Who wants to discover their life’s true purpose? We all do. But why is it so hard to find your purpose in life?
Well, you guessed it: because we don’t know where to start.
Everyone fears that their chosen path may not be the right one. You often think that your life purpose is going up the ladder in your career, social standing, accumulating wealth, having lots of power, and competing and winning.
But what if your life purpose has nothing to do with your career or way of life? What if it’s really about recreating yourself and living authentically?
This begs the question: Why is it so hard to find your purpose in life?
To learn more, let’s understand what the purpose is.
Disclaimer : The information provided in this site is for educational purposes only, and it is not a substitue for professional advice. The article may contain affiliate links. See the full disclaimer for more details.
What is Purpose?
You have a successful career, a loving family, and a robust social network but still feel a void inside. Soon, you discover that learning to play piano, helping the less fortunate in society, or devoting yourself to religious beliefs start to bring meaning and satisfaction.
For the first time in your life, you feel happy and fulfilled. What you just discovered is known as purpose.
Everyone has an innate sense to have a purpose-filled life, but the gap between knowing how to live your purpose and living it is filled with intimidation, confusion, and sometimes, the sense of failure.
Purpose refers to the intention and direction in your life that establishes and derives meaning. It is the big picture in our daily choices. Purpose creates your life’s meaning, shapes character, offers a sense of direction, and influences behavior.
Purpose keeps evolving. It is contextual, as well as situational. It can be a big, long-term commitment or just the little decisions we make every day. The actual purpose is infinite.
Learn to find your purpose with this video guide.
Why Is It So Hard to Find Your Purpose in Life?
Living a life of clarity and intention is what gives your life meaning. We often dream of a life with direction, but why do you feel disconnected? Why is it that you don’t seem to live a meaningful and purpose-filled life?
Here is a powerful self-discovery technique called Ikigai that can help discover your true purpose in life, step by step.
1. Living from Without, and Not from Within
Most of us keep a glimmer of awareness of our life’s purpose in our inner being. It creates a feeling of inclination or a leaning that keeps pulling at us.
Sometimes it’s just before us, but we don’t give ourselves a chance to see it, like when looking for your missing car keys all over, then discover you’ve been holding them in your hand all this while.
One day I met a grants Manager who found herself working with charitable organizations out of the office most of the time. After a while, she realized that what she loved most and felt in sync with was helping the less fortunate.
She enjoyed most about her work and not the managing funds. All this while, her true calling was just staring at her in the face.
Your purpose dwells within you. All you need is to think harder, search inside of you to find it.
The consequences of not discovering your life purpose include a chronic lingering dissatisfaction and a lack of inner peace. You are always not fully in sync with your inner being, and your life purpose is not in sync with your outer life either.
2. The Overwhelming Pursuit of Success
It’s overwhelming when facing the question; why is it so hard to find your purpose in life? With life’s struggles, obligations, and responsibilities, you may not know what to prioritize.
When your life is reduced to checkboxes like graduating, having kids, and pursuing your career until retirement, all for the sake of success, your path loses direction and purpose.
Success can be overwhelming, too, as it puts you in the spotlight all the time, compelling you to always keep up with the prestige. But true purpose lets you recognize your gifts and use them to give back to society – if not the world, whether your gifts are sporting, playing music, helping people solve problems, or simply making those around you happy.
A purpose is a calling: pretty compulsive and passionate. It starts with ‘I’d like to try this’ before growing into a mandate you can’t just shake off.
3. Not Stopping to Dialogue With Yourself
We all believe and think we know ourselves better. Sometimes it’s just an illusion – no one really knows themselves.
When you know yourself, you gain confidence that gets you determined to improve your quality of life and the people around you. Studies show that those without a purpose or with a low sense of purpose have 2.4 times the risk of dying than those with a high sense of purpose 1.
Working towards true purpose helps you realize your innate talents and outstanding characteristics. That’s when you acknowledge your strong and weak points.
It leads you to accept yourself, delve deeper into your thoughts, identify your desires and set out to do what gets you fulfilled.
Pay keen attention to your thoughts, don’t let them control you. All you have to do is shine your spotlight of awareness on them and slay those inner dragons.
Develop courage; It will help you focus and discover your true purpose.
You can learn a few lessons from within your deep thoughts and turn over a new leaf to find your purpose. Meditation can help you reach such silence and explore your true purpose without distractions.
4. You’re Pretty Much Your Subconscious
Did you know we are only conscious of our actions and decisions 5% of the time? 2
Here’s the kicker: the subconscious controls the other 95%, including memorized behavior, emotional reactions, habits, and hard-wired attitudes.
Simply put, your non-logical mind can comfortably help you discover your purpose.
Your life purpose is a journey. You cannot define it now, nor will you be able to know or accomplish it.
But you can design your life to make better choices that will direct you to fulfill your purpose.
The idea is to listen to your subconscious, work with the puzzle pieces you have, and follow the clues that life is giving you. We possess the pieces of the puzzle and can use them to shape our purpose.
Tapping into the unconscious mind allows everything to flow, and you don’t have to let the material world shape your life’s purpose. It all comes from within.
One of the most effective practices for listening to your subconscious is meditation. In this step-by-step meditation guide, you can start practicing and exploring your purpose in life.
5. Living Life Comparing Yourself to Others
How will you find your life purpose if all you do is compete and compare yourself with other people?
Comparison with others is a dangerous game. When you always look at the deeds of others, it makes you want to copy them, forgetting your unique path.
You look at whatever people do or say and think of copying them. You may also want to emulate them to compete or outdo them.
Don’t waste your time trying to outdo others. It only drives you away from your path. Eventually, you’ll lose interest, passion, and the fun you’ve been feeling all this while.
Listen to your intuition. You’ll know what you want to do with your life. This time it’ll just be you. Your life purpose is only about you. You don’t have to live other people’s lives.
I know. Easier said than done. I used to fall into that a lot. I Compared myself to my successful High-tech employee friends, asking myself why they seem happier and more successful than me. While they were not necessarily happier, in reality, this is how I felt until I started to practice connecting to myself and look less on others’ statuses.
Living an authentic life to yourself and doing things your way gives you a purpose. See how I felt after discovering my life’s purpose.
6. Lack of Direction
With no real direction in life, you don’t aim for anything. You feel like everything is meaningless or only one specific thing makes sense. If you can’t develop a coherent narrative of your life, it just means you haven’t taken any direction. Michigan researchers support the fact that having direction and purpose can help you enjoy a meaningful life. 3
You probably don’t believe that you and everyone else have a life purpose to fulfill. Or perhaps you feel that you aren’t one of those with a purpose.
Potentially, we all do have a purpose. We can influence and change the energy around us during our lives since we each have a unique gift to offer. If you can’t recognize this, you may live aimlessly or live for other people around you.
Do you want to learn how to give direction to your life? Explore these 15 life purpose examples.
What Can I Do to Find Purpose in Life?
Here are three ways to find your life purpose.
Explore Your Interests
Is there something you love doing? Or a topic that intrigues you? Do you regularly read/write articles about particular topics? What activity interests you most when not working or during your free time?
Whatever you enjoy doing, focus on that, and as it will reveal your purpose. What you love most will give you your purpose in life.
And doing it for the greater good will help you explore deeper into your purpose to benefit both you and the others. Be aware that finding your interests could be challenging and take some time. This is why we’ve collected 33 Positive Affirmations for Exploring Your Purpose, and 11 Inspirational Life Purpose Quotes to support your self-discovery journey.
Discover Yourself by Meeting New People
You can start with your colleagues, neighbors, people you connect with at social gatherings, and more.
Approach them and share with them your hobbies and interests, and even take their contacts for future conversations.
Striking conversations with people you barely know may feel awkward, but once you get acquainted, you’ll be able to open up and create new friendships. This will help you explore more activities, talents, and opportunities that you barely knew existed, which may be the key you needed to unlock your purpose.
Stay Close to Positive Minded People
What do you have in common with people you mingle with? Forget about your colleagues or family members. We are talking about the people you spend time with, outside your home, family functions, or work.
Those you surround yourself with should be people who regularly make positive changes in their life. It is easy to draw from their inspiration and find your purpose there and then.
Final Thoughts on Why Is It So Hard to Find Your Purpose In Life
So, why is it difficult to find your life’s purpose? It is because you aren’t focusing on yourself. Finding life’s purpose is all about discovering your true self, exploring your interests, and drawing inspiration from positively minded people. According to Harvard scientists, if you want to live a healthy life, find purpose. 4
The best part is that there isn’t any perfect time to discover your purpose. Plus, the purpose is not a one-time thing. Although life may throw fears and challenges at you, create your world by taking action.
The Lightliz blog’s goal is to ease the whole process of finding your purpose. It provides you with all the self-discovery tools you need to know yourself better and define your gift to the world.
Shachar is a blogger and sensitive person who worked in a recruitment company and holds a master’s degree in sociology. After years of struggles to find purpose, he made this blog to help others find their purpose more efficiently. He likes to play chess, walk in nature, and take photos in his free time.
- A Sense of Purpose Helps You Live Longer, clearvuehealth.com[↩]
- The Subconscious Mind of the Consumer, hbswk.hbs.edu[↩]
- A 27-Year Study Says 1 Thing Is Key to Happiness and Longevity in Work and Life, inc.com[↩]
- Harvard researchers say this mental shift will help you live a longer, healthier life, cnbc.com[↩]