I am on a mission to ensure that we all make decisions with intention – on purpose.  To live a life where you aren’t constantly choosing the default option.  Where you are not choosing something because you “should” do it.  You aren’t living by other people’s ideas of what is supposed to happen next.  

I say live a “life ON purpose.”  How is that different from saying a “life OF purpose” or a “life WITH purpose?”  Well, that small preposition can make a big difference.  When I say live a life ON purpose, I mean choosing to live your life the way you want to live it.  Not the way you think you “should” live it.  It means making choices WITH purpose to live a life OF purpose (see what I did there?)

• Live a life WITH purpose – This is knowing who you are.  Spending time in self- reflection to make sure you identify your guiding principles, your values and your strengths.    

• Live a life OF purpose – When you live a life of purpose, you are choosing to give back in some way.  It doesn’t have to mean working for a nonprofit or being a physician, but it does mean engaging in work that is meaningful to you and your world.  

• Live a life ON purpose – The reason I chose this preposition is because it encompasses the other two.  Making intentional choices purposefully by creating a vision of where you want to go and how you will get there, while keeping those guiding principles in mind.

There is so much pressure today to make the “right” choice but not a lot of actual, meaningful information teaching us how to make that choice. Sure, there are lots of voices trying to tell you what you should do – your parents, significant other, your boss, your friends, television, movies, social media – it's so loud!  What I am suggesting is to tune out all of that.  Really.  Tune it out and look inward to who you are.  Seek help from those who will assist you in your quest to know who you are. 

Maybe you have experienced a wake-up call.  Maybe you chose the “perfect” career because it made sense at the time.  It was a sensible career choice, one your parents were proud to say “my daughter is studying to be a ____.”  And maybe you were even great at it.  Now it’s 5, 10, 20 years later, and you’re realizing that you’re miserable.  You realize that you put no thought into choosing this career path.  It was a “fine” choice of career, but it wasn’t who you were meant to be.  

Now what?

Or maybe your kids are about to graduate from high school and you are a soon-to-be empty-nester.  You have devoted your life to being the best mom possible.  You gave everything of yourself to your kids.  This came way too fast.  You have forgotten who you are.

Now what?

There are many, many transitions in our lives.  Each of us goes through dozens of life disruptors, or “lifequakes” as we progress through life. Whether it's a joyous occasion or a traumatic one, we need to figure out how to emerge on the other side.  We have a choice in how we progress.

Self-knowledge is the place to start.  But it is a tricky, fluid and ever changing entity that never fully forms. Why? Because we as humans are always growing, changing, and evolving as the world around us brings good stuff and bad stuff into our orbit. We don’t wake up one day and say “Great! Now I know myself fully.” That may be a completely true statement at that moment; however, we don’t know what the next day/month/year may bring that will cause us to question again. That is totally OK. It’s an ongoing process, not an end product.  And that’s why you don’t have to have it all figured out right now.  Be curious and allow yourself to explore the possibilities.  As we move through life, gathering experiences – joyous and tragic, momentous and tiny – with new information, you have shifted your thinking. Plan to spend some time revisiting your vision regularly, and especially at times of transition. 

So live your life on purpose.  Don’t float through life allowing it to carry you from one thing to the next without doing your personal self-research.  Make informed decisions because they make sense to you and what you want to accomplish.  You don’t have to have it all figured out – be curious and explore the possibilities.