If You Have A Heartbeat, You Have A Purpose - 10 Simple Steps To Find It!

"What is my purpose?" seems to be the number one answer clients seek when they hire a coach, even though they rarely put it into those words. They usually come for other reasons, like reaching a goal, finding a soul mate, reducing stress, losing weight, etc.

But as the coaching process begins, the underlying reason starts to surface and its always the same. "What is my purpose?" See, people need a purpose. They want to know that their life matters. And to be quite honest, that should be the most important goal. If we don't live on purpose, we will always experience a lack of fulfillment on some level.

The good news is, deep down inside we already know our purpose. I tend to think we chose it before we came into the world. The key is to remember it by bringing it to the surface and then act on it.

We all have a purpose. It resides in our heart. If you have a heartbeat, you have a purpose. If you don't have a heartbeat, you can argue the point with me that you don't have a purpose. To date, I have never had a client without a heartbeat.

So the question is, how do you discover your purpose? As a coach, I can usually tell within the first or second session with a client. I ask a battery of questions and somewhere along the line, my client 's answer exhibits an undeniable radiance. I can see it in their eyes and face, and I can hear it in their voice. Their eyes soften, become stress free and show the excitement of a child at a circus. If I'm on the phone with a client, there is still no mistaking the presence of their purpose. I can hear their voice change and almost become child like. I swear I can hear their heartbeat through their voice.

If you haven't seen Paul Potts, the opera singer who became an overnight success on Britain's Got Talent, you should look for the YouTube clip on line and then you'll understand what purpose is. The clip of him performing before the judges is a perfect example of "radiance". In this example, it wasn't just Paul who radiated. His overwhelming performance shook all 3 judges (yes, even Simon) as well as most of the audience members. Their facial expressions changed, eyes watered and some cried what I call "tears of spirit" and they gave Paul a standing ovation. He spoke to their spirit. Paul was living on purpose!

Just like Paul, we all have the ability to make a living doing what we were born to do which will always be what we love the most. But unfortunately, this is not an easy concept for clients to believe. When I tell people that their spirit has just revealed their purpose, they get excited but within minutes they begin to disregard the idea thinking there's no way something they enjoy so much could be their purpose and make them a living.

Why is it that as a society, we attach a negative connotation to the idea of "Life Purpose"? Our life purpose is supposed to bring joy to us, not torment! Some clients feel "life purpose" is God's choice for them and that God may make they do something they really don't want, like move to a foreign country and start a missionary. This thinking is fear based and never comes from our spirit. Some clients feel that life is supposed to be hard work so if they truly enjoy something it can't make them a living, because it doesn't feel like hard work, it feels like fun. Where did we get the notion that we can't have fun making a living? Again, this is fear based thinking and will undermine our ability to live on purpose.

So the first step towards living on purpose is determining which voice in our heads is speaking to us. I define the 2 voices that accompany us in life as Ego and Spirit. Ego will do whatever it can to rain on our parade and keep us from having fun. It says things like, "life is difficult, struggle is normal, hard work is good, be realistic and that idea is stupid". Spirit on the other hand, says, "you are unique and special, there is no competition, life is easy, everything is possible, and you can make an incredible living doing something that you love".

So how do we move towards living on purpose? Here are 10 simple steps:

1) Put your "Ego-filter" on and don't allow Ego to interfere with any of the next steps. Engage your Spirit-voice by saying things like "anything is possible, life is easy, I can make a great living doing what I love!"

2) Write down everything you can think of that brings you joy, no matter what it is (hobby, talent, luxury, etc.).

3) When the list is complete, focus on each thing and highlight the one that appeals to you the most. The one that pulls at your heart when you think about it. It may take a while to determine, but if you keep looking at the list, it will almost pop off the page for you. (We'll call this one your "heart string").

4) Now take a poster board or a very large piece of paper.

5) In the center of the poster board, write the one you determined as your heart string in your favorite color marker and circle it leaving plenty of room on the rest of the board to write.

6) Now allow your mind to brainstorm for you - think of everything that you could possibly do with this heart string that would make you a living. You may even want to include your friends or family (only positive minded ones) to help you in a brainstorming session.

7) Write every word or thought that comes up anywhere outside the circle. You may end up with 20 words, or you may end up with 100 words. There is no write or wrong. Just keep writing until you can't think of anything else to add. Use the internet to come up with ideas you may have overlooked.

8) Take time to evaluate all the words or phrases you've written on the board outside of the circle with your heart string in it. Circle the words or phrases that appeal to you the most in regards to your heart string.

9) Connect the dots - draw lines from the circle in the middle to all the other circles you've made on the board. All circles on the board should be connected with lines. You will begin to see a theme or plan come to the surface.

10) This plan becomes a blueprint to your purpose. As you focus on this plan, steps will naturally occur. You will be inspired with new ideas that align with your purpose; you will start to connect with others that can help; you will see doors open miraculously. And the next thing you know, you will be telling others that you are finally living on purpose.

Remember to keep your Ego-filter on because the closer you get to living on purpose, the more the Ego tries to undermine the process. I provide my clients with many creative ways to stifle the Ego throughout their goal setting process.

So let's go through this process using an example: You write down everything you can think of that you enjoy on a piece of paper. Things like planting flowers, going to the movies, getting a massage, cooking, reading novels, etc. You look over the list a few times and realize the thing that pulls at your heart the most is getting a massage so you call that your "heart string" and write it in a circle on a poster board. Now using the key word "massage" and you gather ideas from the internet and you have a few positive minded peers come over to brainstorm and write down everything regarding "massage" on the board. You write things like "training; teaching; coaching, environment; music; candles; tables; techniques; tools; rating, etc. You've written every associated idea you can think of. You then evaluate all the phrases and begin to circle the one or ones that stand out the most and then connect all circles with a line. The circles you connect to "massage" are "rating; environments; techniques". No other words on the board appeal to you. These connected circles become your blue print.

Through focus, meditation, keeping an open mind and keeping your Ego-filter on, you begin to be inspired to continue to move in this direction. Doors start to open, more ideas get spurred, and the next thing you know you are not only making a healthy living, but getting free massages from hundreds of therapists as you rate the technique and the environment for a journal you've created that will be published in "the best of" columns in newspapers throughout the country. A win for you and a win for the therapist that gets a top rating in each city. And you realize how perfect this is for you because it also incorporates your love of travel.

Next thing you know you are telling everyone how you are living on purpose and making money doing what you love the most in life. So, what is your purpose?