What is your soul’s higher purpose?
Having a higher purpose in life means you are doing something that is meaningful to you.
It also means you’re doing something that:
- aligns with your values
- makes you feel good inside
- and benefits others.
People are always looking for meaning in their lives. One great example of this is Victor Frankl’s account as a holocaust survivor in his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning in Life.”
He wrote that man finds purpose in the ways he expresses creativity, how he’s living his values, and what makes him feel fulfilled.
Frankl also said purpose can come from internal and external struggle, which is something he witnessed during his time in an Auschwitz concentration camp.
In my personal experience, having a purpose in life gives you a reason to keep on going during times when life becomes challenging or routine.
Examples of living your purpose.
“Having a purpose in life is the wellspring of sustained happiness.” -Ken Robinson, Finding Your Element
Having a higher purpose in life means you’re living your values and beliefs.
The things that are most valuable to you are the things that are most important to you.
For example, your top value in life is family because they’re very important to you. So your higher purpose is to make sure they’re taken care of.
A higher purpose can also be something done in service of others, such as hospital volunteers, PTA members, activists, and church aides.
You can even combine your values and your desire to be of service to others to form a strong purpose in life.
For example, you value nature and at the same time, you want to help preserve the natural world. So your higher purpose is to protect the world you live in.
What if I can’t find my purpose?
If you don’t have a purpose or you’re having trouble finding it, it’s okay. It doesn’t mean that your life is lacking in something.
Chances are, you do have a purpose in life, and you’re living it every day. You just don’t know it yet.
Your purpose doesn’t have to be something big and grand. It can be as simple as:
- finishing up your daily chores
- eating dinner as a family every night
- getting your homework done every day
- or reading to your child before bedtime.
For a long time, I wasn’t aware of my purpose in life. I was only able to articulate it when I was forced to make drastic changes due to health issues.
Prior to that, having a higher purpose wasn’t the center of my life. I was just living day to day and it was enough to make my life feel meaningful and important.
It was only after I was diagnosed with multiple health issues, that I knew had to find my purpose in life because what used to give me meaning wasn’t cutting it anymore.
Why is it important to have a purpose in life?
People who have a purpose in life usually have a greater sense of well-being.
According to a study, people who have a purpose in life are more likely to:
- have greater emotional well-being
- advocate for themselves
- make choices in life that will benefit their health
- have greater positive health outcomes
- and accumulate wealth over time.
This is why having a purpose is so important because it can benefit our emotional, mental, physical, and financial health.
After I was diagnosed with my own health challenges, something inside of me kept telling me to find my purpose.
I knew deep down that I needed to find it and live it, in order to thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
I couldn’t continue living life the way that I used to because I knew I’d end up back where I started.
But even before I was diagnosed, I already felt the urge to find something purposeful in my life.
What I didn’t know then was I had outgrown the lifestyle I had built for myself and was too scared to admit it.
I wasn’t paying attention to my inner guidance, so I started feeling lost and life felt more and more overwhelming with each passing day.
There’s nothing wrong with autopilot if it makes you feel safe, but when you get too comfortable, you lose sight of your higher purpose in life and stop growing.
Sometimes we get so comfortable with life that it starts feeling routine. If we’re not challenging ourselves, we hamper our own growth.
Stepping out of our comfort zone can help us grow mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
There’s nothing wrong with routine if it makes us feel safe. Although, when we are living on autopilot, we stop evolving and lose sight of who we really are.
We need to challenge ourselves just as much as we need stability and having a purpose can help us through the good, bad, and quiet periods of life.
How do I find my purpose in life?
You can find your purpose in life by answering this question:
What do I love to do so much that I never get tired of it and I would do it for free?
This question looks deceptively simple and if you’re having a hard time answering it right away, you’re not alone.
To make it simple & easy for you, I created a guide during my healing and self-discovery journey to help me find my purpose in life.
It also helped me find my passions, identity, and so much more. You can download and print my free guide by completing the form down below.
You can also read the following tips and techniques that I learned over the years to help you find your higher purpose in life.
An easy guide to finding your purpose in life.
A great purpose in life follows from values that reflect an understanding of the world.” Vic Strecher.
1. Get to know yourself.
To find your purpose, you need to know who you are. Knowing yourself helps you connect with who you truly are.
When I started searching for my purpose in life, I had to get to know myself first because I had no clue what I really wanted to do with my life.
So I started journaling because it was something I used to do as a kid but stopped making time for it.
What I enjoyed about journaling, and still do to this day, is getting my thoughts out of my head and having a place where I can keep my innermost secrets.
Journaling is a great way to self-reflect and gain more clarity about yourself. If you’re unsure how to do it, you can try my simple 5-minute method.
5-minute journaling method
Grab a timer and write in your journal for 5 minutes without filtering or judging what you’re writing. Do this every day for a week.
After a week, reflect on what you wrote and see if you can pick up on any thought, feeling, or behavioral patterns.
You can continue journaling this way if you like or you can journal with prompts to get to know yourself better by filling out the form down below.
If you’re interested in other ways to get to know yourself better, check out this handy table down below and click on the ones that resonate with you.
| Go on a journey of self-discovery. | Ask yourself questions to increase your self-awareness. | Do some shadow work. |
| Find your identity. | Answer some self-discovery prompts. | Follow your bliss. |
| Find your bliss. | Find what makes you happy. | Answer some self-discovery questions. |
| Create a list of passions. | Write down a list of likes and dislikes. | Get in touch with your spiritual side. |
| Connect with your higher self. | Be your authentic self. | Own who you are. |
2. Meditate
Meditation is one of my favorite ways to figure things out. It helps me create space for new thoughts and ideas to flow through.
A regular meditation practice can be a powerful tool to help you find your purpose in life.
It can help you better understand your thoughts, emotions, feelings, and behavior.
It can also help you gain clarity, have more focus, and feel more calm every day.
How to practice meditation.
When you meditate, find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. I usually do it in the morning before everyone wakes up.
Before you begin, set a timer between 10-15 minutes, close your eyes or keep them open but relaxed, and sit still.
If you’re a beginner, your mind will wander a lot. When this happens, bring your attention back to a focal point like your breath, and keep repeating until the timer goes off.
Meditation takes time to master. You might not understand the point of it at first because it will feel like there’s so much noise in your head and you’re not making progress.
Over time, your mind will learn to let go of distractions in your inner world so you can focus on what’s most important to you in your outer world.
You don’t have to sit in a quiet place to meditate if it isn’t your thing.
There are other ways to meditate that are just as effective. The key is to do one thing at a time without feeling rushed. Here are some examples:
- Walking
- Surrounding yourself with nature
- Practicing mindfulness
- Exercising
- Playing an instrument
- Reading
- Writing
- Doing something you love
3. Do something you love
Doing something you love puts you in a higher vibrating state. These are emotions that make you feel good like
- Joy
- Bliss
- Love
- Happiness
- Calm
- Peace
- Flow
When I’m doing something I love, it puts me in a state of flow. I feel free and most like myself.
Doing the thing that you love on a regular basis can lead you to your higher purpose in life.
4. Make a list of passions.
You can create a list of passions by thinking about the following:
- things you are strongly drawn to
- activities you do consistently
- anything that makes you feel joyful
- and anything that gives you a feeling of satisfaction
Passions can be something you get paid for or something you do for free.
Some examples are playing an instrument, joining a sports team, or volunteering for a local fire station.
If you do it regularly and it gives you meaning, your passion can become your higher purpose in life.
5. Raise your awareness
Awareness is being in the present moment and noticing what’s happening around you in real time. When you lack awareness, you lose connection to yourself and those around you.
I talk about awareness a lot, which is something that has helped me understand who I am and how my actions affect other people.
Practicing awareness is worth the effort because it raises your consciousness and you become more conscious of those around you.
At the same time, being more conscious and aware can help you detach from things that prevent you from living your purpose such as fear and limiting beliefs.
Pure consciousness is a state of awareness that is not always easy to detect.
I find that the best way to practice awareness is by being conscious when I’m interacting with someone.
When I’m able to do this I become aware of my thoughts, feelings, and actions as I’m interacting with the other person.
It helps me understand myself on a deeper level which in turn increases my connection to myself and my purpose.
This took practice by the way and I didn’t have the level of consciousness that I do now.
If this seems intimidating don’t worry. I’ll go over the 7 levels of consciousness to help you raise your awareness so you can find your purpose.
The 7 layers of consciousness.
According to Mary Beth Janssen, author of “The Book of Self-Care”, there are 7 layers of consciousness.
We spend most of our time in the first 3 states of consciousness. As we move further up, we use intention and daily practice to reach the higher levels of consciousness that connect us to our higher purpose, our higher selves, and all that is around us.
- Waking
- Deep sleep
- Dreaming
- Meditation
- Cosmic consciousness-awareness of spirit in the midst of experience.
- Divinity consciousness-experiencing and understanding our divine nature in everything around us.
- Unity consciousness-merging with the whole universe.
I went over the 4th level of consciousness, meditation, and how to practice it every day in a previous section.
I’m not sure if I’ve reached numbers 5-7 yet, but I do know that the more you practice awareness, the more conscious you become of your higher self.
The more you become conscious of your higher self, the more you’ll be aware of your higher purpose and how it all connects to the universe.
6. Get in touch with your spirit.
You might not be able to see your spirit, but it’s always with you. It communicates with you in subtle ways and it can help you find your higher purpose.
If you feel like you’ve lost touch with it, you can get in touch with your spiritual side through meditation, which I went over in the meditation section.
Or, you can follow what it is that makes your spirit come alive. One way to do this is to follow your bliss.
Your bliss is the thing that gives you great joy and makes you feel alive inside. Some examples are your religion, immersing yourself in nature, or doing something you really love.
7. Serve others.
Through all my years of finding purpose and meaning in my life, I’ve found that purpose involves being in service to others.
Though you’re in service of others you’re not doing it to gain approval or please other people.
You do it because it’s your calling and it makes you feel good inside.
8. Know your values.
Your values are the things that are most important to you. Knowing what your values are and aligning them with what you do can help you live a purposeful life.
Some examples of values are family, health, wealth, and recognition.
Knowing what your values are can also help you set priorities and put up boundaries so you can focus on living your higher purpose.
How to tell you’re living your purpose.
You can tell you’re living your higher purpose when you don’t feel a need please others or gain their approval.
Your life feels full and you don’t feel a need to escape it or look outside of yourself for validation.
When you’re living your purpose, life feels like it’s flowing with the ups and downs that it can bring.
You are able to enjoy the little things in life and appreciate whatever is in front of you.
You accept yourself where you are in the present moment alongside the things that you can’t change or control.
More ways to find your higher purpose in life.
Books on purpose
If you like to read, you can check out my list of the 9 best books on finding your purpose, passion, and meaning in life.
Connect with your higher self
If you want to learn how to connect with your higher self, check out this article on 16 ways to connect with your Higher Self.
Books for soul searching
Lastly, if you want to learn more about your soul’s purpose I have a list of 10 books to read on soul searching.
I hope you found my tips to find your higher purpose in life useful. If you have any thoughts please share them in the comments!
