Having life purpose isn’t a trend—not just something you write on your dream book or post on your wall—but essential to an intentional life and leadership.
Imagine yourself climbing a ladder without any reason why. You carefully ascend to secure yourself and succeed in whatever you think there is up there. When you reached the top, you found there’s nothing up there that means a lot to you.
The truth is, many people scaled this life, striving to go uphill and reached the top still empty. Why? There’s lack of purpose.
Here are three important principles you’ll gain in having a life purpose.
1. Envision Your Whole Life. Purpose does not give meaning only, it also offers you unique overview of your entire life. You’re not just working hard or climbing the ladder of success for no apparent reason. You’re no longer living life in random.
Having life purpose gives you awareness of your direction and dreams of life. This is having a mission for your existence, your family and career. You’re not just mounting from one ladder to another and hope you’ll get better.
Have a unique perspective of your life. Dream big. Envision your future in line with your purpose. You must ascend and reach the top with a sense of single-mindedness that this is what you’re living for.
2. Enjoy What You Do. When you have a purpose in life, you become deliberate in your actions. You also persist. That consciousness of intentionality provides more pleasure in doing what you are passionate about.
A clear purpose in life will give you a better understanding of why you do the things you do. Once you have that, you’re on your way to greater pleasures and satisfaction in your quest for life in yourself, family relationships and work.
Enjoy what your hands find to do by making sense of it in line with your meaning of life. If you have a purpose, you’ll be enjoying more what you do, find satisfactions in your accomplishments, and persevere when you experience setbacks.
3. Experience Contentment. Life without contentment is a disaster. You can’t get enough and you don’t know when enough-is-enough. But with purpose, you guard your heart regarding the things that you possess or gain.
Have you heard of people who you thought to have everything but were actually miserable? Time and time again, the material things do not satisfy the heart. Filling your surroundings with things does not necessarily bring fulfillment.
But having life purpose will profit you a lot knowing that everything you possess has meaning—that these are intended for something greater than their material value.
Indeed, climbing a ladder that’s leaning on the wrong wall is a tragedy of life. You can avoid that. That’s why I really advise that you start with finding your life purpose.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, you’ll see the vanity of all things if life has no purpose. No matter what you become, do or have, they are meaningless. Now, what’s your purpose in life?
Glenn Plastina (c) 2017
The Spiritual Investor 