How to Find Your True Purpose in Life | Jack Canfield

Hi there, I'm Jack Canfield, and today I want to talk to you about one of the most important and challenging things. I'm going to talk to you about how to find your true purpose in life. You know, I began to find my purpose in life when I was in college. I was actually a Chinese history major. And I was thinking I was going to be a diplomat or go to law school, one of the two. And. And my senior year, I took an elective class that was supposed to be an easy A called social relations 10. And what happened was it was really a group where we sat around and talked about our feelings and got to know each other at a really deep level, much more deeply than anyone I'd ever talked to in college. And I realized, wow, this is what I want to do. I love human behavior psychology, how people interact, how they set goals and what they're about in life. And unfortunately, I had no undergraduate classes in psychology, so I couldn't get into psychology in graduate school. But someone said, you taught history in the summer and you took, you were a history major. Why don't you go into teaching history and then through graduate school you can sneak into ed, psych and eventually psychology, which is what I did. And I found that I love to teach and I love to empower people. And what happened was I was teaching in an all black inner city school in Chicago and most of my kids were not motivated. And I became more interested in how to motivate them than I was in teaching history. And so I became an expert in motivation and success. And. And fortunately, I met a man named W. Clement Stone who had a foundation who was teaching this in Chicago. I started taking weekend workshops with them and started using them in my classrooms. And eventually they asked me to teach other teachers. And then one day I was teaching and they said, can you do for my company what you just did for these teachers? And I said, I never worked in the company. They said, they're just big kids in suits, so go over and work with them. And I did. And so I discovered that my purpose was inspiring and empowering people to, to live their highest vision in the context of love and joy. And it's important because my whole life now has been developed around that purpose. And once I was clear with that, I could align every single behavior, every single goal with my purpose. So literally, one of the most important challenges we face in our life is figuring out exactly what that purpose is and what we want to do with it. For some people, the answer to this question of who am I and what's my purpose and what do I want to do seems to come easily. There are those who grow up knowing they want to be a doctor or a musician or an engineer or a lawyer or an astronaut, and they just go up and they do it. Now, there are those of us, however, who struggle to find our true purpose. It's for those people I hope to offer some useful guidance today. Now, before we can address how you can go about finding what it is you want to commit your life to, it's important to better understand why doing so can be so difficult. There are several factors that can make finding your purpose in life hard. Pressure from outside influence is often responsible for leading you down life paths that you don't enjoy. Another factor holding many people back from finding their true purpose is the fact that people often prioritize things such as money and prestige above doing what they love, even though those things will be more likely come if a person pursues their true purpose and passion. Now, oftentimes, people may also feel that it's too late for them to find their true purpose. They believe they're too old or too established in their current life. This, however, is rarely ever true. It's never too late to start doing what makes you happy, and the belief that it's too late is nothing more than another factor holding you back. Once you've identified the factors that may be keeping you from finding your purpose in life, though, you you can go about silencing them and listening to your real calling. Thankfully, we're all born with an inner compass that tells us whether or not we're on the right path to finding our true purpose. Now, that compass is our experience of happiness or joy. If you enjoy what you're doing and it fulfills you, you're on the right track. If not, it's time to readjust your course. Now, by listening to this inner compass and learning to ignore any outside influences or factors and that point you in the opposite direction, you'll find that discovering your true purpose isn't so hard after all. Now, having identified things that could be holding you back from finding your purpose, let's start discovering what it is you were truly meant to do with your life. To do this, start by following these simple yet extraordinarily helpful steps. First, you have to envision your ideal life. If money was no object, what would you want to do with your life? If you could live anywhere, there were no expectations and anything you could think of was not a problem, what is it that you would want to do with your life. I want you to really think hard about these questions because the answer to them is really important. If you're able to envision what your ideal life looks like and what it is that you find yourself doing in that ideal life, you'll have a much better understanding of your true purpose. Second, do what makes you happy. Now, even if you envision your ideal life, chances are it's not going to be something you'll be able to achieve immediately, overnight. Now, that's not to say it is impossible, but for most people it's going to take a little more effort than that. The point, though, is envisioning your ideal life to understand what it is that makes you happy. And once you've identified what makes you happy, start doing more of it. Now, it's really just that simple. Now, you may want to start small with a side job or a hobby, or you may want to commit to this new direction entirely, but either way, you should be working towards a life where you are always doing the things you enjoy and finding success in doing these things. Proceed in this way and I promise you will eventually end up at the ideal life you first envisioned. Now, third, do what you're good at. In most cases, the things that you're good at and the things you enjoy will be one and the same. Still, it's important to ask yourself, what is it that comes easily to you, effortlessly to you? What things are you better at doing than anybody else? And by pursuing both the things you're good at and the things you enjoy, you maximize your chances of being successful. More importantly, though, you maximize your chances of living a highly rewarding and enjoyable life. There's no better time to start making the most of your life than now. And whether you're 16 or 60, it's never too late to find and pursue your true purpose. If it feels like your past has been wasted doing things that weren't your true purpose, don't worry. All that means is that it's time to make the rest of your life the best of your life now. And best of all, the wisdom and experience you gained from your past are invaluable resources that you can use to build a better future. And in the end, the there's no such thing as wasted efforts, only wasted opportunities. Now, finding the best thing for you to do with your life truly is as simple as finding what you love, finding what you're good at, and pursuing it with a passion. From there, everything else will fall into place, and you'll soon find yourself living a life that is fulfilling, rewarding, and full of joy. Now I want to leave you with a bit of homework. Think about your true purpose. Assume that the world is perfect right now. What does the world look like? How is everyone interacting with everyone else? What does it feel like? Write down your answer as a statement in the present tense, the way you would see a perfect world. And remember that a perfect world is a fun place to be in. And once you determine this, go back and read it every day. Your purpose probably has something to do with helping create that world in some way. Maybe in a small way with your friends, your family, family in your neighborhood or your community or your work group, or maybe on an even grander scale. So close your eyes and visualize that perfect world for a few minutes every day, and then watch for opportunities to help create more of that world wherever you are. So thanks for watching today and remember, nothing will change for the better until you do. Now, if you found this video helpful, make sure you like it, share it with a friend who may need it, and subscribe to my channel. Subscribe for more videos like this one, and for some additional resources on how to lead a more successful and inspired life, visit my website@jackcampfield.com Again, thanks for watching.