by Pentadact

Your Life Purpose

The second coaching session, after the intake session with my clients, is the Your Life Purpose session. During this session we spend about an hour to an hour and a half together. This session is very gratifying for both the client and me because it offers perspective to the client while I am invited to share personal and private moments. For me it is fundamental that the client knows what his or her Life Purpose is and how it can be used. Only by knowing your Life Purpose you will be in a position to make better decisions, take time outs, understand how issues arise and discover how to resolve them. Life Purpose is what makes us wake up in the morning. What we love doing the most and what we naturally do best.

Many of my clients announce that they do not need to do the Life Purpose exercise because they already know theirs, but after talking with them what I have discovered is that they have a Mission Statement or long-held dreams but not necessarily a Life Purpose. Often people draft a Mission Statement during a training programme. Many times the Mission Statement reflects their team’s, or organisation’s, Mission Statement. Sometimes the Mission Statement is merely a personal plan for the next two to four years.

You need to know your Life Purpose before you can draft your Mission Statement. The way I explain Mission Statements and Life Purpose is as follows:

Life Purpose is your destination; this destination does not change through time, it adds value to your life and the lives of those you meet along the way. Mission Statements are plans or short term goals made with the intention to grow and move forward.

Let me explain this with the example I use with my clients. Say your Life Purpose is to travel to Rome and experience Rome as the Romans do. Then, if that is your goal, you need to ask yourself some questions:

1                     How will I get there?

2                     When will I go?

3                     What must I pack?

4                     What will I do when I get there?

Questions like these are typical of your Mission Statement. They illustrate your short and medium term goals, your plans, the lessons you need to learn, the stopovers and activities you will make in order to reach your destination – in this case Rome. But in this example your mission is concerned not just with how you go and what you will do when you get there. It also ensures that you go to Rome in a way that lets you enjoy every stage of the planning and the trip itself as well as the experience of being in Rome and enjoying Rome ‘like the Romans do’ when you arrive.

As soon as you have achieved your short and medium term goals you need to revise them and, based on the results, adjust your plan. You need to know where you want to go. This knowledge is going to help you stay focused (your Life Purpose). OK, sometimes you will need to take a detour or make an unscheduled stop. This is fine, but only if you consciously make this decision.

When you know your Life Purpose this will:

Create self awareness and allow you to be more passionate about you.
Inspire you to keep on track and take the necessary steps you need to reach your goals.
Support you in developing strong relationships.
Give you energy, peace, and fulfilment.

But it also is:

 An incredible decision making tool.
Fun and helps you grow and stay focused.
The state in which you want to live .

You can ‘find out’ what your Life Purpose is by doing the exercise below. Completing it will be fun and will give you a sense of wellbeing and perspective. At the end of the exercise you will know more about what drives you, where you want to go and how to get there. You can do it alone or ask someone you trust to guide you through the steps.

Before you start take some time to clear your mind of negative beliefs, emotions and energy (for more information you can refer to the article: A Compilation of Clearing Techniques, E Schalkx 2009)

Good Life Purpose examples are:

ü  I am a better man when I communicate through music and share it with my surroundings.

ü  When I am in silence I create space for things to happen.

ü  My Life Purpose is to be a safe and whole being so I can allow flow pass through me and let harmony guide my peace, balance and needs so I can keep it within me and let it reflect to others.

ü  When I stop and look around I create dances.

ü  Through silence I give back.

ü  Through my music I can touch, share and grow.

ü  My Life Purpose is to be proud to use my empathy and trustworthiness, happy to be a proud partner, friend and family member and to be good to my clients.

ü 

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