Preksha Life Skill - I Choose, I Live: 01.3

Finding Your Life Purpose can help you to:

• gain enlightenment
• feel better, do better, be better
• stay enthusiastic and motivated
• gain success, respect and trust
• improve your career
• determine compatibility - marriage, business partnerships, friendships
• have fewer problems and make fewer mistakes
• reduce fear, stress, anxiety, worry and depression
• have more confidence
• make a real difference
• gain genuine long-term happiness and personal/professional fulfilment
• energize your life

Using your vision, self-awareness and conscience, scrutinize the deepest value you really want to live with. Lord Mahavir said, ‘Know you through yourself' First know who you are. From there, discover through yourself the purpose of your life. If you think, I am a husband, son, boss, teacher, Hollywood-star, politician, priest or any other ‘“person of this society’, then your purpose will be confined within that area only. If you go beyond that and see yourself as a human being, as a unique entity, then your purpose will be quite different. So, to know the true purpose of living a full, purposeful life, first know yourself, know who you are.

It is also important to focus on finding what is important to you so that the life you are living is in harmony with those values; so that your attitude and behaviour are compatible with those principles. Whether you are a student, businessperson, employee, a social worker or at any designation, your focal point must be upon your core values. Begin each day with those values firmly in mind. Your values are the very purpose of your life. If you have defined your values then you will never go off-track.

 The basic idea is that you must align your purpose with your needs, abilities, and desires. Your purpose tells you what you should do. Your needs (money, shelter, clothing) dictate what you must do. Your abilities (skills, talents, education) dictate what you can do. And your desires (enjoyable work, passion) dictate what you want to do. Taken individually each of these areas will only point you in a general direction, but when you put them all together, you'll find it easier to set specific, practical goals. This way you’ll be setting goals that help you fullfill your purpose, meet your needs, doing what you love to do, and doing the activities in which you excel.

"It must be borne in mind that the tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal -- the tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.” - Benjamin Mays

Personal Mission Statement

One of the most important things that corporate leaders do is define their organization's purpose, and identify what they ultimately want it to accomplish. If mission and vision statements are so important to organizations, why don't we spend some time creating them for ourselves?

A personal mission statement is the blueprint and guide for your life. It provides long-term vision and short- term motivation.

To define our purpose it is useful to write a personal mission statement which is principle or value centered. It will focus on what you want to be (character) and what you aim to do (contribution and achievements). Divide your life into four parts — Personal (Health and soul), family, Professional and social. Your mission statement should involve all four fields. A mission statement is not something you write overnight. It requires introspection. It is the solid expression of your vision and values, priorities and beliefs. To write your mission statement, you will first have to recognize your values and principles. To recognize your values, think of the specific role you fill in different areas of your life. In the professional area, you may be CEO, project manager, marketing manager, teacher, principal, doctor, engineer, attorney or beyond. Access your role in other areas of your life: husband/wife, son/daughter, parent, sibling, neighbour, volunteer, friends etc., who do you want to be as an individual in your non—professional responsibilities? What do you want to do for your own self, and for your inner satisfaction? Now reflect on what those values are which can guide you in these areas.

Remember that after we're gone, it's not the material possessions we leave behind that will matter for eternity. What will matter is what kind of character we exhibited and the legacy we left for others. If our only goal is to live a purpose driven life by acquiring fame and fortune, we may find that purpose rather empty in the end and of minimal value to those around us.

"Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom, and power.” -Stephen Covey

Empty Your Mind

A master in martial arts asked Bruce to teach him everything he (Bruce) knew about martial arts. Bruce held up two cups both filled with liquid. "The first cup,” said Bruce” represents all of your knowledge about martial arts. The second cup represents all of my knowledge about martial arts. If you want to fill your cup with my knowledge, you must first empty your cup of your knowledge."

If you want to discover your true purpose in life, you must first empty your mind of all the false purposes you have assumed.

How do I find Meaning and Purpose in My Life?

To find the purpose of your life, answer these questions and compare the answers you are getting and discover the underlying common theme.

@What is the most important in your life?

@ What are your deepest held values?

@ What interests you so much that time seems to stand still when you are engaged in it?

@ If you absolutely knew you would be successful, how would you share your success?

@ If time and money were no object, what would you do?

Self-reflection is a major step in finding purpose in life. It is important to analyse personal strengths and weaknesses. Purpose can be found by maximizing strengths and improving weaknesses. Here's what to do:

1. On the top of a blank sheet of paper write “What is m true purpose in life?”
2. Write down any answer that pops into your head. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence. A short phrase is fine.
3. Repeat step 2 until you write the answer that makes you cry. This is your purpose.

For example: In the beginning you will come up with bundles of thoughts. Suppose your long term goal is to become a doctor. Your first thought will likely be ‘I want to become a doctor’. Ponder this thought further and next thought may be, ’I want to become a compassionate doctor.’ Then you add ‘an honest doctor’. Then finally you make your mission statement as ‘I want to live a life of integrity and to serve humanity.’ This is your true purpose - driven by the values of compassion, contribution, honesty and the like. This is the overarching purpose you will strive to attain in your life. Now you can define your long term goal to become a doctor. Or you may be open to any other profession through which you can serve society or humankind in general. After that you decide the short term goals - in increments of one month to five years. It can be summarized as follows:

@ First you create the “big picture” of what you want to do with your life and identify the ultimate goal that you want to achieve.

@ Then, you break these down into the smaller and smaller milestones that you must reach along the way to your lifetime goals.

@Finally, once you have your plan, you can work to achieve your goals.