89 Ways to Find Your Purpose
“Tommy, how do I find my purpose?”
This is one of the most common questions I receive at least once a day —through the podcast, on social media or in random conversations.
Here’s the great news: you’re much closer than you think, and often thinking is what’s getting in the way of your truth. But there’s also some bad news: finding your purpose comes with great responsibility. You can no longer conveniently hide behind the excuse of looking for it.
What I’ve found to be true is our purpose finds us when we’re living in alignment and taking courageous steps forward. There’s no direct path, and it’s less about discovering more about allowing.
Allowing your inner truth to shine.
Allowing your curiosity to take center field.
Allowing the power of who you are to be unveiled.
Here are 89 ways I’ve used to help myself and others find their purpose, live a life of alignment and never look back with regret:
1. Find what you’re already curious about and pull on those strings: they contain gold to find your purpose.
2. Try everything — improv, comedy, dance, astronomy, speaking, cooking and go deep enough to know if you love it or not.
3. Go into the woods and don’t leave until your purpose comes to you.
(Thank you to David Deida for this one, and his brilliant work Way of The Superior Man.)
4. Give yourself permission to find your purpose — most people already know but they’re holding back in fear.
5. Take an energy inventory for the week and put a plus sign for anything that lights you up — there are hints in there.
6. Take a “you” day. What do you do, how do you spend your time? Where do you go?
7. Spend more time in activities that make you forget who you are, and where you lose all track of time.
8. Read texts that open up your world, and invite a deeper questioning.
(Some of my favorites include Emerson’s Self Reliance, Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Seneca’s On The Shortness Of Life.)
9. Train physically and push beyond your edge: there’s peace and clarity on the other side of physical intensity.
10. Create your own life philosophy and a set of principles you want to live by. This practice alone will shift your game in a world where 99% of people can’t answer this.
11. Turn off Netflix, CNN, ESPN or any of the other noise that’s not allowing your purpose to come to the surface. Distraction is a killer in regards to finding your purpose.
12. Spend 3-10 days in meditation, a spiritual retreat and get outside of your comfort zone and watch what happens.
13. Ask better questions, and seek answers to the deepest ones you’ve been asking and watch what happens.
14. Free write every single day for 10 minutes on your purpose and spend the next 365 days committing to it without any expectations.
(Julia Cameron’s The Artists Way has a technique called Morning Pages which is incredible for this.)
15. Go to an experiential training seminar or crucible experience where you’re left with nothing but finding your purpose.
16. Stop trying to find it analytical exercises — your purpose comes from your heart.
17. Sometimes, you have to stop trying to find it all together and simply surrender. At that moment, a gift will come to you.
18. Go back to when you were a kid and examine the things that you were most curious about — and which ones you miss the most today.
19. Take yourself to ten years from now, and grab a blank piece of paper. Write a letter to yourself.
20. Make a list of 20 things you’re deeply interested in, 20 real world, tangible skills you have — and then connect the dots between these on how you can solve a problem.
21. Imagine you’re giving a commencement speech. You have no time to plan — what is the one thing you’d want to leave the audience with?
22. Hit rock bottom. No, not the most fun way to do it — but sometimes we have to be stripped naked to find our truth.
23. Hire a coach or mentor to help unlock your purpose and ask you powerful questions.
24. Ask 10 people for feedback — and find an easy for them to tell you what they think you’re here to do.
25. Spend 20 hours in a float tank. This alone time will peel back your layers and you’ll get insights you could have never imagined.
26. Watch movies and films that make you question everything.
(Personal favorites include Into The Wild, Life Of Pi, Cast Away.)
27. Just make the decision you’ve been waiting to make. Take the leap, and simply go. No more analyzing, no more holding back…it’s time.
(I wrote an entire book on this, available for pre-order now. Stop waiting.)
28. Shift your environment: get a new office, move from your home and apartment and go somewhere new. Change your city. Do something different!
29. Do one uncomfortable action every single day. This will build your self-confidence and put the reps in as you continue your path of searching and self-discovery.
30. Write your eulogy. Go to your local cemetery and breathe in the lessons from those who have come before us. Now pull out a journal and write down how you want to be remembered.
31. Do a daily meditation about your one year vision for the next 30 days. Keep a journal with you and make notes of the common patterns that come up time and time again.
32. Take the pressure off. You don’t need to build a business around your purpose today. But a purposeful life is one decision away.
33. Unplug from all social devices for a specific period of time. Spend this time in solitude and get to know who you really are.
34. Release the past. We all have emotional baggage that is now a heavy burden on taking our next step.
35. Do that one thing you’ve been putting off. The road trip you wanted to take, do it now. The conversation you’d been wanting to have. Just go!
36. Play. Sometimes, the best form of clarity you and I can get is when we don’t take it so seriously.
37. Read this post. It changed my life. It woke me up. I still read it all the time. We have all felt like John.
38. Take the smartphone test. Find your last 10 texts: if 8/10 aren’t inspiring and empowering…you’re hanging with the wrong crowd. Find a tribe designed to uncover your purpose.
39. Study the greats. Transcribe their texts. I’ve done this several times, and it taps into a much deeper part of who I am.
40. Listen to empowering information every single day. Even 15 minutes a day as a student will invite deeper questions, and you’ll begin to discover some truths.
41. Use Reverse Visualization to take yourself 3, 10 and 20 years down the line without you having done anything in regards to your purpose. How does this feel? Urgency creates clarity.
42. Be the Linchpin today. Stop waiting. If you’re an accountant, be the best in the world. If you’re a waitress, deliver 10X the value. Purpose is created when we’re committed to excellence.
43. Release the ego. Easier said than done: our egos blind us from the truth. Learn to be aware of the times it comes up and stubbornly stops you from doing what you must.
44. Spend an entire day in nature without a phone. Run, hike, climb, use a mountain bike. Explore the land and remember what it felt like to live in possibility.
45. Start something, anything. Start the blog you’ve wanted to start. Document your path of finding your purpose. Inspire someone else.
46. Spend time creating. You’re creative…trust me. Your purpose is your greatest creativity in action. The more time you spend creating, the closer you’re going to get.
47. Read the biographies of the masters. Those who changed industries and lives by stepping into their purpose.
48. Get in tune with your emotions and build your intelligence and resilience. A lack of understanding what we’re feeling blocks us from recognizing our deepest truths.
49. Go to at least one event per quarter in the realm of personal growth, development and/or business or spirituality. Taking time to work “on” you is crucial.
50. Grow 1% every single day. Even if you feel completely off purpose, you can do enough to grow 1%. This builds momentum and creates clarity.
(I wrote an entire book on this, of course…check out The 1% Rule right here.)
51. Get into flow states. These are created by intense focus, presence and the right dose of challenge. When you’re in these…anything is possible.
52. Identify and list your personal values. These are your highest priorities and what you want to be about. What are they? How do you exemplify them? Create a space to answer these questions.
53. Forgive yourself and others. This is a daily practice. The darker emotions of resentment, anger, and aggression will cloud all of your clarity and certainty.
54. On that note, don’t numb your dark emotions. They’re part the human experience…when you feel them, really feel them. But then choose to let them go.
55. Leave your comfort zone at least once a day. You’ll know you are when fear and doubt kick in with an equal mix of excitement. Courage is feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
56. Take the day off and go skydiving. Get into a boxing match. Create an adventure and tap into primal fear: this is a fantastic way to get rid of your excuses.
(I’ve done the skydiving one twice, both on random occasions. It woke me up and made me feel more alive.)
57. Take a 30, 60 or 90-day challenge. No alcohol. No TV. No fast food. No social media. Something to challenge you…and invite a more aligned habit.
58. Take on an intense physical challenge: a Spartan Race, a 10K, some type of test and adventure. These will open up your world and belief in yourself.
59. Grab a blank piece of paper and ask a simple question: what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Set a timer and write, write, write. Don’t judge it…go!
60. Do Holotropic Breathwork. This is one of my favorite ways to get in touch with the clarity of my purpose…and remind myself what matters.
61. Read the Bhagavad Gita, The Power Of Now, and other classic spiritual texts.
62. Stare in the mirror at yourself and hold eye contact for at least 5 minutes. This is not easy and will challenge you. Then write down what you saw.
63. Study at least an hour a day on the topic of purpose, creativity, passion and living an inspired life. Be the humble student…when something resonates, you’re pulling on the right strings.
64. Don’t do this alone. Invest your physical, mental, emotional and financial resources in a skilled coach, mentor or program to help you tap into your purpose.
(The number one excuse is “I don’t have the money” right now. This is why you’re stuck.)
65. Write your life mission statement. I’ve done this 100+ times. Every time, I get much more clear. Write it, print it out and look at it every single day.
66. Get rid of the relationships in your life that drag you down. You know who these people are: after you spend time with them, you’re exhausted and unmotivated.
67. Start living on purpose now. Do the dishes with purpose. Hold eye contact with purpose. Engage with your partner…with purpose.
68. Journal every single day and celebrate your wins. This will build your confidence and tune your awareness towards what is working…instead of how far you’ve got to go.
69. Stop trying so damn hard. I know, I know. But remember: what you think your version of your purpose is can be the rigidness that holds you back. Finding your purpose is an evolution closely tied to your personal growth.
70. On that note, fall in love with the art of surrender. This isn’t giving up…it’s about letting go with every part of your being.
71. If life isn’t working…great. Go deep into the darkness of your breakdown. Release the identity of who you “think” you are. There is magic in here. Avoidance of pain is true suffering. Facing our pain is liberation.
72. On that note, do the messy inner work of getting to know your deepest corners and places you feel guilt and shame about. Most people never do this and wonder why they keep repeating the same patterns.
73. Get honest! Come on…stop lying to yourself. You already know what to do.
74. Have conversations with other people who have been where you’ve been: Men’s groups, Women’s groups…anything to go deeper and beyond the usual surface area fluff most people engage in.
75. Cut out all distraction. Turn off all notifications. You will never, ever find your purpose in the noise.
76. Commit to a powerful morning routine every single day. Early on…it won’t make much of a difference. A year from now you’ll be a completely different person.
77. Honor divine timing. Stop trying to control every single outcome in your life. Do the work in front of you, and then let go. This is not your timeline. There are greater forces at play.
78. Read Seneca’s “On The Shortness Of Life.” Read “The Dash” Poem. Watch Steve Job’s Stanford Commencement speech. These are all beautiful reminders of how little time we have left.
79. Close your eyes, and meet the 7-year-old version of yourself. Hold space with them…and then do the same with the 77-year-old version of yourself. Repeat this exercise several times: what would they both be proud of?
80. Deconstruct the greatest moments of your life. Pull out a journal and pull apart the ingredients of what made these so special. There’s gold in there and these will help you find your purpose.
81. Release your emotions…allow yourself to be sad. Cry like there’s no tomorrow. There is clarity on the other side of emotional release.
82. Build your physical foundation. Big dreams and a powerful purpose requires a lot of energy. It’s hard to think big when your foundation is running on empty.
83. Have conversations with people in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. They’ve got some life wisdom you and I don’t.
(On that note, Bronnie Ware’s Top 5 Regrets Of The Dying is also a brilliant book to remember what matters.)
84. Remember the miracles happening at every moment. Trillions of cells are dying and growing right now. Your heart is pumping…still. You woke up today. You are here…that is enough.
85. On that note, you are enough. You are worthy. Spending your entire life trying to prove this is exhausting. Own your power. Own your worth.
86. Take yourself a decade or two down the line. Then write down what “you wished you would have known” at your current age.
87. Craft your North Star vision. Have a guiding compass for your life, otherwise, you’ll always be lost at sea and the storms will crush you.
88. Stop overthinking. Paralysis analysis and spreadsheets don’t matter to your purpose. What makes you good at business is what makes you terrible at things like purpose.
89. Allow. Allow your purpose to come through you. This is when you find your purpose. In a moment, you can make the decision to start living it right now, even if you don’t have the full picture.
Find Your Purpose and Pre-Order The Leap Of Your Life!
So, there you have it —I wanted to share these with you because I am always being asked the same questions around purpose:
How do I find my purpose?
How do I really know it’s my purpose?
What if I don’t know what my purpose is?
This is your life’s journey —and the 89 ways I detailed above are all designed to point you in the right direction to find your purpose.
If you only do a few of these, I have no doubt you’ll create some clarity and momentum that you didn’t have prior.
Lastly, I wanted to remind you that my upcoming book, The Leap Of Your Life is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, your local bookseller and on this page for massive bonuses. This book was written for you: to help you identify the bold move in front of you and not just dream big…but live big.
What did you get from this? Post to comments!
