Life Purpose Exercise: How to Find Your Purpose in Life

Asking what your purpose is can feel too big. This short exercise breaks it into smaller questions you can answer in an afternoon, with a pen and some quiet.

Are you ready to imagine your life ten or twenty years from now? Have you worked out your life purpose, what you want to achieve? What do you hope for the future? How would you like to be remembered? What do you want to do with the rest of your life? The Future Self exercise moves you from those specific pictures to a bigger one. It is the last ingredient of the Autocoaching method that shapes your inner world: your life purpose (or dreams), known in some coaching schools as your Future Self.

How to find your life purpose

Only you can work out your life purpose. To get to know yourself better, try this exercise:

Take your time and, without rushing, write a few paragraphs about the main wishes or dreams you hope to reach in 10 or 20 years. Avoid generalities such as “I want to be happy”, “I want money” or “I want good health”. To sharpen it, answer these questions. Knowing where you come from and where you are now, where do you want to get to? How would you like to be remembered? What do you want to do with the rest of your life? A simple way in is to imagine yourself twenty years from now, standing among the people who know you best while they pay you a great tribute. What would you like them to say about you? Give yourself the time to consider your options, it is essential: daily complaints can overwhelm us and make us lose sight of the big picture. Rest a little and review your decision the next day, since you may see it differently. Why not go one step further and adapt the questions to your own field? That way you make the most of what you know. If you were a politician, for example, you could ask yourself: ten years from now, what would you never forgive yourself for not having done when you had the power to do it? What monuments do you want to be remembered by? What would you do if you followed your own values?

Once you know what you aspire to, trust yourself and trust that you have the courage to take the steps that lead there. Believe in your own abilities, and remember that success is something you create yourself.

Questions to work on your dreams

Do you want to reach all your dreams? Do you dare? These simple, quick questions show how committed you are. For each question, follow your instinct and read the answer that goes with it. Answer them in order.

First question (click to read)

Do you know what you want in life?

No. Do not worry, nobody is born knowing. What are you waiting for to think about it? If you like, start with what you do not want in your life, which is easier. Once you have listed the important things you do not want, list the things you do want. Do not let it make you anxious that you cannot have or achieve everything: just list everything you would want in your life, and we will see how to go after it.
Yes. Great, that is excellent!

Second question (click to read)

Let’s go on. Do you really know what you want in life?

No. Easy now, step by step. Did you make the lists above? The list of what you do not want should be simple for a creative person like you. Look at it carefully so you do not fall into relationships or actions that lead you toward it. Now look at everything you would want and imagine God calls your mobile (or your mother, your father, your boss or your coach, if that feels more natural) and says you can choose only one thing from the list. Which one would it be? Come on, you are only going to be granted one. Mark the most important one in a colour that stands out from the rest.
Yes. You are the best, that is excellent!

Third question (click to read)

Going a little deeper, do you promise you know what you want in life?

No. Let’s not fool ourselves, it is not easy. The good news is you can work on the option you marked as most important while trying to fit in the others on your list. It is normal to fear that you cannot have everything you want, but believe me, it is worse to feel you never tried. Think it over, because you are the only person who can achieve whatever you set out to do. If you have no idea how today, ask a friend, relative, coach or mentor for fresh ideas on reaching your dreams. But do not be left wanting. And remember: you may not make it, but you will always keep a smile if you are trying.
Yes. Ha, have you already read an Autocoaching book?

Fourth question (click to read)

To finish, isn’t it wonderful to do what you love in life?

No. Oh dear, I am afraid things went badly in the past. Maybe you should align your sense of purpose better, because it is the engine that gives you energy every minute. In finance there is a saying about the stock market: “past performance is no guarantee of future results”. Doing well in the past does not mean you will keep doing well, and the opposite is also true: not having had successes before does not mean you cannot have them in the future. Whoever keeps at it gets there. Managing your life is wonderful right up to the last change. What are you waiting for?
Yes. You are an enlightened person, and it shows that you are smiling. Do not forget it.

This is an example of a coaching session you can use to uncover a client’s dreams. What matters is not the questions but having the chance to think about your dreams or life purpose. Say hello to the first ten-year-old you meet and ask them the same thing. Really, try it. With due respect, ask out of curiosity. Reflect on the answers, and maybe it is time to ask yourself: when did I give up on my dreams?

Check your purpose against your wheel of life

Life purpose: quick answers

Do I need one single purpose?

No. Many people have several that change with the years. What matters is that you feel it gives your days a direction. The Autocoaching methodology explains how to put it into practice.

For better questions, read weak vs powerful coaching questions.

Once you know what you want, look at each area of your life with one of the sub-wheels: