Do you know your purpose?
If you have a family, you might be thinking it’s your kids. And whilst they are important to you, you’d be wrong in thinking they’re your purpose. Because what happens after they move out (Depart, or is it ‘Dessert’ you)?
Occasions like this, or the various other ‘D’s of life (such as a death or divorce) cause what many would call a ‘mid-life crisis’ or what I prefer to call, a crossroads.
You start asking yourself questions; ‘Is this it?’ or ‘What have I got left to do with my life?’. It can be challenging to have an identity of ‘Mum’, ‘Wife’, ‘Carer’ or ‘Career woman’, to have it suddenly taken away from you, without your ‘permission’ or intention.
The Focus Is YOU
Women often prioritise others over themselves – usually either to do with family or work life, but it can also be friends or strangers (Volunteering etc).
Have you ever found yourself putting that extra work call above your personal time, or going round to see a friend who ‘needs’ you, when you YOU need is a long bath and an early night?
It can be difficult to put yourself first sometimes, right? But here’s the thing – you can’t start to find your purpose unless you focus on YOU. Here’s the thing, in order to find your purpose, you need to first find yourself, and not let other people influence what they think you ‘should’ be doing.
Focus on what you want, and what brings you joy. It’s easy to think about what you don’t want, but that doesn’t always lead to what you DO want.
Which is important because once you know what you do want it helps you start to shape your goals.
Your WHY
And this is where your WHY comes in. Finding Your WHY means finding out WHY you are here, on this planet. It isn’t your physical values, what you’ve previously done. It’s a feeling you get inside yourself.
Think about a time where you’ve truly thrived and felt at your most alive. Remember that feeling, give it a texture, a shape, a colour, and keep it in mind. This is your WHY.
When you discover your purpose, it should be giving you that WHY feeling. I call it the ‘ready brek glow’ – you might remember that advert!
My purpose is to help guide others. And when I know I can do that, it gives me my WHY feeling.
Your Purpose Will Guide You
Once you discover your purpose, you can use it to help you make decisions. When you want to try something new, ask yourself if it aligns with your purpose. If you can’t find the passion and reason behind it, you’ll have no motivation, and are therefore more likely to give up on it.
And if you are unhappy with where you are right now, your purpose can help you understand why you’re in the situation. Know why you’ve reached this point, how you’ve got here, and only then can you start to change things.
Think of it as getting to the root of your problems.
If you’d like to start finding your purpose and your WHY, please get in touch. Oh, and thank you again for making me a finalist for coaching and training in the 2023 Enterprise Vision Awards!
Cheryl xx
PS – If you liked this blog and want to read more blogs surrounding female empowerment, you can find last week’s here: ‘Speaking With Confidence‘
“I’m on a global mission to help 10 million disheartened souls, who are at a crossroads, to STOP asking why me? And START saying why not me!”