In the fourth episode of the Uncommon Freedom Podcast’s Launch Well series, we’re discussing finding your purpose so that you can maximize your potential. Many people accept the life they have, but we want to encourage you to create the life you want.

Do You Feel Fulfilled?

Did you know, surprisingly, even the highest achieving executives are dissatisfied and unfulfilled despite reaching the pinnacle of their field? In a survey of over 10,000 people, only 5 percent believed they were reaching their full potential. Amongst a more generalized population, 57 percent of Americans are looking for a greater purpose and currently feel unfulfilled. 

When you think about reaching your potential, do you equate it with rising to the top? Being the best in your field? Or even simply meeting your financial goals? The truth is, it is so much more than that. To reach your true potential, you must first take a step back from society’s definition of success and redefine it for yourself.

Then you’ll need to find your purpose and start forging your own path toward reaching your potential as you’ve defined it. That might sound daunting, but don’t worry! We’re going to share actionable steps to finding your purpose in order to maximize your impact on the world.

Finding Your Purpose and Life Calling

How do you find your purpose and your calling in life?

We were lucky enough to discuss this question with a wonderful leadership teacher and author, Lyle Wells. He shared four questions to get you on your way to answering this important question.

That’s a loaded question! Often, we are comfortable being paid for what we do even though we don’t feel fulfilled because it pays the bills. Others do things that fulfill them completely, but doesn’t provide the finances they need to live the life they want. This question forces you to put those two scenarios aside and consider what you would choose to do if finances weren’t a factor.

As great as this question is, it’s just the first of four and it probably won’t be your final answer. While it’s important to know what you would do if money wasn’t a factor, it’s also important to continue through all four questions. The fact is for the vast majority of us, earning potential matters and there’s no way around that. Let’s keep going!

2. What’s easy and natural for you?

What do you love to do that also comes easily to you? What do people often praise you for? Knowing your natural talents is important to understanding your calling. Often, pursuing something way outside of these can lead you to be stressed and overwhelmed.

Again, your answer to this probably isn’t your final answer, but it’s a helpful step. Just because you enjoy something doesn’t mean it’s the best option for you. For example, playing guitar is something Kevin feels natural doing, but he’s also well aware that when it comes to the opportunities in the music industry, the earning potential isn’t there and the lifestyle just isn’t for him. 

3. What doesn’t feel like work & what do you never tire of?

If you’ve heard the saying, “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” you’ve probably already thought about how you’d answer this question. But it can be a tough one.

If you don’t have a quick and easy answer, you’re not alone. Often we have to expose ourselves to a variety of experiences before we know what we truly love doing. By seeking out opportunities and participating in activities related to things you enjoy doing, you may very well find yourself one step closer to finding your purpose.

4. What do you do when you feel God’s pleasure?

Have you ever been doing something and you just felt a sense of pleasure and delight from the Lord? Does what you love doing bring value to others?

Unselfish actions make us feel more connected and develop compassion for the people around us. The resulting meaningful connections will open your heart and have the potential to change your perspective on life and what God put you on this earth to do.

When you’ve answered each question, you should have a few clues to set you on the path to finding your purpose. It may not seem obvious, but your answers are important pieces of the puzzle, so keep them in mind as you continue seeking your final answer.

Open Yourself to Change

You probably know someone (maybe that someone is you!) who went to school with one career in mind and ended up doing something completely different later in life. Bekah had that experience after going to school to teach and not finding the true fulfillment she desired. It wasn’t an easy journey and she had to take risks, but today she has blended her love of teaching with her passion for physical wellbeing and fitness and is a highly successful health coach. While it isn’t the career she initially imagined, it’s brought purpose and a true sense of fulfillment to her life.

If you aren’t feeling fulfilled and don’t feel that you’ve discovered your purpose in life, you’re not alone. There’s no day like today to start the process of identifying exactly what your purpose is. Once you’ve found that, you’ll be well on your way toward reaching your potential and maximizing your impact on the world.

Open your heart to the possibility that substantial change may be necessary to achieve the fulfillment you’re looking for.

Define a Personal Purpose Statement

Once you feel like you’re getting close to a deep understanding of your purpose in life, it’s time to define your personal purpose statement. Your statement probably won’t come easily, but once you’ve nailed it down, it will guide you toward reaching your potential and finding the sense of fulfillment you’ve been seeking. 

Our personal purpose statement is as follows:

“My purpose is to help people reach their potential & maximize their impact so they can make the world a better place.”

Finding Your Purpose to Create the Life You Want

Using our strengths to maximize our impact on the world by helping others to achieve Uncommon Freedom® isn’t what we initially set out to do as a school teacher and a police officer. But it has given us a stronger sense of fulfillment than we ever thought possible. Just know that our journey didn’t happen overnight. It took years of action on our parts to achieve. 

It will take effort, action, and dedication, but if finding your purpose is important to you, we challenge you to start working to identify your calling right now. Journal about it. Pray about it. Read motivational books. Seek out new experiences and opportunities related to your answers to the questions above. 

Lastly, if feeling fulfilled in life is important to you, we encourage you to set goals and track habits related to your journey. On last week’s episode, we discussed setting goals and tracking habits and shared an awesome Interactive Habit Tracker you can use to stay on track.

Do you have a story about finding your purpose? Drop us a comment- we’d love to hear about it!