Find your Purpose: Practical Guide with Challenges & Possible Solution

To be honest, I have been at the receiving end where I question myself every day, am I worth my job?

Back in 2015, I was rejected by Amazon and Google back to back. Self-doubt started creeping in. I was so afraid of giving other interviews and I unknowingly labeled myself as mediocre.

Since then, in the pursuit of finding my calling, I have explored many things and left it after some time. Once I realized I wasn’t passionate about it anymore, it didn’t make sense to continue even for one more day.

My realization after 2–3 years: You should be in search of something that makes you jump out of bed and get the day rolling. It’s not a job or work anymore, it’s an extension of who you are. Ask yourself a question: If you had million dollars in your account, would you still want to pursue this work?

My dream life is something where I am working 9–5 and later giving my family the most important commodity — time and creating memories. I still haven’t discovered how to channelize the burning fire inside me to help other people. But I do know like many of you reading this, we are not born to be mediocre. We are mediocre because we are NOT doing the work we absolutely love. Once we find it — there is no looking back. I like to call this work, Satisfying your Soul. Sometimes I want to create an IT product to help people, other days become a life/relationship coach. Some days I love dancing, other times I love organizing events.

How I narrowed it further down from these four is articulated below. You can follow the same process to find yours.

• Took a couple of days off from work, sat in a library, and wrote “My One Thing” at top of a notebook paper.
• Next, I wrote my Core things/values in my future vision. It was spending time with family after office, helping people out, retiring early, and so on.
• Mind-mapped each section which I love as part of my hobbies or work. Explored those sections against my core values and future vision written above. Was able to check off dance and events as it didn’t offer the flexibility of spending time with family on weekends(future vision)
• Currently, I am left with developing a product v/s being a life/relationship coach. I have seen people reaching out to me for these matters and I love assisting them. Still trying to nail down my One thing but as they say it’s hard to say No until you have tried it.
• Recently I have realized that I should be working on a combined vision with my wife. We love spending time together and our strengths complement each other. She brings focus in me and I bring execution. Ultimately, she is my source of strength, and being with her perfectly fits my future vision. I will try to find an intersection between her and my vision and hopefully, we can create magic :)

Valuable lessons that I have learned along the way:

• Try to find your One thing and invest all your energy in becoming an expert in it. Follow the above method to start narrowing it down.
• You might overthink. Stop! Just give it a try and start with the first item on your list. As you can see I still haven’t narrowed it down, but I know I am at the end of a tunnel. It’s okay if you haven’t figured everything out. The key is to get started.
• Observe on which topic your friends and family come to seek your opinion. Chances are you are good at those and now is the time to master it to serve more people.
• Lastly, don’t forget: Dream big!