the align your purpose program step fifteen: define your...

The Align Your Purpose Program

STEP FIFTEEN: DEFINE YOUR PURPOSEHOW TO MAKE YOUR DAILY LIVING A MISSION STATEMENT

Waiting For Luck

Copyright © Vladimir Kush

A L IGN YOUR PUR POSE P ROGRAM - S T E P F I F T E EN : DE F INE YOUR PUR POSE

Copyright © 2013 Choice Point with Jaime Mintun - www.choicepointmovement.com

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IN THIS LESSON:

• Purpose is Fluid; It Evolves as We Do• Enquiries For Defining Purpose

To live only for some future goalis shallow. It's the sides of themountain that sustain life, not thetop.

“

”Robert M. Pirsig

Welcome to Step 15! If there is a single step in this entire course that most people struggle openly with, it’s

how to define your purpose.

It seems that understanding our purpose feels either too large and impossible to pin down... or a constantly

shifting target we don’t want to get permanently nailed to. Being a culture that prides itself on will power,

drive and forward change we put a ton of pressure on our ideas about purpose as a result.

We either worry over how to know why we’re here and our purpose for living... or we run screaming from

purpose because we don’t ever want to feel fated to one thing that, once chosen or discovered, cannot

be changed.

So how can we strip purpose down to its basics – it’s truth for us and how we truly wish to live in this world?

How can we simplify it without dumbing down its profound nature and value in our lives?

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If you ask every person to define what purpose is, most people will fall into one of two camps:

a) People who believe purpose is a fixed, fated thing we were born to do, and our life is a waste if

we don’t discover that purpose and fulfill it.

b) People who believe there is no such thing as a fated or fixed purpose and therefore no clear

meaning to life. You do what you can with the cards you’re dealt in life and not everyone gets to

be happy or fill fulfilled.

And then there are those who see purpose as a vital and profound thing that we are meant to know and

live out loud in our lives... yet that purpose is fluid and dynamic – evolving and shifting as the person evolves

and shifts.

The key is not to find that perfect purpose you can pursue till the end of your days, but rather to find what

lights you up and expands your heart NOW... and to live that purpose out loud right now in the present...

until your heart pulls you in a new direction, toward a new aspect or dimension of your purpose – and then

do that.

In fact, when we release all the pressure we’ve learned to associate with purpose and instead connect

deeply with our passion and soul yearnings on a daily basis, we feel more alive and our 7 human needs all

become simultaneously fulfilled.

So how can you discover and define your purpose right now, so that you can align that purpose and begin

living it out loud?

PUR POSE I S F LU ID ; I T E VO LVES AS WE DO




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Though at first it may seem simple, the easiest way

to gain clarity around your present purpose is to ask

yourself some questions.

Before you sit down to work through these questions,

I recommend you first meditate, take a walk, or

otherwise ground yourself into neutral awareness (as

we touched on in our Welcome Lesson and Step 7

on Intuition).

I also encourage you to review Step 6 on Empathy.

The primary reason any of us becomes confused

about our purpose is we have so many other

people’s thoughts, beliefs, perspectives and needs

invading our psyche and personal space.

Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish between

what others want for us and what we want for

ourselves.

When you feel centered and neutral using the

exercises and insights from Steps 6 and 7, then go

ahead and get out a piece of paper or your

computer to write down your answers to the

following questions (you can also use a tape

recorder or phone recording app and do this

exercise verbally, if you like).

QUESTION 1. WHAT DO YOU LOVE DOING

ON A REGULAR BASIS THAT FILLS YOU WITH

A SENSE OF CONTRIBUTION?

In other words, what passions do you have that also

serve the greater good and make a contribution to

others—your family, community, an industry or the

nation or planet as a whole? This does not have to

be a famed or recognized or awarded contribution,

but rather something you love to do that is a gift to

someone else or to others.

In addition to writing down specific activities like

“fiction writing” or “traveling to developing countries

and volunteering,” also ask yourself what the more

general intention is beneath that activity.

For example, “fiction writing” may be an expression

of a deeper more general intent to “provide

creations that deliver a transformative experience

to the receiver, particularly experiences that

awaken wonder, a sense of possibility and magic,

and that reawaken a belief in unbelievable.”

This also helps us get to the true purpose that fulfills

us, rather than the picture we’ve created for what

we think it has to look like. Another great example is

“to be a famous and transformative bestselling

author and speaker.” I’ve encountered numerous

clients and people who believed this was their

purpose. Yet it isn’t a purpose at all! Rather it is a

vocation and a ‘perfect picture’ of what one might

want that vocation to look like.

If I were to do this exercise, I would say the deeper

intent behind that picture is “to create and express

transformative ideas that inspire, empower and

open people up to their own gifts—while helping

them feel supported, safe, and amused.”

In this way we see that we can fulfill our purpose any

number of ways in virtually any kind of vocation.

And we’ve defined what matters most to us in

expressing that intent. In this case, it would be to

create an environment of support, safety and

amusement.

We also remove the belief that we’ll only succeed

at our purpose when we receive validation via our

‘perfect picture’ of what it had to look like.

If you define purpose via such a ‘perfect picture,’

you could easily be fulfilling your deeper intent

every day—yet you would feel like a failure.

Because, in the case of this example, you’d

unconsciously believe your purpose will only be

achieved once you become a famous speaker and

bestselling author.

ENQU I R I E S FOR DE F IN ING PURPOSE




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QUESTION 2. WHAT IS THE MOST PROFOUND

EXPERIENCE OR TRANSFORMATION YOU

COULD EVER GIVE, THAT YOU WANT OTHERS

TO RECEIVE?

This is also one of the most powerful branding

questions I ask every client when designing their

marketing and brand messaging in my consulting

practice. It’s equally powerful as you define your

purpose.

Where many people learn to define purpose only in

terms of what they want for themselves... and where

their only consideration of its contribution to others

is in terms of the signs of appreciation or impact they

envision receiving... it can help to distinguish your

purpose (and differentiate yourself in your vocation)

when you dig into the ways you want to help others

transform, or the experience you wish them to re-

ceive.

To continue our example above, let’s say that I have

an intent to create and express transformative

ideas.

The most profound experience I would want

someone to receive from my creations (which can

be books, courses, seminars, talks, artwork, novels,

etc.) would be an expanded capacity for, and

deeply felt experience of, intimacy.

Why intimacy? Well this is how I can dig deep into

my personal purpose while also differentiating

myself from any other artist, speaker, author or

such...

For me, if one is able to be truly open and intimate...

with others, with herself, with her dreams as well as

her wounds... the parts of herself she fears as well as

the greatness in her she’s afraid to shine forth...

If one can experience intimacy with all parts of

herself and her life—she becomes unshakably

powerful. She cultivates genuine self-love and

unconditional love toward others. She truly knows

her own soul and understands her own world.

For me, intimacy is the heart of it all. Not because it

is some universal truth, but because it has become

my truth through healing my own wounds. And it

was the hardest lesson I myself had to learn, and so

I feel a desire and passion to share it with others in

ways that feel safe and playful.

As you can see with this example, this line of

questioning can go very deep for you. Yes you can

reduce your purpose to a simple and accurate

sentence or two, which is useful for keeping it at the

forefront of your mind as a sort of ‘mission

statement.’

However that’s where I want you to end up. Where

I want you to begin is in a depth and complexity of

not just what you’re passionate about, but why.

Often the experience we wish to gift to another is

the experience we always wanted for ourselves

(and perhaps never received).

These questions help us see that the holes left

behind by our wounding can become the treasure

troves that hold our gifts. It’s all a matter of perspec-

tive and, of course, of choice. ☺

Lastly, consider your passion as a gift you give, that

others will receive. It’s not necessarily a vocation,

though you can create a vocation out of it, or

integrate it into any vocation. It’s also not so much

something you teach (or advice you give) as it is an

experience you can create or deliver to another

person. Most importantly it is an experience you gift

to yourself as well, through your giving to others.

When you stand within your purpose, you cannot

outspend yourself. What you give will always give

back to you. You will be fed and nourished and

fulfilled by everything you do that is truly aligned

with your deeper authentic purpose—that genuine

intent at the core of your soul yearnings.




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Seeing purpose in these ways helps take all the

pressure off. It frees you to be and give and do who

you are rather than who you think you have to be

to live up to some ‘perfect picture.’

Also give yourself permission to let your purpose shift

and evolve. The deeper intent may remain largely

the same (or it may not!). Yet often as you grow and

evolve you will discover new ways to express and

define your purpose. Let it be fluid. And let yourself

discover ever new and expanding ways to live your

purpose out loud, every day, in the little things as

much as in the big things!

Alice Popkorn

H Koppdelaney


www.choicepointmovement.com


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