3 Questions to Ask Yourself When Creating a Life of Purpose

Whether you are aware of your mind’s inner dialog or not . . . it’s there. Your brain is constantly trying to figure life out and doing so by asking questions. Questions are the controlling force of your thinking mind. Whether you are trying to figure out how to create a life of purpose or what to wear or how to achieve your dreams, the mind works the same, by running series of questions to determine the best possible solution.

The problem arises when we are unconscious to this question and decision-making process happening within ourselves. Because the mind is split into various degrees of awareness, we can often unknowingly choose poor-quality solutions. When unaware of our own questions we very often fail to realize the poor-quality questions we are asking in the first place; hence our less than ideal solutions.

The Power Of Focus

Take a look around, what do you see? Now say to yourself “this is a reflection of me.” Whatever you see, you only see because you were first focused on it inside of yourself. Despite the contrary belief you are not in the world, the world is in you.

If you noticed a pile of dishes, or the trash, it wasn’t that you were specifically thinking of these things, but if you look at your mind’s focus were likely thinking clutter, chaos or other “garbage” thoughts. If your internal thoughts were more peaceful and harmonizing you may have noticed a bird outside the window or a beautiful painting.

When we start to take notice of our inner-world first, by focusing on the questions we ask ourselves minute to minute, then we begin to shift the outer world as we view it.

Asking Better Questions

Most of us are unknowingly asking questions like “why am I such a failure? How come I always do this? And, why do I never get what I want?” With these qualities of questions, we are bound to get equally unfortunate answers.  Ask and you shall receive. When it comes to creating a life of purpose waking up to the inner choice maker is crucial.

Before we can create a life of purpose, we must first have the realization that we are not our thinking minds. That the purpose of the mind is to survive, and therefore will always create low-quality purposes based on fear and our unquenchable desire for pleasure if identified with it.

Rising above survival and into your rightly spot as a creator of your life requires that you awaken to your own inner chatter. Once witnessed, it is your divine duty as a creator to choose how you will give meaning to your life.

The way to create a life of purpose is by asking better questions and getting better answers.

1. What is my desired outcome?

Asking yourself what your desired outcome is for a goal is to take charge of your intentions, to be cause of your creations. What is your intention for living? Is it to just survive; if so, that’s what you’ll experience. You don’t have to have the perfect outcome; whatever is true to your heart is enough.

There is no right or wrong answer. If you have followed along with this series on life of purpose, you already know the power of honesty when goal setting. If you missed the earlier posts, you can refer here and then come back here to determine what you truly want. This question is really about asking yourself “what do I really want?”

It is that simple. If you don’t know where you’re going, anywhere will get you there. If you “don’t know what you want,” chances are you have just stopped believing in what you want to be good enough at, or you are not being honest about your true desires.

Take a moment to really get real with yourself. You might even ask yourself, “If I did know what I wanted, what would it be?” What do you want the outcome of your life goals to be? Do you want to make a million dollars? Start a business, travel the world, or get married? Most people never get what they want because of the incredible resistance they have around their desired outcomes.

They are stuck here by limiting beliefs, low self-esteem and an overall feeling of not being good enough to have what they most desire. Once you stop convincing yourself you don’t know what you want, and start stating what you want most, you can then start to create it.

2. Why do I want this?

If you have a strong enough “why,” you will have the power to accomplish any “how.” There is a power in purpose; reasons come first, answers come second. Many people skip this step entirely because they are so caught up in the “what” and “how” that they never proceed further.

Rather than judge what you want and your self-worth or ability to get it, figure out what you want, then discover your why. Where your purpose lies, you will find your drive.  In fact, it is the absence of a strong purpose that leaves you without a good “how” or action plan. When you create a compelling why, you will get solutions and means that you never noticed before.

Purpose ignites inspiration and creativity. Think of a simple desire that comes easy to you; food. You desire food and it’s usually not too complicated to achieve. Why? Because your why is powerful! No food equals death! Your purpose to eat, is to live.

With that much purpose behind a desire you are bound to get it. If your outcome of a goal is to make that million dollars, or marry your dream spouse, it is important you ask yourself he purpose. For two reasons; the first being what we discussed, it will compel you to find a solution or means to acquiring it.

Secondly, you will find out quickly where your intentions come from. If they are coming room a place of scarcity or lack, and you are hoping they end your loneliness, chances are your goal will not come to fruition. The best purposes are ones that are honest and move you emotionally in a positive direction.

3. How can I create the outcome?

This is where action happens. Do not worry about having a rigid action plan. There is a law of action that says 20% of your action produces 80% of your results. Meaning, if you love what you’re doing you won’t “work” and your doing will become refined and fulfilling.

Activity without purpose is a drain to spirit. For example, one of my goals in life is to play guitar daily and my purpose is because I become creatively inspired and tranquil every time. How I accomplish this task is completely unique to me. I created an Instagram specifically for posting new songs, I’ve written for covers I want to learn. I’ve tried many ways to be able to play guitar daily; teaching lesson, being in bands, working as a studio musician and each one at the time completely inspired me. Rather than choose someone else’s idea of what I should do; such as going to school for music, which didn’t inspire me, I chose to follow my inspiration.

These actions lead me to many incredible opportunities like recording professional albums, playing big shows and traveling in very unconventional ways, best of all, there was no struggle because I focused on what I loved and what I was best at.

When choosing an action plan, follow your heart, do what inspires you. It is actually more realistic to do the unrealistic. Because the “unrealistic” moves you, it gets you up in the morning, and motivates you at a spirit level. It is that “unrealistic” dream that keeps you energized enough to deal with the realistic aspects of a goal.

If you are moved enough emotionally; even an unconventional action plan will lead you to your goal, and likely quicker than the “safe” route. I am not advising to act dangerously; however, the greater risk brings the greater reward. It is with passionate purpose that you can embrace risk with certainty.

Conclusion

I will use myself as an example or inspiration of how this formula has worked in my own life.

When I decided I wanted to become a studio musician I had said “goodbye” to college. I knew I had the talent but in the eyes of realism, I would have needed a degree and a million-and-one things I didn’t have.  That didn’t matter to me; I had made up my mind and knew taking action would stretch me to grow in brilliant ways.

With my outcome already made and a powerful sense of purpose, I moved to Los Angeles with only one hundred dollars and a couch to sleep on. I didn’t even own a guitar anymore! Within three days of applying to ads and sharing my “dream,” I had landed my first high-paying recording job as a studio guitarist.

Endless magic happened along the way as I was gifted a guitar to use by a friend and the producer. I even managed to make it to the studio daily even though I didn’t have a car.

Could I have done better? Of course, things could have gone more smoothly, they always can be better. However, I learned the power of purpose in that experience. Unbeknownst to me then, these 3 questions were at the root of this experience. I decided what I wanted, knew my purpose for doing it and didn’t let a “how” stand in my way, yet I took inspired action in the moment where I found it.