Last week we talked about the steps to get past the drama in your head to get to the core of who you are. You can catch up on that post here if you missed it. Now we’re going to go deeper into the first step, which is to ask yourself “What would I do for free to serve others?” “What comes easy for me?” “What do others say I’m good at?”.
Your purpose will always be something in service to others. It won’t be all about you. Yes, you will enjoy doing it, and you will be good at it, and it will be fulfilling, but the end result will be about helping someone else.
One way to find your purpose is to think about what you would do for free. If you would do it for free, you probably love doing it. I love, love, love giving advice, encouraging others to take action, and helping them feel better. I did it for free for years. And still do! If I have the gift of words, why not use it to lift others up? It makes them feel good and it makes me feel good. It’s a win-win.
Another way to find your purpose is to think about what you’re good at and what comes easy for you. Your gifts will usually take very little effort while it would take someone else a lot more effort. My best friend is great at delivering information to people in a way that they can relate to it and apply it. The funny thing is that she doesn’t prepare her speeches ahead of time. Most of what she says comes to her in the moment. And she delivers it using all kinds of analogies and stuff that she conjures up on the fly. It’s amazing to watch. But it’s so easy for her that she thinks that everybody operates that way! Yeah, no.
I remember when I first asked myself these questions, I had an answer right away. It was the same answer for all three questions. But I dismissed it as soon as I thought it. I started thinking about what the next best thing could be and couldn’t come up with anything.
“Not coming up with anything” let me off the hook. Kept me safe. And comfortable. We’ll talk more about that in the next post.
In the meantime, ask yourself those questions. Write down the answers. Don’t let yourself off the hook.
Gabrielle, The Thought Trainer
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