Finding Your Purpose in Life

Many people spend a lot of time, even years, soul-searching and agonising over what their purpose is in life. We can over-complicate things.

Sometimes the answer we seek is right in front of us as clear as day. Yet for some reason our brain cannot see it. I say our "brain" because it is the brain which interprets the images that we view. We can 'overlook' something simply because we don't have the ability to process the information that we are receiving through our eyes or because we have not alerted our reticular activating system as to what we should be focusing on.

I recall someone being asked what they enjoy doing and they had no answer. He was just living life day-to-day without paying any attention to the things that particularly gave him joy.

In other cases, we may know what we enjoy doing and what we would like to do with our lives but we put those activities and, effectively, our lives on hold because we are fearful of the process and even the outcome.

Eric Jong said:

"Everyone has a talent; but rare is the courage to follow the talent to the places it leads."

In other words, there are things that we are all naturally good at. We merely have to make the decision to develop a particular talent. However, many people are extremely poor decision-makers. And, as a result, instead of getting ahead in life they often remain stuck.

So, if you are one of the many who wonders about and questions your purpose in life consider this approach instead.

Simply decide what you want to do with your life and create your life accordingly. Then you can stop agonising about your life's purpose and fully commit yourself to living life on purpose.

It sounds far too easy doesn't it? Yet so often we needlessly complicate things. What if living your life on purpose was indeed as simple as choosing a direction in life and then fully committing to it.

Otherwise, we're like a pilot in a plane which is fuelled and ready for take off except we're still busy deciding on our destination. What's more if we don't take off we'll lose our window of opportunity. You can be a success if you commit yourself to being successful.

Take Victor Rubilar for example. Rubilar juggles balls - footballs. On the surface that may not sound very exciting but Rubilar travels all over Europe and the Middle East and indeed the world performing his freestyle football skills. And, in 2006 he broke three Guinness World Records in a single day.

Can you imagine the resistance he experienced when he was growing up? After all, performing tricks with footballs is not a common way to earn a living. But this was his passion and, in addition to spending years practicing his football tricks he also attended performer the National Swedish School of Contemporary Arts to train as a performer.

Today, in addition to the records he has set; Rubilar's freestyle skills have been used by major brands as Puma, Adidas, Coca Cola and Ikea. He has performed in front of hundreds and even thousands of individuals.

This is Rubilar's purpose in life. This is what he loves doing and he made a decision early on in his life to develop this talent and see where it took him. When he started out he probably didn't have a vision as to how big this would become. He was just doing what he loved doing. He probably had some doubts as well about how he could pursue his passion and earn a living at the same time but he has achieved this.

When you decide what you want to devote your life to you can then put your energy into fully developing that particular idea. However, until you decide what your purpose is in life you will lack focus and direction.

Think of people at the top of their 'game', people who you consider to be living their life on purpose - individuals such as Bill Gates, Oprah, Tiger Woods, Richard Branson and the late Anita Roddick. You'll find that generally, they all have something in common. They decided on a 'career' path and then dived headlong into making it a success. They knew how they wanted to spend their time and their lives.

And this is the challenge, because whatever you decide to do you will be trading your life for it and so you have to choose wisely. However, as Keith Cunningham said:

"The decision that you've been delaying is the thing that is keeping you small. It is the decision that is preventing you from becoming the person you should become."

So decide what it is you want to do with your life. Start living your life with passion and on purpose.

Victor Rubilar Guinness Records

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