Living Your Purpose

Nothing is more important than living for today. Living your life to the fullest, doing what you love, what you were meant to do, full of purpose and meaning. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

You truly do create your own life and add meaning to anything and everything you do, big or small. Being happy and fulfilled isn't based on the stuff you have, or where you live, it's being okay with who and what you are and what meaning you want to bring to this life.

However, I also understand that most people don't believe they can live the life they desire. Sometimes we make it a little difficult to live the life we want. Why? because most of us stand in our own way because of our present beliefs based on what we have experienced in the past.

If you really dug deep to figure out how you wanted to live your life and what it is within your business that you desired beyond the money, beyond the expectations of others, I think you would find that your vision, your dreams for yourself would not be that extravagant or far out of reach. None-the-less, extravagant or not, achieving this based on where you are right now, today, can SEEM pretty far fetched.

Not until you get clear about yourself, take down all of the shields, put away all of the limiting beliefs you may have learned from your parents or life events, can you progress forward quickly to doing what you love. You can move forward, it will just seem slower and more difficult. If we don't learn from life's lessons, these limiting beliefs, they will keep popping back up until you have. Making your journey to success slower.

Here are some steps that you can take to move toward having a more meaningful life and business:

Step #1 is to get crystal clear on what it is that you actually want for yourself to live your life fully.

Write this down. Get super specific on what this looks like to you. Even if this seems unrealistic from where you are in your life's journey right now. Even if you are a bit of skeptic on whether you think you can achieve this lifestyle right now. Don't think about the "HOW", just write down what you'd like your life and business to ultimately look like.

#2: Expect others to "try" to make you feel guilty for wanting something different.

When it comes to exploring what you want in life, especially when it's out of the "norm", loved ones have a tendency to try to protect us (usually based on their own limiting beliefs) and try to put a damper on you moving forward to living your passionate purpose.

Just expect this.

You don't need to defend yourself, just hold true to your vision for yourself. Remember, the stronger, the clearer the vision the easier it will be to hold true to your path when challenges arise. Expect challenges, they will come and when you expect them it will be easier for you to overcome them. And though they mean well, loved ones can be your biggest challenge in holding you back, due to their own limiting beliefs.

#3: Understand that just envisioning your dream and wanting to live a particular way is not enough.

You need to take action and have an action plan. You need to be consistent with this. Stopping and starting and desiring instant gratification can be the biggest detriment to achieving your dreams. I'm not saying that you won't achieve your dreams quickly, it's just that it can take a little time and effort, and most want instant gratification.

As you grow and start experiencing your dreams and goals, somehow each goal you achieve just gets easier and easier, therefore quicker for you to accomplish. Why? Because your limiting beliefs, past hurts and regrets begin to vanish as your self esteem increases. By the way, just a little tip . . . This holds true for anything in your life, love, health, business, etc.

You can't keep doing the "right" thing and not have something good from it. For some, dependant upon what you need to learn along the way, will determine how quickly you achieve where you want to be. Life's challenges WILL keep coming back again and again until you learn from them. Once you do, everything becomes easier and begins to flow.

#4: Embrace today for today and begin to live your purposeful life right now

Too many of us have a tendency to not embrace where you are today because it's NOT exactly where you want to be. If you begin right now to fully embrace today and the process of living your fulfilled, purposeful life I guarantee you will feel more fulfilled, right now. I also guarantee that it will help you achieve your vision quicker. (Hang tight for those of you who aren't sure how to start doing this!)

So BE happy now. Start adding smaller versions of your bigger vision into your life today, don't wait. How? It's not that difficult, but you may need to be a little creative . . .

Maybe you want to live a simpler life but not a boring one, one full of meaning, perhaps you want to move to a different state, perhaps you want to travel more, perhaps you feel stuck within your job and just desire to do something that you are more passionate about.

For many, maybe you just want freedom and stability and want to know that you don't have to be fearful of your future.

But perhaps you feel you can't make any change, get ahead or do what you truly want to because of family commitments, lack of money or you know you want to move forward but just don't know how to go about achieving it. Or, you are just plain scared, so you make excuses to stay right where you are - you are stuck.

I'm saying you can live your happy life today, the life you dream of right now. HOW?

Many of us, if we dig deep, we really don't need the millions, we just desire enough to feel secure and to have the freedoms to do the things in life that make it enjoyable to us. It's hard to put a price on that. You create the amount you need and this amount may surprise you.

So, I know it may seem silly, but the thought is to actually start feeling and believing you can and deserve all that you want. FEEL what it is like to experience your dreams. The Universe wants you to be abundant and happy. We, yes, WE are the ones that keep that from happening. We have a habit to get in our own way.

Begin to add some of the things you see yourself doing in your future life right now, experience your bigger goals now, but in a smaller way until you meet that bigger goal.

Begin cutting out pictures of the lifestyle you'd like to have. If you want to move, look at houses and the area where you'd ultimately like to live. If you want a successful business in a certain field hang out with others that want the same thing. Perhaps you want more meaning in your business and want to give back but you are not making enough to feel you can do this. It doesn't have to be money you give to others, give your time. Mentor a young entrepreneur and help them bloom and believe in themselves.

If there are certain "toys" or "objects of desire" that you would like, that is okay!!! Do it in a small way today. Can't afford a boat, take a fishing pole and go fishing. Want to travel more, but can't afford airline tickets, hop in the car for a weekend get-away or even a one day get-away - take a picnic and make it special. Offer to intern under your mentor so you can see hands-on what successful people do. Surround yourself with people and books and events that will help you not only get to your vision but experience what it feels like today.

Magic happens when you can take a dream and add, even in some small way, what it would FEEL like to experience that dream. If you can feel it, you can receive it.

#5 You are doing the world and yourself a disservice by not living your life fully

Uncovering your passion, living your life's dream and finding your purpose helps the world, not just you. When you do something that is meaningful to you and living in a way that is congruent to who you are, it gives others the permission to do the same.

What would life look like if everyone did what they sincerely enjoyed doing and lived in a way that was bigger than just "themselves"?

I encourage and challenge you to live bigger, even if it's a little scary. And living bigger doesn't mean more stuff, it means living a life that is utilizing your skills to make this world a better place even in the smallest of ways, it means actually feeling happy no matter where you live or what you do, it's being okay with who you are, it's looking around and actually figuring out that you are part of an incredible masterpiece called life's journey that is unfolding in front of you.

This doesn't mean not moving forward in life, it just means enjoy where you are right now and plan for tomorrow to be an even better version of yourself.

Don't worry if from time to time you go back into your memory bank and say "What if", or "I Should have", "If only" . . .If something not so kind happened in the past, or that you feel guilty or shameful about something... It's okay, this is natural, just don't dwell on this. Embrace it and let yourself experience it and then leave it where it should stay, in the past.

See everything you have done in your life that has brought you to this point and will lead you to the next step and is part of the process of living exactly the way you want to. It may be hard to see that now but again I must repeat this, hold true to your vision.

I once had a mentor who said that everything that happened 5 years ago, determines where you are in life and in your business today. I also had another mentor say that 90% of what most people do during the day does not help their business grow or improve their life and they might as well just take a nap. I'll let you chomp on that one for awhile. Both of these statements made me sit and think quietly for awhile.

I'll continue these thoughts in my next article. For today, my action step for you right now is to write down your vision for yourself, the way you want to live your life and how you want your business to run. Whether you want to have a business that is more meaningful and in alignment with your purpose, your true gifts in life or you just want to change where or how you work or live, this exercise will help.

Signature Learn & Apply Action Step:
Write it down. Take 3-6 sentences to summarize what it is that you want, how it would feel if you lived this way - be specific. Then cut out photos that go with this vision. It doesn't have to be a big vision board, just a few photos, a few words to remind you this IS important and it IS within your reach to have. Place this on your refrigerator, next to your computer or on your night stand so that you see it everyday.