How To find Purpose in Life
When purpose is hard to find, how to move forward with intent
Every time I scroll through social media, it seems like one person is always talking about his or her purpose in life. Immediately, it can feel like a comparison game. While it is great to see people progress on their self-actualization journey, not everyone shares that accomplishment.
It is just fine if you think you do not have direction in life. And rightly so; most people have to start their search for directions from somewhere.
And I’m not lying, but sometimes I think I don’t have a purpose. But what keeps me on the right path is I know that I can do things to find my purpose. People don’t have an expiration date for finding the meaning of life.
Then, surprisingly, when I am at work honing my purpose and a sense of direction, I am yet again anxious. But, it turns out, I am not alone in my feeling of anxiety about purpose. Many are finding themselves put into a state of pressure as they seek their guiding principle.
Fortunately, we are somehow capable of addressing this issue. However, before proceeding to do something about it, each of us needs to remind one another why we have lived — we are not hopeless — and discuss why this is important to learn.
What is purpose anxiety?
Just knowing that we do not have a purpose makes us anxious. Purpose anxiety occurs when we are feeling stress and nerves at trying or struggling to find our purpose in life.
Researcher Larissa Rainey investigated the phenomenon of purpose anxiety and found it can occur at two stages. The first is while we work toward discovering our purpose, and the second while working toward achieving it.
Actually, one deals with purpose anxiety in different ways. Some become fearful and stop improving or setting their own goals while others just get frustrated or stressed at the idea of taking so long to figure out what one’s purpose in life is.
It’s easy to forget that we have our whole lifetime to find our passion — and we might find more than one.
In any case, for all of us, purpose anxiety is something that does negatively affect our mental health. In fact, it’s the thing that sends plummeting our well-being, leaving us to feel no excitement in finding our true purpose.
A healthy well-being affects our lives, be it professionally or personally. BetterUp enables a personal coach to help you make the required move forward with strengthening your mental fitness and thriving life.
How do you know you have Purpose Anxiety?
There are many ways in which purpose anxiety can present itself. It’s always a good thing to know what it feels like if we ever start experiencing it on our journeys. After all, we all want to blossom and feel great about the journey that we are on; however, that is not always how things go.
Here are five signs you’re experiencing purpose anxiety:
- Not one of your accomplishments or the positive experiences you’re having is ever celebrated.
- You keep changing your job for the same reason that nothing fits just right.
- You have too much self-doubt and low self-confidence and self-worth
- You do have some feeling that you would never find your purpose in life.
- You take much comparison of yourself with others in a negative tone.
4 Self-Help Strategies to Cope with Purpose Anxiety
Since each person might show their purpose anxiety differently, we can, in fact, learn to appreciate all the different ways that help us overcome it.
Some work for you and alleviate your anxiety, while others may not work at present.
It really does not matter what is important: you’re taking time to understand your emotions and what you can do to strengthen your own well-being.
Here are four self-help strategies to try when you experience purpose anxiety:
1. Talk about it with someone you trust
Find one person in your life: first, a good listener; second, whom you trust fully with your feelings. Reflect on a friend, a loved one, or even a coach/mentor. Talking about your challenges and symptoms is very helpful as it will help you feel better and get to understand yourself better.
Since you aren’t the first or last person who ever had purpose anxiety, you could be speaking to somebody who went through it. So, somebody who had experience was giving you advice.
2. Practice mindfulness breathing
Does your heart feel like it’s going to burst out of your chest? Slow things down. Relax and take a moment whenever you can and do some deep breathing exercises.
Through meditation and other relaxation techniques, you will be able to calm the mind.
It is going to help in clearer thinking. You can practice these breathing exercises as part of your morning or night routine or whenever you feel the urge to set your emotions right.
3. Run away from things that fuel your anxiety
This is an obvious one: start thinking of the things that fuel your anxiety. Alcohol might be one. Toxic people might be another. Stressful or hostile places might be yet another.
Avoid them whenever you can. It may make you alter your routine or pause on some hobbies. But it’s a great step toward managing your anxiety just to identify what fuels it.
4. Journalize
You don’t have to share your journal with anyone else but yourself. In fact, anxiety journaling could be an excellent tool to take advantage of. It’s a place where you can track how your purpose anxiety has made you feel when it’s at its most intense.
Meditating or reviewing your journal, you can slowly recognize which causes or possible remedies fall into your thoughts. Do not forget to record the things you have achieved or any gains you might have made.
5 Effects of Having No meaning in Life
Feeling that you have no purpose or purpose in life doesn’t come without its consequences. Such consequences will affect different aspects of our lives and extend way beyond merely the mental health aspect. It will also affect how we view ourselves as a person and how we interact with others around us.
Here are five consequences that a lack of purpose can bring to you:
- You won’t find your purpose in your work
- You will not be motivated enough to strive to excel with your co-workers.
- You feel empty because of your relationships with friends, family and romantical partners
- You feel depressed and anxious all the time
- You begin to isolate from persons in your life, letting loneliness creep in.
Things to do when you have no goal
Here’s the good news: You won’t spend your whole life feeling like you’ve wasted it if you make the effort to find it. Putting ourselves out there is scary, but how else will we discover new things that we enjoy?
If you’re feeling a little stuck, here are five tips to focus on if you’re wondering what to do in life when you have no ideas :
- Reflect on what excites you and fills you up with passion
- Practice spiritual wellness and look after your well-being
- Make sure your career is meaningful, and you find passion in doing your work
- Learn new things, get new books, listen to podcasts and watch documentaries
- Don’t fear challenges, though they may intimidate you at first
Remember: Purpose doesn’t come overnight
You don’t wake one day and find out what you want in your life. No matter how much we try to speed up the process, these things take time; however, with patience, we can find out what makes the difference to us.
And lots of people take so many years to discover their purpose. When you see people’s post on social media where he or she declares to have found his or her purpose, do not think, “I have no purpose.”
Tell that critic inside your head to shut up. Be happy for that person, and know that just as long as you keep being patient and sustained, then better things await you in life.
Along with patience, what you might need is to hold you accountable. BetterUp will equip you with the accountability you need to live your life with a sense of purpose. You can find your path to living with greater purpose, clarity, and passion through virtual coaching.
