Why is it important to Find your Life Purpose?

Flutist, composer, and music arranger Meredith Willson won six Tony Awards for his Broadway musical, “The Music Man.” just over 60 years ago. The plot revolves around con salesman Harold Hill. 

He poses as a band organizer and attempts to sell musical instruments and band uniforms to the residents of 1910s River City, Iowa. 

Harold can’t distinguish a treble clef from a trombone, much less play any instrument or lead a band. Instead, he plans to collect money from the locals and leave town without teaching a single lesson. 

But before long, Harold is sharing a timeless lesson with Marian Paroo, his librarian crush. 

In response to Harold’s invitation to chat on a footbridge, Marian declines, saying she’s never been there with a man before, and she’d rather do it another time. “Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow”, she replies.

Harold responds,

“You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.”

Continuing, he says that he would rather make the day memorable.

The same is true for life only that instead of living for the moment, living a life you’ll be proud of requires that you be purposeful. 

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Why Is It Important To Find Your Purpose In Life?

Now here’s the thing about understanding what is your why in life.

A purpose is not something you spend your life searching for, contrary to popular belief. It is not some elusive calling you stumble upon in your sleep, after meditating for 10,000 hours, or after a sabbatical in a cave or temple. 

Finding a purpose often comes down to choosing what’s important to you and doubling down on making it happen in a way that improves both your and others’ lives. 

It doesn’t have to be a single life mission. 

It can also evolve as you receive feedback from your progress and the people you mean to help. 

It does not have to be about changing the lives of millions at once. It just needs to relieve suffering, improve lives, or promote fairness consistently.   

The last thing you want is to feel as if you are just wandering through life when you know you were meant for far more than what you are presently experiencing.

1. You’ll Have A Sense of What Makes Your Life Meaningful

You can coast through life without a coherent reason for being. Even if you have a lot of passions and hobbies, good relationships, and a well-paying job, you can still feel empty, anxious, depressed, and insecure.

This often occurs when we struggle to connect our efforts, activities, and passions to a deeply fulfilling sense of direction in everyday life. 

When you have a life mission, you can organize and direct your life around a specific life path that can help you see the inherent value in living, rather than just existing. 

Purpose is an emotional connection between your actions and your intentions. 

You can use it to develop a personal philosophy. By doing so, you can feel at peace with the way you lead your life, contributing to the world in a way that makes you realize you matter.   

2. Your Purpose Helps Shape Your Goals

You naturally direct your behavior towards specific outcomes when you have an overarching, long-term reason for your actions and daily habits. 

You have clear intentions since you know what you want to accomplish over time. 

As a result, you begin to present to the world the kind of person you have always aspired to be without further delay. After all, procrastination is often the result of not knowing what to do, why, and when.

Developing your strengths, skills, and ideal life so they may also benefit others can transform you from fear of failure, criticism, and imposter syndrome because your intentions transcend self-absorbed goals. 

3. It Helps You Appreciate You Weren’t Born Just To Pay Bills and Then Die

Purpose-driven living empowers you to go from merely making a living to making a life. 

Being open to a higher purpose than earning a paycheck can help you become a more interesting person. It can encourage you to explore other rewarding life opportunities beyond your day job. 

You can discover you are more than your financial highs and lows.  

As an alternative, you can make the job or business you have multifaceted in a way that not only enables you to grow as an individual but also helps others become well-rounded individuals. 

Your life purpose can empower you to connect with others and step out of isolation. Since a purpose is an aspiration to influence societal change positively, having one empowers you to build relationships with people who share your values. 

This can help you find a community, a support network that you can belong to, contribute to, and receive various forms of support from.

4. You Get To Do Something About An Injustice, Pain, or Problem That Needs Solving

It’s no secret that a hero is a person who commits to a cause bigger than themselves. They are normal people who become the change they want to see in the world, not superheroes in capes and masks. 

Sometimes they learn what they value, what they see as unfair, or where they want to improve through personal suffering. 

Other times, it is through rewarding experiences, such as achieving goals or receiving praise.   

Now here’s the thing. 

For a cause to be worth your time, effort, money, and sacrifice, it doesn’t always need to affect millions of people. As little as providing consistent moral support to parents, siblings, friends, or colleagues can improve their quality of life.

5. You Get To Live With Clarity

A life purpose can help you distinguish important pursuits from unimportant ones. 

It can help you prioritize activities, passions, and goals that align with your highest values. Thus, instead of living vicariously through random pursuits, you can have a sense of direction that enables you to live guilt-free.    

Purpose is a clear path to your unique destinations as a person. So, while purpose is often the big why for your actions, it also provides a map of what you can do now, and how, to achieve the outcomes you desire. 

Having a purpose in mind can help you train, pace yourself, and decide what equipment and relationships you should invest in. 

Without such a clear path, many people either burn too bright too quickly or ignore their passions and wind up feeling that they were meant for more, but lack the courage, focus, and burning reason to pursue that ideal life.   

6. There Is A Sense Of Belonging In Purpose

Often, the fear of what others might think discourages many people from doing what’s important to them. We all love to belong, so it’s understandable. 

But it can be a hindrance if you feel that pursuing what’s important to you might make you feel alone, out of place, and humiliated if you don’t succeed. 

Some feel they aren’t prepared to do what they wish someone would do to improve things. 

Afraid of being misunderstood if they strike out alone, they remain in the shadows. They fear becoming unrelatable in social circles. They worry that the families and friends they cherish may grow apart from them.     

However, it was Lao Te Ching who said that the teacher appears once the student is prepared. You will always meet people who share your commitment to improving your own, and other people’s, lives. 

Because you’re not the only person aspiring to achieve that goal, you will always build supportive and long-term relationships with people who get you.

These people often appear as mentors, spouses, long-term customers, investors, or genuine spiritual leaders.   

7. You’ll Live A Fulfilling Life

Consider the life purpose meaning we’ve defined earlier. A purpose is a commitment. However, it does not entail being weighed down with responsibility. 

In committing to a particular way of contributing to a community, you give others and yourself hope. 

When you keep that commitment, you build trust, which nurtures your well-being and those around you.

Another thing. 

While having a purpose doesn’t mean that you won’t encounter tough times, it allows you to make sacrifices for the things that really matter to you. 

Everyone makes sacrifices at some point. Would you rather sacrifice for what makes you happy or for whatever passes time?

Here’s an example. 

Would you rather delay starting a family for a decade to take care of your siblings or work extra to outdo old schoolmates who weren’t always nice to you? 

The first intention would help improve the quality of living for the entire family. In contrast, the second can easily turn into an endless cycle of spending to impress others, leaving you jealous and depressed whenever they progress.

Over To You; What Is Your Why In Life?

Having a sense of purpose means focusing on what’s important to you and channeling your time, talent, skills, and courage towards making a positive impact on society. 

By doing this, your life purpose meaning can become your personal philosophy, a compass to guide your actions to reduce suffering, promote fairness, and inspire others to aspire to higher ideals in life.

How’s that for living a fulfilling life today instead of always postponing your happiness for tomorrow, next month, or the next year?  

In this blog, you’ll find all the tools and techniques you need to explore your purpose effectively.