Why You do What You Do? Find the Purpose of Your Life
He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how. Nietzsche
Why Do You Exist?
Why do you exist in this world? What is the purpose or meaning of your life? What motivates you? Though these are some very fundamental questions, but most of the people find it very difficult to answer these simple questions. When asked what is the ‘purpose or meaning’ of your life or what ‘motivates’ you, people give varied responses. Some of the typical answers that people give are that – they want to earn a lot of money, they want to get a leadership position in a reputed organization, they want to be happy, they want to have high status in organization and the society, they want to get a secure job, they want to live a luxurious life, they want to travel around the world etc. When probed a bit more deeply and asked what is the larger goal or purpose of your life, most of the people are unable to answer.
I have seen that most of the people are motivated by extrinsic factors, such as money, fame, status and a secure job, in their life. People think that life is all about becoming successful. And success means becoming rich and famous. Once people achieve what all they wanted to have or have a sense of being successful, they feel happy and satisfied. However, this feeling of happiness is often short-lived. Once the hangover of achievement is over, people start asking themselves what is that they ‘really’ want in their life. In other words, they start experiencing the mid-life crisis. They start feeling that something important is missing in their life. Though they have all things that they have aspired, like a big house, car, and lots of money, they start feeling that something important is missing in their life. Major reason for developing this feeling is that they don’t have clarity about the purpose of their life.
Most of the people keep on living their life without actually knowing what is the purpose of their existence in this world. Knowing the reason for your existence in this world is very fundamental, yet it is very difficult for majority of the people. I believe that if you want to live a successful and satisfied life, you have to first develop clarity about the purpose or meaning of your life.
Benefits of Having a Purpose in Life
Having meaning or purposeful in life brings a lot of benefits for individuals as well as for organizations. It has been observed that people who have a purpose or meaning in life are more successful than people who live a life without purpose. People who have purpose in their life have higher psychological well-being, are more resilient, are less sick, live long and prosper in life. Having a purpose in life may make people to take care of their health so that they can achieve their life’s mission. It has also been found that purpose may undo the negative effects of stress, repairing the immune system, calming the heart rate, and lowering blood sugar.
People who have purpose in life are more likely to overcome the challenges that they face than individuals who don’t have a purposeful life. Individuals who are driven by a cause or purpose in their life are more committed to their work, work harder, are more passionate, resilient, and perform better than individuals who are not having purpose in their life. In addition, it has been observed that organizations that are driven by a purpose or cause perform better and last longer than organizations that are primarily driven by profit making.
What Kind of Life You Want to Live?
What about you? Do you know what is the purpose or meaning of your life? This is a very basic question, yet difficult to answer. You should know the answer of this question. It is important for you to figure out what kind of life you want to live. Do you want to continue to live a life where you are chasing money, status, fame, high position, or other materialistic gains, later realizing that you are not finding the real joy after achieving all that? Or you want to live a life that is more impactful and fulfilling?
I do not mean that you should not think of becoming rich or famous or about having fancy cars or a big house or to live a luxurious life. I believe that you can have all these things, if you first focus on finding the purpose of your life and creating value for others. If you are entirely focused on accumulating materialistic possessions, then, I would say, you are moving in the wrong direction. Rather you should focus on creating value for others, you should try to do something that can help other persons or living beings to live a better life. You should focus on creating a positive impact on others’ lives. If you add value to peoples’ lives, they will be more than happy to pay you for that. This can ultimately help you in becoming a rich and famous person. In simple words, your focus should be on ‘value creation’ for others rather than ‘creating valuation’ for yourself. For that, first you need to find the purpose or meaning of your life.
Tips for Finding the Purpose of Your Life
Finding the purpose or meaning of your life is not easy. Moreover, you will not be able to find the purpose of your life if you will not start working on it. It is not going to happen by itself. I believe that if you are willing and you work on it, you will be able to find the purpose of your life. Below I have mentioned some steps that, if you follow seriously, can help you in finding the purpose of your life:
- First, take time and just be with yourself, think deeply about the work that you are doing for your livelihood.
- Pause for some time, think, and reflect on what is motivating you to come to your workplace. Is it money, status, happiness, fame, job security or something else that is motivating you to work almost every day?
- Then try to see how the tasks that you perform at your work are impacting others’ lives, whether they are your colleagues, subordinates, customers, students, clients, patients, general public or any other entity.
- Then try to associate your work to the larger goals of your department or the organization.
- Then by connecting the dots i.e., linking the tasks that you perform at your work to the larger goals of your department or organization, you will be able to see how your work is impacting the lives of others.
- By doing it, you will be able to find the larger purpose of your life and will be able to see your life more meaningful.
- Ultimately, finding the purpose of your life can help you in becoming more successful and satisfied.
