5 Tips for Defining your Purpose in Life and Business

The path to doing what you love relies in defining your purpose in life and business. In this post I’ll show you what to focus on so that you can do what you love every single day.

What is your purpose?

Everytime I have a new client one of the first questions on my brief is: what is your purpose? And while some answer it with a very concise sentence, others write down a huge paragraph that doesn’t clearly communicate their purpose.

One of my latest clients wrote a powerful purpose statement in her brief that I loved: “To change the way the world eats”.

You see, your purpose doesn’t need to be a huge paragraph with corporate jargon, it can be as simple as a 5 word sentence that truly says why you started your business in the first place.

Some other examples of powerful purpose statements that I’ve developed with clients are the following:

Consciously celebrating the art of life - for a sustainable safari
Guiding people in the art of giving a voice to their emotions - for a therapist that does art therapy with children
Helping women feel beautiful so they can treasure memories - for a beauty and photography personal brand

Tips for defining your purpose in life and business

Tip #1- Write down what you love to do

Don’t be afraid to write down scary things, or things that you think are dumb. I asked myself this question when I was unable to work for a while. I sat in my couch, thinking: “my god, what do I like to do?”. And I remembered that when I was 10 years old, I used to love writing. I used to write fictional stories, and on my 10th birthday party I even wrote a script where me and all my friends recorded a “horror movie” and played we were in a haunted house. And you know what? I still have that movie…and it’s one of my most cherished childhood memories because it’s a reminder that what you once loved to do as a kid, is a pathway to finding your passion in adulthood.

Tip #2- Write several sentences using verbs in action to explain your purpose

Your purpose doesn’t start or end. It’s alive. Think of your purpose as a phrase that has it’s own life. What can I say, and how can I say what I’m meant to share with the world?

Mine is: “Helping conscious creatives thrive and shine online”.

I’m not saying in my purpose statement: “I do websites and copywriting services for conscious brands”. That is a tactic, your purpose needs to be meaningful, powerful and impactful.

Use emotions, adjectives and active verbs. Turn a candle on to brainstorm and dive into these ideas that will become the foundation of what you will do with your life and business.

Tip #3- Make sure your purpose statement aligns with your business

If you want to spend the rest of your life doing what you love, you need to have a business that aligns with your purpose. In my case, writing and storytelling is something that completely alings with my purpose because I find joy in meeting others and finding the words and platform (website) to make them shine and stand out online.

Spend time thinking about what you can offer as a product or service that completely aligns with what you love to do.

Tip #4- Don’t listen to the rejection

I took this advice from Lady Gaga who has a powerful quote where she says: “I promise you, if you work hard, and you put your mind to it, and you never give up, and you don’t listen to the rejection, you can achieve anything in your life ”.

And she’s so right! There will always be haters who won’t understand your purpose, or people who will question your business model, your niche, your service. But if you stay committed to your purpose, and take advice from the right people, success is there waiting for you to claim it.

Tip #5- When you’re in creative mode, don’t stop the magic from flowing

I’ve made my most bold or life changing decisions probably at 3am in the morning. And when this also happens to you, let the magic keep flowing.

Creativity is a trait that not everyone has in their lives. So when you’re brainstorming with your business partner (or alone) about crazy goals, dreams or ideas it’s OK to go all in .

Open a bottle of wine, pull your hair up and get into creative mode or what I call crazy writer mode. Let your ideas flow, write them down and set clear goals to turn your dreams into reality.