Before you can actually start finding your Purpose in Life, it would help to understand what "Purpose" really is. Otherwise, you might be searching for something that you may not recognize even if you find it!

What Exactly Do We Mean by "Purpose"?

To define one's purpose, it helps to understand the context in which you exist.

A context is defined as:

"The circumstances in which an event occurs; a setting."

For example, a student's purpose is defined by his or her context, which is to study and get good grades. A policeman's purpose is to maintain law and order in society. A fireman's purpose is to extinguish fires and help out the public. A teacher's purpose is to educate and "teach" his or her students.

The issue with finding purpose is related to what your current role in life is, and understanding who you are. If you identify yourself with your role as an employee, your purpose then by default becomes the purpose of the company. The same thing goes for identifying yourself as a parent, because then your purpose naturally becomes the purpose of a parent, which is to nurture, nourish, educate and best prepare your child for life.

The problem comes when your temporary role as an employee or parent changes, and the purpose that you have identified yourself with no longer exists. You lose your "purpose" in life.

When you understand that in human society many roles are temporary, defining your life purpose would then have to be something that is able to stand the test of time.

The Context of Life

One clue that would help you define your life purpose is to look at nature itself. Why look at nature? The very concept of having a life purpose implies that you are here on earth to do something. And if you're here to do something, then it very likely has to be in relation to accomplishing a goal that has some value in relation to a larger picture.

Taking a hint from nature, you can see that life is constantly evolving and growing. Nature doesn't stop. It just grows and evolves over time to adapt to changing conditions.

The question is, how does one take a general idea like growth and development and relate that to every day life in practical terms?

This is where the idea of having two levels of Life Purpose might come in useful:

1. The Higher Life Purpose
2. The Self-Chosen Life Purpose

The Higher Life Purpose

The Higher Life Purpose refers to higher levels of your life purpose. This refers to parts of your Life Purpose that would remain constant and permanent, following you through your life.

For example, the first element of continual growth, development and evolution could remain part of your life purpose. What exactly you would continue to develop and evolve would then be dependent on your Self-Chosen Purpose. However, the idea of continual growth and development would remain intact wherever you are in life, and continually help you to improve yourself no matter which stage of life you're in.

The second element of the Higher Life Purpose may involve the idea of creating value and benefit for both yourself and others. Since we don't exist totally independent of other people, whatever you choose to do would then have to be of some value not only to yourself, but to others as well.

This would make sense, considering that if you did something that benefited yourself at the expense of others, sooner or later negative feedback would reduce whatever benefits that you derived from what you did. Either in direct action from other people, or in emotional dissonance from within yourself.

The third element of a Higher Life Purpose could include making the best use of your potential. By potential, I'd be referring to your latent abilities, strengths, gifts, and other characteristics unique or available to you.

You could use your personal talents in whatever vocation or form you choose. Being athletically gifted could allow you to participate in sports, be it tennis, golf, football, or any other sport. Being athletically gifted is a talent that would allow you to participate in almost any sport. It would then just be a question of which sport you would choose to excel in.

The expression of your Higher Life Purpose would then be determined by your Self-Chosen Life Purpose.

The Self-Chosen Life Purpose

Having a Self-Chosen Life Purpose would make the expression of your Higher Life Purpose practical. The various aspects of Higher Life Purpose are generally quite vague and not specific enough to implement in our daily lives.

Being able to choose the expression of your Higher Life Purpose makes sense, especially if you believe in the existence of "free will".

Your Self-Chosen Life Purpose then becomes a synergy between your personal characteristics and being involved in something that is valuable to society.

This is where having a good understanding of your Self comes in useful. When you can find a fit between your personal characteristics and a vocation, combined with your desire and passion for the work, you then have a very good outlet for the expression of your Life Purpose.

If your talent is musical, you may find joy expressing yourself through singing, composing, playing an instrument or something that utilizes your talent. If your talent is in teaching and education, then perhaps you may choose a life purpose in teaching. If your talent is in maintaining order and discipline, then perhaps you may choose expressing yourself as a Law Enforcement Officer?

There really is no "right" or "wrong" answer here. Ultimately, when there is a fit between you and your chosen purpose, you'd find a sense of fulfillment and joy.

Summary

By separating your Life Purpose into two categories, you have created something that is both permanent in essence, and yet adaptable to changing life conditions. Your Higher Life Purpose would remain more or less constant, while your Self-Chosen Life Purpose would allow you to change and express yourself according to the changes in your environment.