detail. 

The point is there is no universal path for how to live life. And when we do what everyone else does, we betray ourselves and can end up deeply unhappy, frustrated, stifled, and even clinically depressed. 

We must discover what sets our hearts ablaze to live a truly authentic and fulfilling life. Only when we know what we are here for will we feel a sense of purpose, connection, and belonging, which fuels our positive psychology. 

What happens when you don’t know what you want to do in life?

If you don’t know what you want to do in life and you don’t take the time to explore this, you will continue drifting from one thing to the next without rhyme or reason. You will live without intention, which can compromise your integrity and leave your sense of self murky and confusing. 

A lot of the time, our soul gives us little indications of where it wants to spend time. But we ignore it due to fear or our desires not meeting society’s expectations.

Can you ever be truly happy if you don’t know what you want? 

Think of yourself as a ship out at sea. Even ships must navigate toward a destination for their journey to have purpose and meaning. 

Those who drift along without finding their authentic direction and meaning will feel rudderless and disconnected forever. 

It is natural for our wants and needs to change over the years. The trick is to be versatile and able to adapt to these changes. Seventeen years ago, I wanted to be a police officer, so I became one. This year I decided I no longer wanted to be a police officer, so I left. Do what feels right for you at that moment in your life.  

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

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5 ways to discover what you want to do in life

It’s time to say goodbye to the drifter in you. When we live a life of intention, moving in the direction of things that captivate and inspire us, we invite a life of potential and positive vibrations. 

Here are our 5 tips on discovering what you want to do in life. 

1. Be curious and open  

They say we have to kiss many frogs before we meet our prince. We can adapt this idea to help us determine what we want to do. It’s all about trial and error. We must be curious and open to trying new things to find things we connect with. So say “yes” to adventures, experiences, and learnings. 

For instance, if we don’t already play a musical instrument, how are we supposed to know whether we want to be a musician? 

Embracing life and everything it offers us is the best way to determine our likes and dislikes and how we want to spend our time. 

2. Notice when you experience flow   

According to Positive Psychology, the flow state is experienced when we are in the zone. It is experienced by “those involved in challenging but enjoyable activities that cause them to lose a sense of time, such as sports and creative artistic pursuits.”

I experience flow state in various areas of my life. Including: 

• Running on trails.  
• Writing personal essays or creative stories. 

I pursued these areas of my life by listening to my soul and paying attention to what puts me in a flow state. My passion for running evolved into the foundation of several running communities and a running business. I now work as a running coach and in business development for an independent running company.

This line of work makes me feel alive; my love for running transfers to my job, so much so it doesn’t feel like work. 

3. What fills your daydreams?  

Where does your mind go when it drifts off into its fantasy world? My mind takes me up mountains and along coastlines. I am drawn to natural adventures. This daydreaming landscape helps me understand that I need to spend as little time as possible in the city and as much time as possible surrounded by nature. 

If you want to know where your heart is, look at where your mind goes when it wanders.

Vi Keeland

What about you? What is your heart yearning for? You will likely daydream about what your heart yearns for. It may be a hobby or interest or a particular person. There is no wrong or right answer; our daydreams are as individual as our fingerprints. But listen to your daydreams and figure out how to make them a reality. 

4. Follow your jealousy  

Jealousy is painted as a negative trait we should try to hide, suppress and eradicate. Sure, it’s not the best of traits, but it is simply our psyche trying to communicate what it wants. 

If you are jealous of your friend traveling to some far-off country, maybe your heart craves adventure and foreign lands. If you are jealous of your sister having a baby, you may seek to be a parent. 

Don’t fight against your jealousy; listen to it. Each time you start to feel the prickles of jealousy, ask yourself open questions to explore the sensation. You will likely learn something about yourself and can adapt your course to account for your yearnings. 

5. Explore yourself  

Who are you? Are you introverted, extroverted, or ambivert? Do you prefer the country or the city? What type of music do you enjoy? What makes you laugh? What scares you? 

There are infinite ways to distinguish you as an individual. 

You must have a strong understanding of yourself to discern what you want to do in life. If you need help, you could work with a professional, such as a life coach or therapist. You could also consult with a psychologist and undertake some personality tests. 

The stronger your understanding of yourself is, the clearer your desires and yearnings will be. 

I worked with a career coach for a few sessions several years ago. This work helped clarify what I needed in my work and personal life to bring balance, purpose, and contentment. 

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

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Wrapping up 

Life is short. All too often, by the time we’ve discovered what we want to do in life, we have wasted decades trying to figure it out. 

Make the most of the years you have on this planet and figure out now how you want to spend your precious time on this planet. Don’t forget our five tips to help you discover what you want in life. 

• Be curious and open.
• Notice when you experience flow. 
• What fills your daydreams? 
• Follow your jealousy. 
• Explore yourself. 

How have you discovered your true calling in life? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Ali Hall Author

Kindness is my superpower. Dogs and nature are my oxygen. Psychology with Sports science graduate. Scottish born and bred. I’ve worked and traveled all over the world. Find me running long distances on the hills and trails.

The post 5 Steps to Discover What You Want to Do in Life appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Chances are, you know someone who stumbled upon their passion from a young age and pursued it persistently into adulthood until it eventually became their career. They’ve probably had their entire path figured out since they were a child. Unless you’re one of those lucky humans, finding your passion in life can be a frightening and frustrating task. If you’re struggling to discover the thing that makes you feel truly alive, you’re not alone.  

The good news is that it’s never too late to realize your passion. In this article, I’ll explore what it means to live a passionate life, why discovering what sets your soul on fire is important, and how it can be possible for you to uncover yours. 

What does it mean to discover your passion?

As humans, we naturally crave a life full of passion. We watch other people pursue their own passions, find incredible success and happiness, and naturally wish the same for ourselves. 

There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.  

Nelson Mandela

Passion is simply defined as something that makes life worth living. To discover your passion means to find a strong inclination towards a self-defining activity that you deem important. As a result, you eagerly invest your time and energy into that activity. 

In a way, finding your passion is an essential part of becoming the most authentic version of yourself. A 2015 study on Australian workers revealed that an occupation considered to be a passion is closely linked to perceptions of authentic selfhood. 

Harmonious vs. obsessive passion 

Although passion is often correlated to success and fulfillment, there are some people who suffer because of their passion.

A Canadian psychologist, Dr. Robert Vallerand, posited that there are two types of passion: harmonious and obsessive. This dualistic model results in two very different experiences, one healthy and the other harmful, in the pursuit of passion. 

Individuals with harmonious passion follow the passion of their own volition. This allows their authentic self to show up while they engage in their passion.

As a result, they are able to freely and fully immerse themselves in an activity they love without being a slave to it. People with harmonious passions experience improved well-being, greater life satisfaction, and personal growth. 

Conversely, those with obsessive passion pursue it with reckless abandon. They feel compelled to pursue their passion and lose their sense of self-control. Although chasing your passion relentlessly is a romantic notion, it can be unhealthy and consuming.

Those with obsessive passion are prone to feelings of shame and loss of self-control. A 2010 study also found that obsessive passion frequently leads to burnout. 

Therefore, it’s crucial to be mindful of your approach to discovering your passion and your relationship to your passion once you find it. 

Why is discovering your passion important? 

It turns out that being passionate about life is beneficial for your overall well-being.

A 2009 study found that individuals who harmoniously engage in an activity that they’re passionate about experience greater levels of hedonic and eudaimonic happiness. This means along with producing feelings of pleasure and enjoyment, following your passion can give you meaning and purpose. 

Finding your passion isn’t just about careers and money. It’s about finding your authentic self. The one you’ve buried beneath other people’s needs.

Kristin Hannah 

These findings are reiterated by a 2017 study that concluded that individuals who pursue their passion harmoniously and with more self-control experience an improvement in well-being. 

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Reasons you might be struggling to find your passion

If you’re having trouble figuring out your passion, it’s possible that your perception is hindering your quest.

Perceiving passion as something that is inherent can be extremely limiting, according to a 2018 study. The belief that passion is fixed as opposed to something that is developed can generate more reluctance to try new things and a tendency to easily give up when it becomes difficult. Therefore, it’s best to adopt the view that passion is something to be developed once you find it. 

Another possible reason why your passion is eluding could be due to a narrow focus. The same study shows that those who believe they can only be passionate about one thing are more likely to focus on a single passion. This prevents them from exploring other interests in the event that they realize that particular passion is not for them. 

In reality, you probably have multiple passions. It’s ultimately up to you to decide which passion or passions are worthy of your time and effort. 

Tips on how to discover your passion in life 

Discovering their passion is a daunting task for many people, but it doesn’t have to be for you. Here are a few tips to help you on this exciting quest for self-discovery. 

1. Try new things

Seems simple enough, right? To maximize your chances of encountering your passion, it’s a good idea to expose yourself to as many activities as possible. This means opening yourself to new experiences that may be outside of your comfort zone. 

Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to try various potential passions. You could sign up for a lesson online or watch a few how-to YouTube videos for free on something that sparks your interest. Another good strategy is to try the passions of your friends or partner. If they take lessons, accompany them. If they offer lessons, graciously accept them. 

Here’s another article on our blog that discusses numerous new things to try if you’re looking to spice things up.

2. Practice self-awareness 

It’s crucial to be completely honest with yourself when trying to discover your passion in life. This can save you a lot of time and effort invested in a passion that was never meant for you in the first place. 

One of the best tools for improving self-awareness is journaling. There are plenty of useful journal prompts to help you find your passion. Some possible prompts could be: 

• What’s something that comes easier to me than it does for most people? 
• What activities do I lose track of time doing?
• What’s the one thing I can do for the rest of my life and not get tired of? 

Another strategy to boost self-awareness is to take some personality tests. If you haven’t already, figure out your Myers–Briggs Type Indicator or your Enneagram of Personality. Understanding yourself a bit better might paint a clearer picture of your passion, or at the very least, point you in the right direction to search. 

3. Enlist your inner child’s help 

If you’re familiar with inner child work, you know that it’s a powerful tool for addressing any unmet needs, dysfunctional patterns, and unresolved emotions we experienced as children. However, it can also be used to uncover your true passion. 

As a child, you didn’t hold the same limiting beliefs you might possess as an adult. You were free to pursue your interests to your heart’s content. There’s a good chance you discovered your passion as a child and dismissed it as an adult for something more practical. By engaging your inner child in an honest and open conversation, you might be able to unlock some forgotten wisdom on how you can find fulfillment as an adult. 

To enlist your inner child’s help in discovering what makes you feel truly alive, try asking yourself the following questions: 

• When I was a child, what did I want to be when I grew up? 
• What was I naturally drawn to as a child?
• What are my happiest childhood memories? What was I doing in them?
• Who was my role model growing up? 
• What was my favorite subject in school? 

4. Approach conversations with curiosity

There is an exhaustible variety of passions in this world, and probably, a rich variety within your own social circle. Ask your friends and family about their passions. Engage in conversations with your co-worker to learn more about their passions and potentially find yours. 

In addition to paying attention to what others say during a conversation, observe yourself as well. Notice any topics that make you light up when it comes up in conversation. Pay heed to the subjects that you talk extensively and enthusiastically about. They might be trying to tell you something.

5. Take inventory of your skills, interests, and values 

There’s a good chance you’ve already encountered your passion. It’s just waiting for you to realize it was there all along. To figure out whether or not your passion is hiding beneath your skills, interests, and values, take inventory. 

To take inventory of your skills, consider the following questions: 

• What skills do I naturally excel at?
• Do I have any underdeveloped talents? Is there a skill I’m frequently praised for despite my lack of practice? 
• What compliments have I received in the past from teachers and employers? 

Taking inventory of your interests seems straightforward, but in addition to jotting down a list of topics that interest you, consider: 

• Looking for patterns in your book collection or your search history. What do you voluntarily spend a lot of time learning about? 
• Review your spending habits. What do you spend most of your disposable income on? 

When taking inventory of your values, consider these questions: 

• Identify moments when you were most proud of yourself. What made you proud? 
• Recognize moments when time flows in strange ways. What activities were you doing?

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Discovering your passion in life doesn’t have to be nearly as intimidating or complicated as many people make it out to be. With the right perspective and approach, it can be a rewarding journey into self-discovery. By stepping outside of your comfort zone, committing to understanding yourself better, and approaching life with curiosity, you’ll stumble upon at least one of your possibly many passions sooner than you think.

What do you think? Have you recently found your passion and want to share it with us? Or do you have an example of how your passion can develop into something different over time? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Andrea Araya Author

Writer and recovering perfectionist from Canada. A huge fan of stories, empathy, and matcha lattes. May or may not have a tendency to cry at everything especially acts of kindness.

The post 5 Strategies to Find Your Passion in Life (With Examples!) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

This is a BIG question. And as someone who has wrestled with this question on and off throughout her life, I can relate to how hard this question can be to answer. But sometimes all it takes to find a little direction in your life is mixing it up and exploring the world outside of your current bubble.

Let’s explore how you can start to find a greater sense of purpose in life and answer that big question without having a full-on existential crisis.

The dangers of living without direction

I know it can sound appealing to just wake up and repeat the same actions as the day before without a sense of direction. But this is the easy way out.

The research demonstrates that across the lifespan your sense of life purpose and the meaning you assign to your future may predict your psychological and physical well-being. If you avoid finding direction and a sense of meaning in life, you may be forfeiting your own wellness.

Even more importantly, studies show that those who have found a sense of purpose in life have a reduced risk of mortality. If that doesn’t convince you that you can’t just keep getting by without a sense of purpose, then I’m not sure what will.

What happens when you find direction in life

I think we assume that once we find a direction for our lives there will be this magical “aha” moment where the clouds part and everything suddenly makes sense. While that may or may not happen, there are some pretty incredible side effects when you do find your purpose in life.

A study in 2012 indicates that part of what happens when you find purpose in life is you are better able to form your own identity. Once you have developed your identity, you are able to make decisions and take actions that align with that identity and guide your life.

Finding purpose and direction in life has also been shown in the research to be protective against negative life events. If you know your “why”, you will be more resilient in the face of challenges and setbacks.

And let’s be honest, we could all use a little more resiliency when it comes to life’s hardships.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

5 tips for finding direction in your life

So where is the magic compass that tells you exactly where to go in life? I haven’t quite found that yet myself. If you do, please give me a call because I will buy five of them. What I do have are some ways that you can start to discover what your next step looks like.

1. Explore an interest you have been putting off

We all have that one thing that makes us say, “I’d love to try that someday.” Well, someday is today.

Whether it’s underwater basket weaving or sky diving, now is the time to give it a go. Exploring an interest of yours may shift your perspective and open up your eyes to the possibilities all around you.

Sometimes all we need to find direction is to get out of our normal routine. While the activity itself may not be the direction you need to go, it usually gives your brain a refresher that will guide you toward feeling more fulfilled and finding your why.

2. Model people who you admire

A great way to start to figure out what you should be doing in life is to model people who are doing what it is that you want to be doing. It’s like having a human blueprint.

When I was first starting to figure out what I wanted to do for a career, I remember feeling more lost than my dad trying to follow the printed copy of directions on our family trip to Yellowstone. Fortunately, I shadowed a physical therapist who was living my dream life.

Following this PT around and asking her all kinds of personal questions helped me formulate a plan to get to where I wanted to be. It also gave me faith that if she could do it, so could I.

3. Take a trip

Traveling to a new location can be one of the best ways to get out of your own head and rediscover what matters most to you. There is something about getting as far away from home that allows you to see things you may have been missing all along.

I traveled to Turkey in my early twenties and this trip had a massive impact on shaping my purpose. Ever since then, I knew I was designed to sip tea and eat Turkish delight all day.

On a serious note, this trip helped me realize that I have a deep-rooted desire to interact with people from all different backgrounds. Learning about Islam and Turkish culture withdrew me from my own individualistic culture and opened my eyes to the concept of wanting to help the collective. This motive that I developed during this trip still guides me to this day.

4. Try this unique journaling activity

I was taught a unique journaling technique for when you feel stuck. In this journaling activity, you get to be an alien. Does it get any cooler than that?

What I want you to do is picture that you are an alien who has come down to inhabit planet Earth in your town. As this alien, what things do you notice about your home? What sorts of activities are you drawn to as this alien in your home and who do you want to be around?

When you take time to view your situation as a “new” person with no preconceived notions, you can find fresh insight that you might not be able to see otherwise. Taking on a perspective that is not your own can be a powerful tool for helping us navigate our current situation.

5. Take advantage of all the free resources available to you

We live in a world where you can literally say, “Hey Siri! Help me find a direction in life”.

She will probably say, “Sorry, I can’t find that location.” But what Siri can help you find is a plethora of resources from individuals of all different backgrounds that can teach you how to find direction in life.

From YouTube videos to podcasts, you can find quick inspiring speeches or two-hour-long conversations that explore how you can find your purpose. I personally like to listen to these sorts of things while commuting or walking my pup.

All you have to do is literally type “life purpose” into any search bar and you will have a gold mine of information that can give you the direction you are seeking.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

So when you find yourself wide awake in the middle of the night asking, “What am I doing with my life?” Take a deep breath. While there is no magic compass, there are a few road signs that can get you started down the right path. You may not find a direct answer to that question, but what you will find along the way may be worth far more.

Are you finding it hard to find direction in your life? Or do you want to share your own tip on finding direction in your life? Let me know in the comments below!

Ashley Kaiser Author

Physical therapist, writer, and outdoor enthusiast from Arizona. Self-proclaimed dark chocolate addict and full-time adrenaline junkie. Obsessed with my dog and depending on the day my husband, too.

The post 5 Tips to Find Direction in Your Life When You’re Feeling Lost appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

What if he woke up one day feeling like space exploration is the furthest thing from a purpose that he can think of? Can a purpose in life even change, at all? And are there some extreme examples of this happening? And perhaps more importantly, can a changing purpose in life actually be a good thing?

This article will answer all your questions with studies, examples, and personal experiences.

Can your purpose in life change?

So, can your purpose in life even change?

The short and simple answer is yes. A life purpose can (and probably will) change many times over your life. For some people, this means that whatever got you motivated and inspired yesterday might not provide you with the same itch tomorrow.

There’s a lot more to this answer than you may think, which will be discussed later in this article. For now, let’s discuss some examples of a changing life purpose that will help you realize just how much a life purpose can change.

Examples of changing life purposes

In my article about different examples of life purposes, I asked multiple people that I’ve met online about their life purpose.

Here’s one of the more interesting answers I received:

I got cancer at age 30 and am currently grappling with this question. My focus has completely shifted and I feel like the whole point of my life now is just 2 simple things:

1. Making positive connections with others and enjoying those around you. It is a lot easier to sit on the couch and watch a feel-good show then it is to go have dinner with your in-laws when you are tired – but what is the point in sitting there watching TV? We all waste way too much time doing crap like that. Better to build meaningful connections while you can. There are millions of super isolated people in the world as well who would kill to have someone to have dinner with.
2. Squeezing every bit of enjoyment out of life. I need to walk home – I can either take the subway for 5 minutes underground or I can walk 30 minutes through a park and tree-lined streets and truly enjoy it.. maybe get an ice cream on the way. I’d pick the fast way every time before, now I’m constantly looking for the most enjoyable route instead.

This is an interesting example, as it shows how a major life event can change your purpose in life. Something as life-changing as a terrible illness is certainly able to shift your view of your place in the world.

Here’s my own example of how my life’s purpose transformed over the years of my life:

• Age 4: Putting as much sand in my mouth as possible as a toddler.
• Age 10: Landing a kickflip on my skateboard.
• Age 17: Learn how to talk to women.
• Age 19: Become rich and successful.
• Age 25: Have a positive influence on the world.

Now, these life purposes are pretty silly and not completely serious. My point is that my life as a kid was focused on just having as much fun as possible, without feeling the responsibility I do now as an adult.

What’s my life purpose now that I’m an adult?

It comes down to two things:

• To live a long and happy life.
• To be worth everything that has been given to me, and to have as much of a positive influence on the world as possible.

Now, there’s quite a lot of room for interpretation in these statements, but that’s a topic for another article.

I can’t promise that my life purpose will remain the same for the rest of my life. Maybe, I’ll someday experience something that’ll make me want to drastically change the course of my life. Remember, change is the only constant in life.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

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Different stages in life result in different life purposes

There are a couple of different stages in most lives that are fundamentally different from one another:

• Childhood.
• School/College/University/etc.
• 1st career.
• 2nd career.
• 3rd career.
• Xth career.
• Retirement.

I’ve placed multiple careers on this list since most people don’t stick with the same employer for 40 years. In fact, a lot of people plan at least one change of career in their lifetime.

If you’re already in your 2nd or 3rd career, you probably have some experience with a changing purpose in life. Some changes are definitely more drastic than others. If you’re one of the few that enjoys a single career path for your entire life, you might have woken up each day with exactly the same purpose in life.

For most people, though, it’s a different story. Over time, our life slowly changes, we meet new people, we experience ups and downs, the world changes around us, and then suddenly…

Something has changed.

You wake up one day contemplating whether or not yesterday’s purpose is still today’s purpose in life. Again, this happens to most people since our life traverses many different stages.

Another interesting example of a changing life purpose at a later stage in life is Bob Ross. I’m a huge fan of this painter, not just for his amazing painting skills but also because he is an amazing optimist.

Anyway, what makes Bob Ross an interesting example of finding a purpose in life is that he only started his show The Joy Of Painting after serving 20 years in the US Air Force. He even said the following about his 20-year-long career:

[I was] the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work.

When he quit his military career, he vowed to never yell or raise his voice again.

What this example shows is that it can take you a long time before you find your purpose in life. Or maybe, spreading the joy of painting was Bob Ross’ life purpose all along, and he just didn’t find the time to pursue his purpose?

The importance of determining your purpose in life

No matter if your purpose in life can change or not, it is still important to be aware of it.

When writing this article, I stumbled upon this 2015 study that proves why it’s so important to consciously live your life with a purpose. Over 136,000 people were evaluated for about 7 years.

The analysis showed a lower risk of death for participants with a high sense of purpose in life. After adjusting for other factors, mortality was about one-fifth lower for participants reporting a strong sense of purpose.

Now, you’re probably wondering how they defined purpose. How did the researchers decide which person had a purpose and which person didn’t?

It took a little bit more digging to find this information, which is covered in more detail in the fully published report. This is where it gets a little technical, so I’ll just copy and paste the methodology here:

Purpose in life was assessed in 2006 using the 7-item Purpose in Life subscale of the Ryff Psychological Well-being Scales, previously validated in a nationally representative sample of adults. On a 6-point Likert scale, respondents rated the degree to which they agreed with each item. The mean of all items was taken to create a scale. Scores ranged from 1 to 6, where higher scores reflected higher purpose.

The participants were asked to rate their own sense of purpose on a scale from 1 to 6. Sure, this method has some shortcomings, but I can’t think of a better way to measure something as abstract as “a sense of purpose”.

This study shows that you are more likely to grow old (healthily) when you live a purposeful life.

This should be reason enough for you to understand the importance of having a purpose in life.

Why a changing life purpose can be a good thing

Simple.

If you currently feel lost and have no idea what you want to spend the rest of your life on, then you can rest assured knowing that your purpose in life will eventually change anyway.

This is especially important for young adults, who have no idea what career to choose. Or maybe you just started your promising career and wake up every morning in a panic because you dread working and worry whether or not you wasted all your years in college?

At some point in my life, I also worried about picking the wrong education and career, and in the end, your first career will rarely turn out to be your life’s career. So take a deep breath, relax, and know that your life purpose can and probably will change at some point.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

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Wrapping up

Can you recall the last time your life’s purpose changed? How many different purposes have you believed in over the course of your life? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Hugo Huijer Author

Founder of Tracking Happiness, with over 100 interviews and a focus on practical advice, our content extends beyond happiness tracking. Hailing from the Netherlands, I’m a skateboarding enthusiast, marathon runner, and a dedicated data junkie, tracking my happiness for over a decade.

The post Yes, Your Life Purpose Can Change. Here’s Why! appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Most likely, yes. While life is full of uncertainties, we mostly have control over the choices we make. This allows us to set our own path and stay on it, if we want to. Living life with intention is all about finding your purpose and setting goals while carving out your own path in life. It’s about letting go of things that don’t serve you any more and making conscious decisions on what and who to include in your life. 

In this article, I’ll take a look at what it means to live with intention, why it’s good for you and most importantly, how to live life with intention. 

What is living with intention?

Simply put, living with intention is living with a plan. It’s all about making stuff happen instead of letting stuff happen to you, about staying on your path and not getting sidetracked by life’s distractions. 

One way to think about living with intention is to think of life as a series of choices you have to make. While there are things that will influence your choices and you may not have all of the options all of the time, you are in charge of choosing your own path.

Living with intention is closely related to having a purpose in life.

It’s easier to take control of your life when you have found your purpose and know why you do the things you do and where you want to end up. 

Another close, yet distinct phenomenon is slow living, which is all about only filling your life with things that are important and have meaning and value, and decreasing clutter in all areas of life. 

Slow living means curating all areas of your life carefully and with intention. Every object and action serves a purpose, and nothing is there just for the sake of it. As an antithesis to fast fashion, fast food and the generally fast pace of modern life, it’s about finding contentment in simplicity.

To quote Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Why is living with intention good for you?

Being intentional about how you live your life can have plenty of benefits.

For example, people who live life with intention are more likely to have an internal locus of control – they believe that they can make stuff happen.

In turn, internal locus of control has been found to be positively correlated with happiness. 

Another way in which living with intention can benefit you is related to having a purpose.

For example, having a purpose in life is related to overall positive mental and physical health outcomes, happiness and life satisfaction, and a reduced risk of mortality. 

How to live life with intention

Turning off the autopilot and starting to live your life with intention can be scary at first.

Or maybe you’re all for living intently, but you just don’t know where to start.

Here are four simple steps you can take towards a life lived with intention. 

1. Find your why

In order to set a plan, you need to know what you’re working towards.

If you’ve never thought about your purpose in life or haven’t figured out what you’re passionate about yet, this is the most important step to take on the way to living with intention. 

To find your purpose, explore your interests and consider your values. Journaling is a great way of self-discovery that can help you discover your purpose, as long as you keep an open mind while exploring. 

Another great, and slightly less introspective way to find your why, is to find inspiration in other people. Talk to your friends and family, as well as people who you don’t know that well, to expand your horizons. 

2. Set goals

Whether you’ve found your purpose, or are still working on it, setting smaller goals is a good way to make sure that you’re working towards something and not just coasting through your days on autopilot. 

You can set goals in whatever area of life you like and they can be short-term – for example, sorting through your closet this week – or long-term – for example, reaching a follower milestone on your blog in the next month. But remember, good goals are always specific and measurable. 

A goal without a plan is a daydream.

Rick Conlow

3. Downshift

Many people find their lives to be cluttered and stressful, which can leave little room for intention and purpose. You can be the curator of your own life, so take full advantage of this power and make sure that everything in your life is there for a reason. 

This can mean going through your belongings and donating the things that don’t serve a purpose for you anymore, unfollowing accounts that don’t speak to you on social media, or changing your career to something with less stress and more meaning. 

4. Take care of yourself

As a psychologist, I have many tools and methods, but I am my most important tool.

No amount of training in different therapies is going to help my clients if I’m burnt out. And I think that this mindset should apply to everyone. Your skills and knowledge only work if you do. 

A good craftsman always takes care of his tools, and if you’re looking to carve your life into one lived with intention, you need to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally. 

Make sure that your basic physical needs like sleeping, eating and exercise are taken care of, and that you’re not under immense loads of stress. When one of our basic needs is unfulfilled, our first priority is satisfying that need. You can’t live with intention if you’re constantly putting out fires. 

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

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Wrapping up

Living with intention can make you happier and healthier by realizing that you can make stuff happen instead of letting it happen to you. As the name implies, living with intention is all about conscious choices, finding your purpose, setting goals and letting go of the things that don’t serve you. It might sound a little scary at first, but everyone can live life with intention – you just need to be intent on taking the first step!

What do you think? Do you live a life with intention? Or do you often find yourself distracted or working towards something that you’re not passionate about? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Maili Tirel Author

School psychologist, teacher and internet counselor from Estonia. Passionate about coffee, reading, dancing, and singing in the shower, much to the neighbors’ dismay. Counseling catchphrase: “It’s okay!“

The post 4 Simple Ways to Live With Intention (and Choose Your Own Path) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Yet, a lot of people simply live life without questioning the things they are working towards. Without a purpose in life, you may feel like you’re not really going anywhere, which can cause anxiety and unhappiness. When you know what motivates you, you’ll be better equipped to lead a happy life.

However, finding your purpose in life can seem like a difficult and daunting challenge. Where do you start?

These are the most inspiring books on finding a purpose in your life. If you’re looking to find the thing that sparks you in 2021, then one of the books discussed in this article is bound to inspire you.

1. Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl

While incarcerated, he observes that the survivors are only those who preserve a sense of purpose and meaning within their suffering. He keeps himself alive with the purpose of one day lecturing about the psychological states of prisoners in the concentration camps – a purpose that he eventually fulfilled.

His book is raw and sometimes unnerving, but deeply inspiring. It is an irrefutable account of someone for whom finding purpose was a matter of life or death.

This quote from the book is my favorite:

Mental health is based on a certain degree of tension, the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what one is and what one should become. What a man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task.

Contributor: Jaimie Eckert

Website: scrupulosity.com

2. Staring At The Sun by Irvin D. Yalom

This book teaches you how to live with purose by discussing death and meaninglessness, which is a welcome change!

There are two things that I particularly like about this book. First, it welcomes the reader to consider something we often avoid – our own death – and he convincingly suggests that thinking about death brings vitality and purpose to life. Entire theories (e.g., Terror Management Theory) explain how avoidant we are of death, so this is a welcome change.

Second, the book condenses the best ideas from the author’s long career into inspiring, actionable gems. These are the ideas that have helped his patients and Dr. Yalom himself deal with anxiety about death and meaninglessness, and he repeatedly encourages readers to pause and consider the ideas in relation to their own life.

It’s also quick and easy to read, so it won’t feel too daunting!

Contributor: Jon Reeves

Website: www.jonreevesphd.com

3. The Code Of The Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani

This book made me bolder and more comfortable pursuing my own dreams.

This is my favorite book on living life with a purpose because it gave me permission to quit following society’s BS rules.

It showed me how to finally quit worrying about what other people think of me. I knew I had a purpose in life – and I knew what it could be – but I didn’t know if it was right. This book gave me a way to free myself to live.

It showed me how to focus on living MY life, not someone else’s version.

Contributor: Janie J Jurkovich

Website: www.janiej.net

4. The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

The simplicity and beauty in which Thomas Merton expresses his life’s journey to fulfillment has stayed with me for years.

I am not Catholic nor a monk, but Thomas Merton’s memoir on converting to Catholicism and becoming a Trappist monk has always inspired me.

My life is not remotely close to what he experienced, but his search for hope and fulfillment provides a wonderful look at how our individual journey can take us where we want to go based on our choices. Merton made some poor decisions early in his life that brought him significant unhappiness. He was able to turn his life around after finding for himself what would make him happy.

In the end, he followed the path that his heart needed. His search is illustrative for us all.

Contributor: Kyle Jones

Website: kylebradfordjones.com

5. Boundaries by H. Cloud and J. Townsend

This book breathed life into me when it made me realise that “No” is a complete sentence and it is okay.

Finding purpose in life is not just about actionable steps but also about looking at the underlying issues that might hold us back from finding our purpose. This book taught me that boundaries are about protection.

This has helped me protect my own journey to finding my purpose. It has given me the courage to say “no” to the things that don’t align with my purpose. This is one of my most highly recommended books as a therapist to help people get unstuck from the expectations of other people and the world.

Contributor: Bianca Hughes

Website: www.biancakhughes.com

6. Lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg

I always refer my clients and family to this book about finding purpose in life. Lovingkindness doesn’t just help you find your purpose, it completely changes your life and how you connect to yourself and others.

Not only is it written in a very relatable, conversational tone, but the book also has a multitude of exercises and questions to ponder. It isn’t just a self-help book, though, it is also a book on the philosophy of life. Rather than just tell you what you should do, this book gives examples of why you should do it and how it will change your world and the world of those around you.

Contributor: Liz Shuler

Website: www.innerevolutioncounseling.com

7. Waking Up by Sam Harris

My favorite book for finding meaning is Waking Up by Sam Harris. It’s very focused on meditation and letting go of the idea of the self.

The author bridges the gap between science and “spirituality” (for lack of a better term), particularly for secular humanists like me who know that a belief in God isn’t a requirement for a purposeful life.

Contributor: Kayce Hodos

Website: www.kaycehodoslpc.com

8. The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris

The book helps readers learn to clarify their core values. Core values provide direction for everyday life as well as big choices that infuse life with meaning and purpose.

The Happiness Trap also provides guidance on the practice of mindfulness, which helps readers learn to direct their attention to what matters most.

Contributor: Anna Yam

Website: www.bloompsychologysd.com

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Finding your purpose in life takes time and will likely not happen overnight. In fact, your purpose is an evolving part of your life that changes as you grow older. It’s therefore important that your daily life and mindset are constantly held in line with your purpose.

The goal of this list is to show you books that can inspire you to find your own purpose in life. These are recommendations from experts on the topic, and I’m sure that there is a book on this list that will help you find your purpose.

Hugo Huijer Author

Founder of Tracking Happiness, with over 100 interviews and a focus on practical advice, our content extends beyond happiness tracking. Hailing from the Netherlands, I’m a skateboarding enthusiast, marathon runner, and a dedicated data junkie, tracking my happiness for over a decade.

The post 8 Best Books About Finding Purpose in Life appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

But why is it so important to have a purpose in life? The importance of having a purpose in life has been proven by numerous studies. They all show that people with a clear sense of purpose are more likely to grow old in a healthy way. Additionally, people with a clear purpose in life find it easier to be inspired by the things they do.

This article will cover the most important details of these studies in addition to examples of how you can find your own purpose in life.

The benefits of having a purpose in life

You probably agree that it is important to have a purpose in life if you want to be happy. But does science agree here?

I did a bit of research and found some interesting results that will show you just how important it is to have a purpose in life.

Living purposefully is correlated to living longer

The most prominent and well-referenced study that I stumbled upon is very interesting. This study was conducted by Randy Cohen, Chirag Bavishi, and Alan Rozanski and was published at the end of 2015.

As part of the study, over 136,000 people were evaluated and followed for about 7 years. The average age at the start of the study was 67 years old, and as the people in this subject passed away or faced health issues, the researchers found out an interesting piece of data.

The analysis showed a lower risk of death for participants with a high sense of purpose in life. After adjusting for other factors, mortality was about one-fifth lower for participants reporting a strong sense of purpose.

How did the researchers decide which person lived with purpose and which person didn’t? This is covered in more detail in the fully published report. This is where it gets a little technical, so I’ll just copy and paste the methodology here:

Purpose in life was assessed in 2006 using the 7-item Purpose in Life subscale of the Ryff Psychological Well-being Scales, previously validated in a nationally representative sample of adults. On a 6-point Likert scale, respondents rated the degree to which they agreed with each item. The mean of all items was taken to create a scale. Scores ranged from 1 to 6, where higher scores reflected higher purpose.

The participants were asked to rate their own sense of purpose on a scale from 1 to 6.

This study clearly shows that you are more likely to grow old (healthily) when you live a purposeful life.

An example of how a purpose in life can make your life happier

In my article about different examples of life purposes, I’ve asked people the following question:

What is your purpose in life?

Out of the responses that I got, I want to highlight one that I think provides some anecdotal proof:

I got cancer at age 30 and am currently grappling with this question. My focus has completely shifted and I feel like my the whole point of life now is just 2 simple things:

1. Making positive connections with others and enjoying those around you. It is a lot easier to sit on the couch and watch a feel-good show then it is to go have dinner with your in-laws when you are tired – but what is the point in sitting there watching TV? We all waste way too much time doing crap like that. Better to build meaningful connections while you can. There are millions of super isolated people in the world as well who would kill to have someone to have dinner with.
2. Squeezing every bit of enjoyment out of life. I need to walk home – I can either take the subway for 5 minutes underground or I can walk 30 minutes through a park and tree-lined streets and truly enjoy it.. maybe get an ice cream on the way. I’d pick the fast way every time before, now I’m constantly looking for the most enjoyable route instead.

This shows to me that having a purpose can enable you to:

• Live a life that aligns with your values.
• Be more motivated, disciplined, and efficient in being the best version of yourself.
• Find long-term happiness in the things that you do (no matter what they are).

Does this explanation of a sense of purpose surprise you?

If I’m honest, I have to say that this explanation surprised me at first. This answer says that her purpose in life is pretty much to be as happy as possible while enjoying as much time with close connections as possible.

This is far different from some of the big purposes that people are well-known for. Take Elon Musk, for example, whose purpose in life is to accelerate space exploration.

But don’t be fooled! A purpose in life doesn’t necessarily have to be unique or jaw-dropping. It’s not a game of showboating. You have to find your own purpose in life, that’s what matters most. Don’t let your purpose be influenced by someone else’s.

Don’t feel intimidated by someone else’s purposeful life

So Elon Musk has a unique purpose in life, don’t you think? A lot of people admire him for that, and that’s great.

But don’t be intimidated by his purpose, and definitely don’t feel like your own purpose has to somehow match this high standard.

Elon Musk said it himself:

The idea of lying on a beach as my main thing just sounds like the worst. It sounds horrible to me. I would go bonkers. I would have to be on serious drugs. I’d be super-duper bored. I like high intensity.

Elon Musk

I’m going to assume here that you are not like Elon and you don’t like high intensity as much as he does. Therefore, why do you think your purpose has to be similar to his?

It’s important that you find your own purpose in life instead of simply copying someone else’s. Just as much as your definition of happiness is unique, so is your purpose in life.

3 ways to find your purpose in life

People generally don’t wake up one day and have a “eureka” moment and suddenly know what their purpose in life is. No, we usually have to discover our purpose by trial and error.

So how do you discover your purpose? Here are 3 ways to find your purpose in life more quickly.

1. Actively try new things

You definitely won’t find your purpose in life by simply waiting for it to fall on your lap. You find it by actively trying new things and taking action.

If you haven’t yet discovered your purpose in life, then you will not find it by trying the same things repeatedly. It helps to always keep an open mind here. If you’re looking for inspiration, here’s an article with some inspiring new things to try.

2. Know that your job is not necessarily your purpose

It’s important to know that your purpose in life and your job are not the same things.

Too many people look for a job that pays the bills and that simultaneously makes their lives have a purpose.

A very small percentage of people find actual purpose in the work they do. In fact, according to a 2013 study by Gallup, only 30% of all American employees feel engaged at work. The takeaway here is that your career doesn’t necessarily have to be your purpose in life.

3. Develop a growth mindset

When we stop growing, we plateau. And we all know a plateau is a meh place to be. Fireworks and magic don’t happen on a plateau. The thing is, many people don’t realize they have the internal power to expand their knowledge, develop their emotional intelligence, and become better versions of themselves.

That’s why you need to develop a growth mindset.

People with a growth mindset believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work – brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.

This helps you realize that who you are now isn’t who you have to be for the rest of your life. So if you find yourself lacking a sense of purpose, then a growth mindset will help you to develop yourself until you find one. If you’re looking for ways to develop your growth mindset, here’s our article on the topic!

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

I hope you know by now that it’s important to have a purpose in your life. Not only is it correlated to better health and longevity, but it also allows us to feel more motivated, efficient, and aligned with our values.

If I were to ask you what your current purpose in life is, what would you answer? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Hugo Huijer Author

Founder of Tracking Happiness, with over 100 interviews and a focus on practical advice, our content extends beyond happiness tracking. Hailing from the Netherlands, I’m a skateboarding enthusiast, marathon runner, and a dedicated data junkie, tracking my happiness for over a decade.

The post Why it’s Important to Find Your Purpose In Life (with 3 Helpful Tips) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.