Finding Your Life Purpose: The most important rule

Finding your life purpose in life is a process where you dig deep within yourself to discover what makes you happy. You’ll need to look at your talents, skills, desires, and what you really want.

The process requires you to clear the clutter in your mind and also in your heart and soul. Like the author, Deepak Chopra, says, “In the process of letting go, you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself.”

That’s exactly what you must do – let go.

What does finding your life purpose mean?

Your life purpose consists of the central motivating aims of your life—the reasons you get up in the morning.

Your life purpose can guide life decisions, influence behavior, shape goals, offer a sense of direction, and create meaning. For some people, the purpose is connected to vocation—meaningful, satisfying work.

Don’t let your past drag you down

The first step in finding your life purpose is getting rid of your baggage. All human beings have regrets, mistakes we wish we could undo, past memories of instances where people did us wrong, and so on.

Millions of people relive these bad memories and experience the same negative feelings over and over. They’re in a vicious cycle that just doesn’t seem to end.

It’s impossible to discover your life purpose if your mind and heart are filled with repressed anger and other negative emotions. In most cases, one will not be able to undo the mistakes of the past.

Holding on to baggage from years ago will only burden you. This excess weight will drag you down day by day and life will feel like a struggle.

The key to finding your life purpose and putting a spring in your step will be to let go of the unwanted baggage you’re carrying. This could be memories, negative habits, toxic people, and so on.

Benefits of letting go

There are several benefits that can be accrued by letting go of past grievances and bad memories. It’s a cathartic process that will make you happier and feel a sense of ‘lightness’.

If you’ve made mistakes in the past, the first step is to forgive yourself. Learning how to forgive yourself is one of the most important parts of letting go. Regretting the same mistakes over and over is just self-punishment that will prevent you from redeeming yourself.

Let these regrets go and strive to do better from here on out. Learn from those past mistakes and take pride that you went through them and learned from them.

If others have done you wrong, the best thing you can do is forgive them. You don’t have to tell them a word, and you’re not doing it for them. You’re doing it for you.

As long as you have anger, sadness, and hate in your heart for wrongs done by others, you’re robbing yourself of the happiness that you could be having right now. Don’t let them live rent-free in your head and heart. Let it all go… for your sanity and well-being.

when you are holding on to anger towards others and situations you are allowing them to control you. Your anger hurts you more than it will ever hurt them.

What should you let go of?

What one needs to let go of will depend on them. It varies from individual to individual. Here is a common list of things you should let go of

• Any grudges, gossip, grievances.
• Regrets because of mistakes you made in the past
• Bad habits that have plagued you for years
• A job that makes you hate your life
• Fear of failure and the unknown
• Jealousy and comparing yourself with others
• Demanding partners
• Toxic ‘friends’ and family members
• Poor financial habits
• Perfectionism
• Trying to please everyone
• A poor diet and a bad body image
• Procrastination
• Possessions that you no longer need

This list is just a starting point. You may have other things in your life that you need to let go of. A rule of thumb is that if it doesn’t make you feel good or serve you well, then you need to let it go.

Once you’ve rid yourself of what’s holding you down and holding you back, you can focus on what you want and how you can feel happy and fulfilled. That’s how you discover your life purpose.

“You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – André Gid

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