I’ve done a podcast on this months ago, but I never formulated it into a blog post. This morning, one of my wonderful kyrgyzstani friends said, “Arsenio, I just want to be happy!” The thing is, with the condition of the human mind, we can choose to be happy right now through gratitude, but I felt she needed much more than just this. I think it was time for an exercise.
So, with he help of Jack Canfield’s book, this exercise helped me tremendously in figuring out my life purpose. Without further ado, lets get started.
Start by making a list of all the times you can remember in your life that made you feel the most truly alive and joyful.
For me, the Christmas mornings when I was young and the build up each December leading to that December 25th morning was amazing. Also, first day of middle school, high school, when my marching bad got an excellent at a Las Vegas Invitational – the reverberation of excitement that ensued for weeks is like nothing I’ve ever felt before in my life. Make a list!
What are your natural gifts?
- Making people laugh
- Teaching
- Working out/running
- Making people smile (relates to laughing)
What are your skills and talents?
What do you love to do?
When do you feel most alive?
What are you passionate about?
What brings you the greatest joy in life?
When do you feel the best about yourself?
What are your personal strengths and characteristics?
What have others said that you’re really good at?
How do you most enjoy interacting with people?
What would you do to change the world if you could?
These are the questions you will need to answer. Take your time! It will probably take some thinking and pondering because like my students in Thailand, no one has ever asked you these questions before in your life.
- After you’re done, look through the list an figure out what are all the common characteristics of your answers?
- What do these answers have in common with the list you made earlier?
- When you did everything, consolidate the entire list into two or three complete sentences. This is the process of defining your life purpose – your personal mission (as Neale Donald Walsh has said), and you will do it unapologetically and authentically based on your interests, talents, and passions.
My Life Purpose
To inspire both on and off stage with great enthusiasm about personal development, bring awareness to Asia in terms of striving for your true passion, and being the example I want to see in the world.
Now, it’s your turn.
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