Objective: To help you identify your life purpose. Since one’s purpose often changes throughout life, it will be important to revisit this frequently. You may also have more than one life purpose. To live a life of purpose requires you to constantly reflect on your life situation and assess the best course of action that will help you translate your vision into reality.
Directions: To complete this exercise, you will need to answer three questions using the AIM acronym for (Action, Individual, and Mission). If you wish to have more than one purpose, and most people are capable of doing so, then complete this exercise for each purpose.
• What Action do you want to take?
• What Individuals do you want to help?
• What Mission do you want to accomplish?
Below is an example:
• I want to teach (action) high school and college students (individuals) that their school, major, or grade point average (GPA) play a secondary role in their career success.
Once completed, post this exercise somewhere you will see it each day. As you develop both personally and professionally, challenge yourself to update your purpose. After all, you just need to A.I.M.! Identifying your purpose in life is one of the most important exercises you need to complete.
To complete the following table, you will need to answer three questions using the AIM acronym (Action, Individual, and Mission):
• What Action do you want to take?
• What Individuals do you want to help?
• What Mission do you want to accomplish?
What action do you want to take? |
What individuals do you want to help? |
What mission do you want to accomplish? |
My purpose in life is to: |
teach |
College students |
That their school, major, and GPA play a secondary role in their career success |
My purpose in life is to: |
motivate |
adults |
To work toward a life of intention and to work with purpose |
My purpose in life is to: |
My purpose in life is to: |
One final note here about finding your purpose—remember that it is yours and yours alone. You may not know exactly what your purpose is now and that is okay. Choose to be happy with your current life purpose, recognize that you can always change it, and understand that comparing yourself with others robs you of your own joy. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” It is often difficult to do but try to not compare your career to others. If you are living with purpose and happy with your choices then comparison offers no valuable or tangible lesson for personal growth or professional development.