Happiness Comes From Finding A Purpose & Pursuing It

Success Tweet: Happiness doesn't come from getting more things. It comes from finding a worthy purpose and pursuing it. I'd like to begin this article with three quotes. The first is from T.E. Lawrence – you know, the Lawrence of Arabia guy.

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible."

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The second is from my favorite playwright, George Bernard Shaw.

“This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

The third is from Oscar Wilde.

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

I dream by day, and I hope you do too. I want to be thoroughly worn out before I'm thrown on the scrap heap. I refuse to be a selfish little clod of ailments complaining about the world. And I choose to live – completely and fully. My purpose in life helps me do this. As you know, I'm a career success coach. My purpose is to help other people create the life and career success they want and deserve. That's why I am a career success coach. To me this is a worthy purpose. More important, it's a purpose that makes me happy. As I'm writing this, I keep seeing a tweet by the mythical Frank Tyger that has been retweeted at least 10 times in the past hour, “Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness." All of this goes back to Tweet 9 in Success Tweets, "Things don't make you happy. Happiness comes from doing something of value." Success Tweet 4 says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed. It will give you a strong foundation when the winds of change shift." If you want to create a mighty life purpose, it's a good idea to write a life purpose statement. However, many people tell me they have tried to write a life purpose statement with little success. Steve Pavlina offers a common sense, four step approach to finding your life purpose. I really like these four simple steps:

1. Take out a blank sheet of paper or open up a word processor where you can type (I prefer the latter because it's faster).
2. Head it, “What is my true purpose in life?"
3. Write an answer (any answer) that pops into your head. It doesn't have to be a complete sentence. A short phrase is fine.
4. Repeat step 3 until you write the answer that makes you cry. This is your purpose.

That's it. It doesn't matter if you're a counselor or an engineer or a bodybuilder or a venture capitalist. To some people this exercise will make perfect sense. To others it will seem utterly stupid. Usually it takes 15-20 minutes to clear your head of all the clutter and the social conditioning about what you think your purpose in life is. The false answers will come from your mind and your memories. But when the true answer finally arrives, it will feel like it's coming to you from a different source entirely. I love Steve's simple common sense approach to finding your life purpose. As a career success coach, I suggest you try it if you don't have a clear statement of your life's purpose. However, once you find your life purpose, you have to live it every day. These articles and my blog are a couple of ways I live my purpose every day. I post to my blog five days a week. That means five days a week I write 800 to 1,200 words on career and life success and post it online. My books and articles are still another way I live my life purpose every day. I write books to help me clarify my thinking on life and career success – and to help others apply my career success coach thoughts to create their life and career success. What is your purpose in life? I hope it's not getting more things. I hope it has something bigger than you; something that benefits others and all of us in general. I hope it's mighty. Once you have determined your life purpose, ask yourself what you can do to live it every day. Then start doing that every day. Doing something every day that reinforces your life purpose is the best way I know to creating a happy life and career success. The common sense career success coach point here is simple. Successful people identify their purpose in life and then pursue it with passion. They follow the advice in Tweet 9 in Success Tweets, “Happiness doesn't come from getting more things. It comes from finding a worthy purpose and pursuing it." Follow Steve Pavlina's advice to develop your life purpose. Ask yourself, “What is my true purpose in life?" Keep listing answers until you find one that makes you cry. Once you get to this point, dry your tears and begin doing something every day to live that purpose. The old saying, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins," is just flat not true. As George Bernard Shaw says, success comes to those who are “used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature." I choose to be a force of nature, not a collector of things and toys. I hope you do too. Read more » articles by this approved expert.