Purpose is not a single goal to achieve, but an orientation for how we choose to engage in life.

Living purposefully means making deliberate choices about what matters to you and how you want to pursue it.

If you don't know your purpose now; you can begin by practicing how to live more purposefully.

When Joseph Campbell was a popular name, people would say, “Follow your bliss.” Then, as a career-development and self-help mantra, we moved to “Follow your passion.” Today, it seems like we have moved again. This time to “Follow your purpose.”

We are constantly told that a meaningful life requires us to “find our purpose.” College students are encouraged to identify it so that they can choose careers that speak to them. Professionals are told to connect their work to it. People facing transitions are advised to rediscover it, so that they can figure out what to do next.

“What is your purpose in life?” sounds like an inspiring question, but I think it is the wrong question to ask.

It’s not that purpose is unimportant. The problem lies in the assumption that your purpose is either hidden somewhere inside you or somewhere out there in the world. If you only searched hard enough, you could discover the one thing you were meant to do. Not only does this assumption place an enormous burden on you, but it is also unrealistic.

Here is a more useful approach: Stop trying to find your purpose and start trying to become more purposeful.

Purpose is not a........

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