What’s Your Purpose? It’s Hiding In Plain Sight

I’m sure you have asked yourself questions like, “What is my purpose in life”, or “What are my truest, deepest desires”?
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I know I have.
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Let’s face it, in order to consistently dedicate yourself to anything in life you’re going to need desire combined with a strong sense of purpose.
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But for many of us, the idea of “finding our purpose” seems daunting.
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We instantly think, “I have a job, a family, bills to pay, a pain in the ass boss, how the hell am I supposed to figure out what my purpose is?”
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Trust me, I get it. Personally, though, I think we overcomplicate this idea of “finding our purpose.”
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Partly because we lose connection with the things that really bring us joy that comes from our soul (desire) as we move out of childhood, into adulthood, and further into the rat race.
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Consider this idea when thinking about your truest desires:

The real value of a desire lies in finding a toy as a kid that you would play with every day and won’t let go of even when it is completely worn out and ragged. ?​

I love this idea — approaching our work, projects, goals, and activities with the same bliss, innocence, creativity, and presence that we did as a child playing with our favorite toy.
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And when this level of enthusiasm combines with deeper meaning, you begin to tap into purpose.
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So, what is purpose?

Purpose is simply at the intersection of:

1. What you love to do. (passion)
2. What you are good at. (skills, both natural + ones you can learn)
3. What the world needs. (service and solving problems)
4. What you can give and receive value for. (practicality)

​In other words, you can find purpose when you combine your passion and skills in a way that provides value to other people and that you can get paid for.

An easy way to start working through this formula is, to begin with the first two parts: define what you love to do and what you are good at.​
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This goes back to dusting off your childhood and reconnecting with this younger version of yourself…
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Specifically, when you were between the ages of 7-17.
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What did you love to do when you were this age? What skills and talents did you have? What were you curious and interested in?
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You may find that you have talents and interests that have been hiding in plain sight and if you reconnect with them, the notion of finding your purpose may not seem that daunting after all.