How To Find Purpose And Meaning In Life

Finding purpose and meaning in life is a deeply personal journey, so today, I talk about steps that can support or guide you. Remember that finding purpose and meaning is a lifelong journey, and it's okay if it takes time to discover what truly matters to you. Be patient with yourself, stay curious, and stay open to the possibilities that life has to offer.

Transcript

Hello, Hello, Welcome to the Embodying Greatness podcast. My name is Christelle Gatto. And in this episode, I'm going to talk about how do we find purpose and meaning in our life? What are we here for? What are we doing while we're here on this planet? You know, I know that we're here for a really relatively short amount of time. The reason I'm talking about this whole conversation is I was having a conversation this weekend with a few people. And I was talking to this guy and he didn't really know what his purpose was. And that's okay. I'm not saying everybody has to have a purpose or everyone has to know what their purpose is. But at the same time, It got me thinking that, You know, If I didn't have a purpose, I feel like I would probably just be floating around. And for me specifically, I don't know if I would have such yummy, Juicy days, You know what I'm saying? So it got me thinking, I wonder how many people are walking around and really don't feel like they have a purpose or that they even connect or ask these questions. You know, Now, Obviously, This podcast is called the Embodying Greatness podcast. So it's all about self development and transformation. And I know that there's a lot of people in the world that don't think about these types of questions. So it got my wheels spinning. And so that's what the topic is, You know, What does that mean to have purpose in life? Or how do I find what my purpose is? Why am I here? Do I even care why I'm here? I'm just here to fill out somebody else's agenda, Whatever it is, You know, So it got me thinking and I wanted to ask some questions about finding purpose or meaning in life. Now I get that this is a deeply personal journey for people, But I came up with some steps that might guide you or support you in figuring it out if you're even interested. And again, Listen, If you're not interested, That's okay, Too. This one might not be for you this episode. But if you are interested, Stick around and listen, Because I came up with a couple different questions to ask and thoughts to ponder. So here we go. So number one, I think self reflection, Taking time to reflect on your values and your passions and what interests you, You know, What activities bring you joy and fulfillment? Like I said, What do you what do you feel passionate about? I think reflecting on questions like this can help you uncover some avenues that maybe you haven't explored yet, You know, So I think a great question would be what activities bring you the most joy and fulfillment? What are your core values? And how do you want to align with them in your life? We talk a lot on this podcast about the be do have model. So what is it that you want to have? What are the results in life that you want to create? And then what are some of the steps that you can take to create them? Can you add fun in there? Are those action steps congruent with your core values or your principles or those foundational principles that you have? If you have some if you don't, There's a really great question to ask yourself to like, Hey, What are my principles? What are the core values that I have? What am I passionate about? What are the topics or even causes that ignite that fire within you that gets you stoked to get out of bed every morning? Another question could be what strengths do you have or what skill set do you possess? What talents do you have? And then how can you leverage them to make a positive impact on the world? Or let's not even zoom out on a global scale. If that's too overwhelming for you, It doesn't have to be a global scale right now. I always think that it's going to lead to that. I think the end result is always, At least in my world, To leave a global impact. But if that's too big of a question, Then ask yourself, How can I leverage my skill set or my talents or my strengths to make a positive impact on my household, On my family, Maybe my neighborhood? Okay, So don't go global. If that's too overwhelming for you, You don't have to do that. Give yourself permission to accept any answer that you have. Again, I was talking to someone this week in the training, And we were talking and it drilled down to he wanted a relationship. He wants to be in a relationship like a yummy, Juicy, Passionate, Loving, Connected relationship. And it felt like that was too small for him to say. And he wasn't giving himself permission because he thought that there was something bigger or a better answer out there. And there's not. There are no right or wrong answers. They're just your answers. So no matter how big or how small you think an answer would be, Give yourself permission to just own it. Start somewhere. If you have to start at A, Start at A. Nobody's telling you you have to jump into the deep end, Okay? Some more questions I think that could support you in finding your purpose could be to reflect back, Like, What are the moments in your life when you felt most alive and when you felt engaged? What were you doing during those times? Another really important question could be, What had you stop feeling alive and engaged? Sometimes we have great relationships. Sometimes we are feeling like we're on top of the world for a period of time and then an event happens and then we stop all of that forward momentum. So what are the moments in life where you felt most alive and engaged? What were you doing during those times? And then what was the event or situation that had you stop feeling most alive and engaged? Another question could be what issues or problems in the world do you feel deeply compelled to contribute to solving? And again, This isn't the question for people who aren't really thinking globally just yet, But what issues or problems in your family do you feel deeply compelled to address and contribute to solving them? If money wasn't an issue, If money was no object and you had all of the resources that you ever wanted or needed, How would you choose to spend your time? This is a whole other podcast episode on circumstances, But this is a really great question. If money were no object and you had all of the resources that you ever wanted or needed, How would you choose to spend your time? What would you be doing? I know the easy answer is, Oh, I'm going to go on vacation and have an endless vacation. I promise you the majority of people who are listening to this podcast, Yes, Go have your vacation. If money was no object, I'd want to just go out and I'd want to like go on a vacation and travel the world and have a bunch of fun. I promise you that would get old at some point because human beings need to wake up and feel like they're significant. So don't sell out on the easy answer of, Oh, If I had all of the money in the world, All I would do is go on vacation and party and travel. I think at some point we would all get tired of that and we would want to feel like we have to contribute to something greater than ourselves. I always say the life hack to connect with other human beings is to know that every single human being on this planet, Every single living thing on this planet wants to feel seen, Be heard and feel significant. What's the legacy that you want to leave behind? That's one of the big questions I ask in the training all the time. What is the legacy that you want to leave behind? When you're gone, How do you want people to remember you? You could also look back on all of the events and all of the circumstances and all of the obstacles that you've overcome in life. What challenges or obstacles did you overcome in life and what lessons have you learned from them? And do you want to be a mentor to people that have gone through similar obstacles and challenges? That has a lot of people feel fulfilled. I think another great question then is to ask yourself, How do you want to make a difference in other people's lives, Whether that's through work or relationships or being a contribution to society or humanity? How do you want to make a difference for other people? What experiences do you have that could help other people learn and explore and create the lives that they want? See now we're stepping into conscious leadership. Once we figure out, And I'm a firm believer, Once we figure out what we want to do in life, What we're passionate about, What our purpose is, The next thing that makes sense is then we want to share that with other people and we want to help other people step into it because we understand all of the reward that comes with it. Who are the people that were your role models that inspired you? What qualities do they have or that you admire in them? And then you be those things so other people can learn from you. So again, The topic today is all about asking yourself questions about what brings you a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment. Reflecting on these questions, I believe will help you gain clarity and insight into what truly matters for you. And that has us wake up and feel passionate about pursuing life on a daily basis. I'm convinced of it. So reflecting on these questions, I hope supports you. I think goal setting is also something if you start setting meaningful goals that give you a sense of direction and purpose that supports you. And again, It doesn't matter if the goal is big or small. It doesn't matter if it's a short term goal or a long term goal. Consider what you want to achieve in different areas of your life, Different domains of your life and start setting those little goals. Start declaring this is what I want to have and by when. Embrace the challenges. You know, Go for it. Start with short term goals. Start with little goals and then start challenging yourself and embrace that challenge. Embracing challenges or allowing for opportunities for growth and learning that is going to light a fire under you, Overcoming obstacles and then pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. It's going to lead to a deeper sense of fulfillment and purpose. I see it all the time. And our ego wants us to just relax and take our foot off the pedal. Always does. But you know that there's no juice there. So push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Also, I think one of the things is stepping into gratitude, Finding meaning in everyday moments. Sometimes purpose and meaning can be found in the simplest things. So pay attention to all of those smaller moments of joy, All of those smaller moments of beauty in your everyday life. Stepping into gratitude and mindfulness and appreciation for those small, Seemingly lost moments does wonders for our our mental health too. And of course, Connect with other people, Surround yourself and get support from other like minded people who are up to things, Who have the same types of values and interests that you do. Building meaningful connections with people that are up to the same thing with you is going to support you in keeping the sustainability of that as well. Anyway, That's all I have today. I hope this supports you. And remember that finding purpose and meaning is a lifelong journey. So it's okay if it takes time to discover what truly matters to you. Be patient with yourself. Have grace. Stay curious. Stay open to the possibilities that life has to offer. You know, The trainings that I do, People come into the training on day one and they say they don't have a purpose or Oh, I don't really know why I'm here. I don't really know what my 10 life would look like scale to one to 10. I don't know what my 10 life looks like. And just in a matter of days, People have a renewed sense. So it can happen in a few days, Or it might take a little longer. However it is, Be patient with yourself. Stay curious, Stay open. Go back, Write down these questions, Listen to this podcast a few times. The goal here is to always have people waking up, You know, One of my goals is to have people pop up like toast every morning, And go out into the world and create their vision. So if you don't do that, If you're not popping up like toast every morning, If you're not having a vision to follow, Or you don't know what your life's purpose is, Go back, Write down these questions, Take some time really think about them. Anyway, I hope that this supports you. This is all I have for you today. I know I covered a lot in this week's episode. I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that you learn something. I hope something opens up for you. And until next time, Let's keep learning and growing and exploring the world around us together. And I'm going to leave this episode like I do every other one. So remember, You are in charge of your happiness. So go out and create something amazing today, Just because you say so.