Clarify Your Purpose, Find Fulfillment
When your purpose is unclear, life becomes dull, motivation wains, and energy decreases.
Let go for too long, a lack of purpose leaves you feeling empty, ineffective, and stuck. Like a ship without a rudder, you find yourself floating in an endless sea of possibilities unable to access any of them.
From Fogginess to Fulfillment
In early 2020, at 45 years old, for the first time in more than twenty years, I was deeply unfulfilled, and my purpose felt foggier than pea soup. I remember saying to myself, there must be more than this, right?
Maybe it was the beginning of a mid-life crisis, I’m not sure. But whatever the reason, I decided something radical (at least for me) needed to be done. As the season of Lent approached (often associated with fasting from something for religious purposes), I decided to abstain from social media and unnecessary internet use for a forty-day period. It was imperative that I drown out the noise so I could read, journal, think, meditate, pray, and hear my soul again. Well, forty days turned into sixty days turned into ninety days in what I now look back on as a very formative period of my life.
Looking back now, the discontentment had been building long before that. Locked in denial, it was tremendously difficult to admit that I no longer was enjoying what I thought would be a lifelong calling. It took me nearly two years to work through that confusing season, but eventually, I was able to acknowledge my true feelings and move forward.
We all know there’s more that goes into a fulfilling life than our job, but since we spend nearly one-third of our adult lives working, it’s not inconsequential. In his transformational book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl wrote these words,
For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself.
A close relative of happiness, the same is true for fulfillment. In other words,
Fulfillment cannot be pursued; it must ensue.
After that ninety-day period of abstinence from social media, I came out with a new understanding that has led to a more fulfilling life. The ideas that surfaced were the genesis for this guide, a coaching program, and a book on the same subject that I’m currently working on.
Previously, my understanding of fulfillment and purpose were one-dimensional and monochromatic. And while this served me well early on in life, at some point it became inadequate and the need for something more robust became apparent. Because human beings are wonderfully complex, colorful, and nuanced, I believe we need a rich and multi-layered approach to purpose. More than pat answers, we need a life philosophy and practice of fulfillment that can withstand the rigors of real life.
Move from Fogginess to Fulfillment
Let’s Do This…Together!
As you go on this journey with me, you will come out with a renewed sense of purpose and a new set of tools to help you get there. Like anything worth doing, finding and fulfilling your purpose takes work and intentionality. But when you take the time to develop a clear sense of purpose, your fulfillment will grow, along with your focus, energy, and contribution to the world around you.
You will come out with a clearly defined personal purpose statement that brings clarity to the present and acts as a filter for future opportunities.
Here’s to a life well lived!
