Why It’s Urgent That You Find Your Purpose?

by vanessa | Mar 22, 2023 | Entrepreneurs, personal development

Why it’s URGENT THAT YOU FIND YOUR PURPOSE

If you want to stop being lazy, then these five simple ways will help you do just that.

Finding your purpose is so important. It’s so important I would even boldly claim that it’s urgent. Below I list the reasons it’s urgent that you find your purpose.

Yes, you read that right. How many of us are wondering if we are on the right track? If we are in the right profession or even chose the right degree. But now it’s too late because we are stuck with our decisions. This is far from the truth. When I graduated from university, I questioned if I made the right choice. I ignored the whole find your purpose and get a job talk I had heard endless times.

Having money flowing in is important, but if you don’t know what your purpose is, then you will wander around aimlessly trying to figure it out.

Unfortunately there’s no big button we can press to figure it out. Trust me, I tried looking for the button. I couldn’t find it. We need to understand that finding your purpose will give you clarity. Now that you have the snippet, let’s get to the meat. Before you leave, you will understand why it’s urgent to find your purpose.

Clarity

It’s urgent you find your purpose because of clarity. They are so many people who spend countless hours working a job they hate. Some spend hours looking for jobs that they know they will hate. I get it. Cash flow is important. This isn’t 1999. It’s 2023. That means you can do anything and make money from it. If you want a side hustle, you can literally pour over the many side hustle sites out there so you can get cash flow.

Once you get cash flow or at least have it coming in, you can figure out what to do. Clarity is so important because you will understand what steps to take. Clarity has done wonders for me in my business. This is the thing with purpose. Once you hone into it, you it will take you places you never imagined. Without clarity, you spend that time trying to figure out what you are doing wrong.

And it will take you years because you aren’t clear about where you want to go. Let’s say that you are working a 9-5 job that you hate. The hours are lousy and so is the pay. You complain about it constantly, but you do nothing. This won’t help you. There’s a time for complaining and there’s a time for doing. You got to pick yourself up and try again.

Finding your purpose will give you perspective

Fast forward to 2012. I was an aimless kid who didn’t understand what I wanted to do with my life. I was in college, but hated the degree I was doing. It felt as if I was wandering the halls of aimless and dazed. I had to take a gap year between my studies and this made things worse. I missed being in college. Not because I loved it there, but because I didn’t know what my friends or people on social media would think of me.

When I went back to college. Things were different. I was different. A part of me didn’t want to be there anymore or even finish the degree. I eventually graduated and got my first internship at a job I hated. I wondered if I had made the wrong choice. It took me years to find my purpose. To figure out what I wanted to do and eventually I found what I wanted. Finding my purpose gave me perspective. A perspective. That I never thought I needed, and it changed everything. It’s urgent to find your purpose because you stop wasting your time.

What happened to me is I stopped caring what people were doing and just wanted to focus on my purpose. It always made me realize that I had a choice in what I did with my life.

You will become more confident

It’s urgent to find your purpose because you will ultimately become a much more confident version of yourself. I used to struggle with my confidence. I had low self-esteem and self worth. I didn’t understand my place in this world. Then when I found my purpose, that changed. I became much more confident. This changed everything for me. I became bolder and a risk taker. Before I found my purpose, I never thought I would write two nonfiction books, start a YouTube channel and go on podcasts.

I am an introvert. So stepping out of my comfort zone was far too terrifying, but now I realize it is electrifying. I started another blog even though my first blog failed. Why? Because my purpose was far more powerful than my fears. We all have a choice in who we become. Often, our past mistakes prevent us from moving forward. We are always looking behind our shoulder. When you find your purpose, you stop doing this. Not saying that it’s instant, but the more you focus on your purpose, the less you care about your mistakes.

We all have made mistakes. We all have come short. The benefit of finding your purpose is that you cling to this. Your purpose is the reason you went through all the obstacles and challenges. It only made you stronger.

Also Related: 9 Ways to Develop Confidence

Money mindset

The fourth reason finding your purpose is urgent is because of the money mindset. What this basically means is you develop a money mindset. Now, when you have a money mindset, you understand ways to generate money. It seems so out there, but what you used to see as luck, you just see it as an opportunity to grow. You are not afraid to take risks and train yourself to be receptive to money. Okay, I am not talking about manifesting or a get rich scheme. No matter how much you want $50,000 to appear in your bank account doesn’t mean it will.

I will not sell you a get rich scheme. Money mindset is just what happens when you find your purpose but it doesn’t mean you will instantly make money. As kids, we are trained to think that it’s extremely hard to make money. A part of this is true. Nothing worthwhile is easy. However, when you develop a money mindset you see opportunity everywhere. They are seven billion people in the world. Four billion are on the internet.

When you understand what your purpose is, opportunities open. You are more willing to invest in yourself and the training that you might need. You are also willing to sell a course, ebook or coaching program if you believe it will help your audience. You’re willing to put yourself out there.

Also Related: How to Shift Your Money Mindset

Failure doesn’t crush you

It’s urgent you find your purpose because failure won’t crush you. When I was starting out criticism wasn’t my friend. Failure was crushing, but when I found my purpose. I knew that this was what I wanted to do and there was no going back. I knew what I wanted and what I didn’t. That is so important because when failure knocked on my door, I took that as a learning lesson and grew from it.

This is the mindset you will develop when you find your purpose and focus on it. Your purpose is proof that self doubt isn’t as important as helping people with your knowledge or skillset. This is the pivot every successful person learns. They realize that failure is simply the building blocks they need to grow and learn from their experience. This is also how you should see failure. As a way to keep learning and improving. Take every step one at a time. Then you will learn and grow from that.

Also Related: Shift Failure to Something Positive

How will you find your purpose? Comment below

KEEP PUSHING

VANESSA

Hidden Signs of Self-Sabotage: Here’s How You’re Self-Sabotaging Yourself

by vanessa | Feb 15, 2023 | Blog, personal development

Hidden signs of Self-Sabotage: Here’s How You’re you’re self-sabotaging yourself

There are many hidden signs of self-sabotage that we’re doing and we don’t even realize it.

Confession time. I am sometimes a big procrastinator, but I’m learning to curb that and stop. It’s a journey. I have learned that they are hidden signs that I’ve been self-sabotaging myself. Here’s the truth. I have ADHD. Now I have highs then I have really low lows. What I mean by this is I will have all these ideas buzzing in my brain and then my body gets into gear. It’s as if I can’t do anything wrong. All things I have been wanting to do I get it done. Then I have low lows when my brain tells me this is impossible and I become unwilling to switch up gears and make it work. One of the hidden signs of self-sabotage for me is allowing ADHD to control my life.

ADHD doesn’t go away just because I want it to. I need to find ways to make it cooperate. Now that’s a challenge, but we all have challenges. The key here is whether we allow said challenge to make things harder for us. If we do then it will never stop. Challenges don’t come and go like the weather. Let’s say you got fired. They are three ways to look at this. You get angry at how unfair life is, go job-hunting for another job (of course,) or try something new. Even when you get another job, at the back of your mind there’s this fear that you will get canned again.

This is one hidden sign of self-sabotage. You feel as if you already failed before you did. We all have to learn to accept and appreciate challenges for what they are. What are they? Simple. Lessons. I know you have heard this before, but we all need reminders. Challenges are lessons. They are so many people who dropped out of college and ended up becoming inventors and entrepreneurs. They are people who got fired and who got back up and started something new. Heck, they are people who broke up with their partners and got back up.

Below are a few hidden signs you are self-sabotaging yourself.

Self-Fulling Prophecies

What is this? Some mambo jumbo. No. This is science. I love science you can call me a bit of a nerd. Our brains are more powerful than a computer. We can process information so much faster than any computer. Unless you’re dealing with those high-tech processing machines that no normal human being has access to. Okay, you might have met your match if you come across this computer.

Self-fulling prophecies are just your brain processing information and then it sends signals to another part of your brain. Your brain then sends these signals throughout your body and usually when that happens your whole body has gotten the message. This how powerful our brains are/ Every word or string of words is put into an image in our brain. If you are extremely visual then it’s worse for you. This hidden sign of self-sabotage is keeping you from going after your goals. Let me explain. If you tell yourself you can’t do something, you’re creating a new habit.

When you don’t do something, you’re telling your brain and body that it isn’t important. This hidden sign of self-sabotage is why you have been procrastinating.

How you fix it:

A simple way to fix this hidden sign of self-sabotage is by changing the way you phrase things. Instead of saying I don’t have enough time it changes to I have enough time. Do this for everything. Change “I want to start a business but I don’t know how,” to “I want to start a business and I will learn how to.”

Also Read: I Think Therefore, I Am

Procrastinator

As an ADHDer, I can be a big procrastinator. I’m learning not to make it my personality, but that means every day I have to work at it. This hidden sign has been self-sabotaging me for years. Every year I come up with a new way to work through it. I hate uncomfortable things so I tend to push them on the back burner. This certainly isn’t helpful. Many of us do tend to procrastinate maybe not as much as ADHDers, but that doesn’t mean we don’t.

Things that seem too complicated or uncomfortable put us on the edge of our seats. Unless you’re a hard-core adrenaline junkie most of us don’t want to feel that kind of intensity all the time. You know what I mean. Butterflies in your stomach. Wanting to puke or throwing your laptop across the living room floor? Maybe the last bit is an exaggeration, but you get my point. Procrastination is one of the biggest hidden signs of self-sabotage.

How to fix it:

They are two ways to deal with this. Embody a can-do attitude. What this means is instead of believing you can’t do something, start believing that you can. If you can’t learn something then you try. Babies and kids are great examples of this. No kid is born knowing how to do anything, but they try. As adults, we need to start working on this.

The second way is just to do it. Whenever you want to do something just do it. Don’t overthink or analyze. Keep yourself preoccupied with the task at hand. What do you need to do to get it done? Let’s say you want to learn the guitar. Look at the first steps and start from there. Learn about types of guitars. Doing this will make you think about buying one. When you buy one you won’t talk yourself out of it. Get lessons or even purchase a course online. Now that you’re investing time and resources you are now hooked.

These are two ways to deal with this hidden sign of self-sabotage.

You’re overthinking

Raise your hands if you’re an overthinker. That there is me. I overthink everything until it drives me nuts. This usually results in me not doing anything because I talk myself out of it. “I’m ready.” Then bam, another string of words comes in. “Are you sure you can do it today? Aren’t you tired?” Just thinking about being tired makes me feel tired.

This hidden sign of self-sabotage is what gets introverts. Most extroverts tend to go with an I’m going to do something attitude. Being an overthinker and not being one aren’t bad things. Our brains are all different. You just need to know how to work with what you have. This hidden sign of self- sabotage is stopping you from achieving your goals.

How to fix it:

Stop analyzing every single thing. Work with what you have. Let’s say you want to start a YouTube channel, but feel like you don’t have everything. First, do you have a phone? If you do then you have all you need for now. Grab a phone tripod and a ring light. If you can afford it. If not just make sure you film in front of windows for the light. There you go. Often we’re the ones stopping ourselves because we want to have an elaborate setup at step one.

No one has everything in the beginning. They use what they have then they work with that. One thing to remember is finding solutions to dealing with hidden signs of self-sabotage will give you the ammunition you need to have control of your life.

Limiting Beliefs

This hidden sign gets most or all of us at some point in our lives. We’re not immune to its tentacles until we learn. Here’s the thing we all have foibles. Things we loathe and often these are things that you hate about yourself the most. I’m 5 foot two inches. So I’m tiny. For the longest time, I hated this but I have come to appreciate it. Most people see me as unassuming because of my height, but that is my advantage.

Now, this isn’t a flaw, more of a biological factor, but still, my limiting belief was built on my height. Not saying this was my only limiting belief I had many circulating in my brain. They are still there, but I choose to ignore them and focus on what I have. This hidden sign of self-sabotage can make it hard for you to go after your dreams.

This is why you need to learn how to stop allowing this hidden sign of self-sabotage from crippling you. Once you believe something strongly like a plague it will squash everything you hold dear. Your relationships. Professional life. Everything. Your dreams. This hidden sign of self-sabotage can stop you from going after your dreams and achieving your goals.

How to fix it:

Start building life-affirming beliefs. What this is, is you tell yourself positive things about yourself. This will help you focus on the positive rather than the negative. Now once you do that you can move on to quieting the limiting belief voice. The reason why your limiting belief voice is so strong is that you’re giving power to it by listening to it. Stop listening. Then refuse to believe that voice. “No, I’m not stupid.” “No, I’m not drunk and degenerate.”

What starts happening is you are creating new neuro pathways in your brain and that will lead you to start acting on whatever you think. So, when you tell yourself you aren’t stupid, you start getting interested in learning new things.

These are a few ways to help you with the hidden signs of self-sabotage.

Also Read: How to Stop Limiting Yourself, and Move Forward in Your Life

Final notes

Rome wasn’t built in a day. It will take you some time to learn how to implement these. Be gracious and kind to yourself. Don’t allow yourself to be self-sabotaged by these hidden signs anymore. You deserve more. Start believing that. If you fall back to old habits that’s alright. We’re human after all and there are moments when we do stumble. As long as you understand what made you stumble this will help you keep moving. They are way more hidden signs of self-sabotage out there. The key here is learning how to control them so that they don’t control you.

What is your main take away from the blog post and what will you do to stop letting these hidden signs self-sabotage yourself? Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

How to Create a Side Hustle You Actually Enjoy

by vanessa | Aug 17, 2022 | Blog

HOW TO CREATE A SIDE-HUSTLE YOU ACTUALLY ENJOY

There are a lot of blogging myths out there, but these are the seven most common ones.

Getting a side hustle is good for your wallet and career. Having a side hustle is great for your soul and sanity, not so much. If one more person tells me to find something that lights me on fire and sell it to them, I’m going to kick them in the shins. The idea of getting paid for doing something you like sounds amazing… But actually doing it sucks. It’s not all blue-sky aspirations. It’s work, hard work at that. Unless you really love what you do, being self-employed can be stressful and exhausting. If this sounds like you then maybe a side hustle isn’t right for you right now. But if you want to take the leap, here’s how.

Starting a side hustle is a lot of work. In fact, it is by far the most interesting and challenging thing you will do. Why? Because they aren’t any proven roadmaps when it comes to starting a side-hustle. Now, if you want to start a side hustle you actually enjoy then you are in the right place.

Find your passions

If you want to create a side hustle that you actually enjoy then you need find yours passions. This is the first step to creating a side hustle you enjoy. How does one find their passions? Here’s an example, I can cook, but it isn’t my favorite thing to do. Though I know people who love it and know how to do a five course meal. Whenever you are selling something or want someone to get what you are selling then you need be passionate about it.

A passionate person can literally sell a brick and make it seem like a gold bar. Why? Because they believe what they are selling is important. They are passionate about it. This is one of the keys to selling something well. Passion is an important key for success. In fact, it is one of the most vital things you will ever do. So, list down all your passions. Go from A to Z if you have to. It is then that you will find something that will change everything. But it first starts with that critical step. A step that can push you up the trajectory to changing your life.

Come up with ideas

Step two in creating a side hustle is to come up with ideas. Research side hustles or even think about side hustles you might be interested in. Write it all down. When it comes to getting a second revenue stream you can start small then build your way up. It all starts with building things up. You don’t need to have all the answers now. What matters is starting small then you can climb up once you have understood what you need to do next.

You look at side-hustles that you have always been curious about. Whether it is setting up a YouTube channel or selling on Amazon. Whatever it is write it down. This step is one of the easiest and it is also a lot of fun. Once you see what you can do. What is achievable then you will see how far side-hustles can you take you. It is here that you figure out what excites and interests you out of the list. You will also broaden your mind. Often you can add two or three side-hustles together. For example you can add dancing, nutrition and videos together. Then you can set up a YouTube video where you teach nutrition and how to keep fit with dancing.

This is why this step is important. It will help you to come ideas of side hustles you will actually enjoy.

Know what you are great at

Step three in creating a side hustle you can actually enjoy is that you need to be great at it. No point in creating a blog around cooking if you know only two recipes. It is like a salesman trying to sell a car when he sucks at it. It doesn’t work. What are you great at? What are your skills? This is a vital point in figuring out what side hustle you should create. A lot of people create side hustles to make money but if you don’t enjoy doing it then what will the point be. There will be no point. So you have to find out what you are great at. Look at all the things you do that seem easy for you. It could be anything from giving advice to do something that other people struggle with.

Dig deep. This will require a bit of work on your end. Then after you are done, you will need to talk to people. Ask your friends what they think you are good at. You might be surprised to see the answers they will give you. The first step to take is going for it. Be honest. Heck pull up your pants. You got this. Even if you have a long list that’s okay, we will narrow it down. But the first steps are often the most crucial and will bring you to your goal post a lot faster.

Find the middle ground

Step four is the money maker. This is how you create a side hustle you can actually enjoy. Hold your breath for the coin drop. Or should I say coin drops. Okay, I digress (clears voice,) now we must find the middle ground. What this means is there’s a sweet spot between what you are good at, your passions and making money. If you are good at craftsmanship and are passionate about. How do you create money from it? Can you create money showing people how to do it? Through coaching. No. Since it’s such a visual thing, you need do a coarse or a training of some kind.

This is the easy part. Sometimes your passion, what you are great at doesn’t align with a money making idea. If you love surfing, but it is seasonal it will be hard to find a demand. The internet is big and there’s a lot you can do with what you have access to. You just have to find an idea where you can make money from it. Those side hustles are the ones you will enjoy because you won’t have to worry about setting yourself up for success. Find a demand. Look at how you can position yourself then you will go with that. Finding the middle ground doesn’t have to be hard. If you can’t find a way to make money with what you are doing, keep searching. Find something that has a demand. You can always go back to what you love to do. You aren’t giving up the goose. All you are doing is taking a detour.

Community

The last step to creating a side hustle you actually enjoy is the community. Build a community or find one. They are hundreds of Facebook groups you can join. Once you do that it won’t feel lonely on this journey. Creating a side hustle is a lonely pursuit and you don’t want to feel like that all the time. A community can also help you progress so much better than anything you do. It can help you find yourself and this will help you to reach your goals much faster.

If you are stuck you can also network with people who can help you. When I was starting out I did it alone. I thought I had to, but that wasn’t true at all. It took me time, but I reached my goals. The way you figure out what to do next is by understanding what you still don’t know. It takes time to climb a mountain. So it will take time to make what you want from your side hustle. It can take months or even years. That depends on you of course.

Final notes

This is of course not a comprehensive list. However this will help you get started, if you want to know more than take a look at the guide below. You can also download my free cheat sheet that will give you the code to creating a side hustle that you love.

What is your main take away from the blog post and what will you do to help you become more motivated? Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa

Learn How to Redirect Rejection

by vanessa | Jul 6, 2022 | Blog, Entrepreneurs, motivation

learn how to redirect redirection

Here is how you can redirect rejection into success

Rejection sucks. When I was younger I faced rejection from every angle. At school I struggled making friends. The first real friend I made was when I was eight years and that was because I transferred to a new school. When I was eleven, I faced rejection because no kid wanted me on their team when playing sports. I was always picked last for dodge ball. When I was older I struggled to cope with school so I faced rejection there. People thought I wasn’t smart enough or good enough.

This played like a song in my ears. Am I good enough? I kept asking myself that. Over the years, I learned to think differently about rejection. That is primarily because I felt like I had no idea what else to do. Rejection isn’t easy. It never is. Often we think there’s nowhere out of this. If society and those we love reject then what? Rejection doesn’t stop the older we get. We just recognize it for what it is. That this is it? People don’t want me here. Or I haven’t gotten this position because of X.

Sometimes it’s not because you aren’t qualified, but it can be due to timing. Thing is rejection isn’t spoken about often. That is because when we become adults it’s as if we should get accustomed to rejection. Almost as if it’s a badge of honor. What if you could turn rejection into success? What if you can turn redirect rejection? If you do this then there’s no stopping you from going after what you want. There’s a beauty to that. We don’t talk about that. In this blog post we will look at a new way to think about rejection. This is how you can turn rejection into success.

Love yourself even in the storms

When I was a kid, my sister would look at herself fondly in the mirror. I never understood. When I was older I got it, my sister was learning how to love herself first. Despite what anyone told her, she loved who she was. It was then that I understood what love was. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. We say this often that it has lost meaning. You need to love yourself first before you can love anyone else.

The reason why rejection hurts more than it should is because we don’t love ourselves. We don’t love who we are in the storms. We don’t who we are when no one is validating our existence. Take a look at social media. It’s a toxic wasteland because people are seeking validation. When they don’t hundreds of likes or comments on their posts it’s like the world is falling a part. That is why there’s an wide spread of mental illnesses. Sure many people go through trauma and that is the cause of their mental illnesses. They never get better because they are seeking validation from outsiders.

How you turn rejection into success is that you need to love yourself regardless of what the world says about you. Redirect rejection. Love yourself even more. Fall in love with yourself. That is a hard thing to do. We are so set in the way we see ourselves. Often it’s negative belief. What if you change that into positives? Your life will change in more ways than you will realize.

Also Related: How to Love Yourself

Step more out of your comfort zone

Magic happens out of your comfort zone. This is where you grow the most. This is where you learn more about yourself. Even if you get rejected never let that limit your potential. When I was a kid, I did public speaking. I did it twice. Both times I failed miserably at it. I promised myself I would do it again in college. In college, I did it again and I came in first place.

If I had held onto the experience as a kid I wouldn’t have done it again. I would still have stage fright. By stepping out of my comfort zone I learned so much about myself. I grew so much because I refused to let it define who I was. Magic happens when you understand that rejection isn’t supposed to stop you, but push you. This is what happens when you redirect rejection. This is what happens when you no longer see rejection has something that will keep you in a box.

Here’s another example. I am an introvert. As a kid I used to be socially awkward. I thought if people knew me they wouldn’t want to be around me. Then I realized that it was better to be honest from the get go. I let go of the walls. Started being myself and realized that people appreciated it more. I made friends quicker because of it. I became more confidant than before. I became more assertive. I redirected rejection into something magical. And when I stepped out of my comfort zone eve though I failed more, I learned faster. That sent me on a trajectory that has changed my life for the better.

Don’t allow rejection to define you

Don’t let rejection define you? Don’t personalize it. Most times when we face rejection, we personalize it. This a recipe for disaster. Why? Because rejection is something that happens when things are out of our control. They are outside forces at work. You can’t control how people see you. You can’t control whether someone likes something you like or they don’t. You can’t control certain outcomes, but you can learn from it.

People are complicated. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. In fact you are normal. Every person faces rejection in their lifetime. From the job offer they didn’t get to the friends who change they mind about them. We all face rejection. But you just need to redirect it into something positive. Who are you? Does this rejection change who you have always been? If the answers to that are no then why should we personalize it.

I had zero friends before the age of eight unless I count my sister. It took me a while to even understand what having a friend means. I had to learn the hard way. But I grew from it. My roommates chased me away from the apartment we were sharing. I definitely deserve that, but should I personalize their rejection. They were doing what was best for them and honestly it didn’t define who I was.

I have ADHD. So I know rejection very well, but rejection has made me who I am. I now take rejection in my strides. I accept I am not everyone’s person. That is alright. There’s a beauty in that. Those who accept me I appreciate greatly. I would go to bat for them. Don’t let rejection define who you are. Because in reality it doesn’t have any power over who you are.

What is your main take away from this blog post? How can you redirect rejection? Write it down below.

Vanessa

KEEP PUSHING

Why You’re Not Following Your Life Purpose

by vanessa | Jun 8, 2022 | Entrepreneurs, motivation, personal development, Success

Why you’re not following your life purpose?

Here are the reasons why you might not be following your life purpose

We all have a life purpose, but most do not know what it is. And that there is the problem. There’s a significant number of people not satisfied with their life. A large proportion that wants more out of life. This group feels like they missed their calling and feels as if they aren’t living their dream lives. The older they get, the more convinced they are that they aren’t living their dreams.

As time goes, this doesn’t magically disappear because of age. In fact, it becomes worse because most people want to live a life they love, but are unsure how to do it. They want to stop living a life that aren’t satisfied with. And that is why I wanted to write this blog post because I truly believe that when we stop trying to please everyone, we will live our lives. When we stop trying to become like someone else, that is when we discover what we are made of. That is why this blog post might be one of the most important articles you will read on life’s purpose. Why? Because when you find out why you’re not following, your life purpose will help you a lot. This will help you understand what you need to focus on. So drumroll please. Let’s go.

You’re directionless

Raise of hands. Who has felt directionless? I’ve been where you are right now. I used to be directionless, and this was a big proponent of why I didn’t go after my life’s purpose. I did not know what I wanted to do. Nor did I know what direction I should go in. When you’re directionless, you’ll spend years struggling to play catch up and this can deflate your self-esteem.

It is important you have a direction. Would you go on a major trip without knowing what route you should take? No. Right. What about presenting a topic without an idea of the topic you will speak about? No. Right. Problem is we are directionless for our life purpose. We imagine a life where we live on our own terms, but we can’t seem to go in the right direction. Pinpoint the direction you want to go in. If you are a photographer, what kind are you? What do you want your life to be like in the next five or ten years? Who is your target audience? Newly wed couples. Young families. Portraits. Nature.

Choose your direction and it will be easier to figure out the next steps you should take.

A weak why

You aren’t following your life purpose because your why sucks. What this means is that your reasons don’t hold water. Have you ever tried using an old sponge when washing dishes? The old sponge doesn’t hold as much water as a new sponge. Why? Because the pores in the sponge have seen better days. Therefore, they can’t hold enough water.

Your why is like this? Let’s say your life’s purpose is to become a real estate agent. Your why is so that you can make money? This won’t work. Because money isn’t a strong enough factor to push you. One day you work hard and the next when you don’t see results, you will give up. Why? Because you aren’t seeing the results that you won’t and your motivator has disappeared. So, let’s change that why to something more fundamental? Your why is to show people substantial properties so that they don’t feel cheated? You want to change the way real estate works.

This is a much stronger why because you aren’t focusing on the destination, but on the journey. Many of us start like this. We focus heavily on his destination. If I make X amount per month, my life will change. What if you don’t make that money? Then what? Focus on the journey rather than the destination.

Also Related: Why Should You Follow Your Purpose?

“A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

– Lao Tzu

Focus on the journey rather than the destination

The third reason you’re not following your life purpose is because you are spending way too much of your energy on the destination rather than the journey. That is why the quote above is so important. Every journey in life begins with the first step. Sometimes that is all you need to focus on. Step one. That is it. What do you want to achieve? How do you want to achieve it? Focus on step one. Focus on the baby step. And then you can see the whole thing coming together.

That is the key. Everything comes together. You now see a path that you didn’t see before and you understand what you need to do. Here’s an example. You want to start a blog. Step one. Find what you want to write about. Step two. Research your competitors. What are they writing about? Who is their target audience? Reverse engineer. Find the sweet spot so that you can compete. Then design your blog. Easier said than done. I know that, but this is a simple snippet to understand.

Climbing up a ladder is easier when you take your time climbing each rung. When you try to step on the rung far from your reach, you’ll hurt yourself. That is why you need to focus on the step ahead of you. That is how to get to where you’re going without breaking a sweat. Okay, you’ll break a sweat, but at least you won’t exhaust yourself trying to do too many things all at once.

Fear has gotten you down

The fourth and last reason you’re not following your life’s purpose is fear. It can be a fear of people’s opinions or your own. What if I fail? What if I’m not good enough? What will people say? The list goes on. So, you need to decide. Imagine there are two doors and you need to choose. One is blue, and the other is red. Now, choose the blue door and you’re life will be as simple as it can be. They will be no hurdles or hiccups. You will experience an average and ordinary life because you took no risks.

Did I bore you yet? The red door is full of adventure, hiccups, extraordinary measures and roadblocks. Or did I forget to mention danger? Not the kind that will poison you or get you killed. Still, it will have adventure and heartbreak. You will explore the world, but also put yourself out there. You will find yourself and yet lose part of yourself. Your old self, that is. You walk with more confidence yet squirm when you step out of your comfort zone. Hope I painted a splendid picture.

Here’s the thing: you can only choose one door. So pick wisely. There’s nothing wrong with either choice. It’s up to. But the red door you will grow more and the blue door you won’t change as much. Fear holds us hostage, and it is the reason many of us aren’t following your life’s purpose. How you combat this is by letting of what people say. Heck, let go of what you think and just do it. Take that leap. You won’t regret it.

Also Related: Overcoming Fear of Failure

What are your reasons for not following your life purpose? Comment below.

Keep Pushing

Vanessa