What is the purpose of life? There are as many answers to this age-old question as there are people, and they run the gamut from hopeful to nihilistic to, well, nonexistent.
“Each of us lives one life: our own. What we’re looking for isn’t just generic purpose but the purpose of that one and only life.”
Finding your own purpose will help you connect with your community and learn how to be happy, whether that’s by spending time with family, trying new things, doing volunteer work or practicing gratitude.
But the point isn’t what other people think the answer is—it’s how you answer that question for yourself, says Ryan McAnnally-Linz, PhD, co-author of Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most
What we mean when we talk about the “purpose of life”
What’s the meaning of life? Go ahead and try to answer. If you’re finding it tough, it may be because you aren’t quite sure what the “purpose of life” even means.
Broadly speaking, the “purpose of life” has two parts:
Your personal paradigm, which organizes your beliefs, motivates your behavior, orients your actions and defines your individuality.
Your community paradigm, which promotes the survival and betterment of humankind and your place in society. It provides the underlying moral framework for rules and laws and helps people make sense of what is “right” and “fair.”
Beyond that, the definition is unique to each person.
The right (and wrong) answer to “What is the purpose of life?”
There’s no one right answer to “What is the purpose of life?”—there are a bunch of right answers. But don’t let that fool you into thinking any old purpose will do. Be thoughtful about your purpose, because there are wrong answers too.
“I do think there are right and wrong answers here,” says McAnnally-Linz. “If there weren’t, the stakes wouldn’t be serious. We could just pick up and put down purposes at a whim. They couldn’t hold any real weight in our lives.”
So, what makes for a bad purpose? For starters, it won’t enrich or better your life. “If you were to make it your purpose to lie to everyone you meet, sure, it would give you some orientation, but your life would be horribly warped,” he says. “You’d be better off purposeless.”
Unlike other actions that improve your life—say, learning time-management skills—finding your purpose is a lifelong process, not a one-time event. And it takes consideration. “It’s no easy thing to discern when we’ve answered the question well or gotten it wrong,” McAnnally-Linz says.
Figuring out one’s individual purpose is a matter of finding the matches between the contours of your life and personality and your big vision of a life worth living. Don’t just ask “What is the purpose of life?” Ask “Why do I want a purpose?” and “What do I hope this purpose will do for me?” Are you aiming for happiness? Do you feel like you’re wasting time and want to do something more meaningful with your life? Now is the time to determine why you’re searching for meaning in the first place.
Ask the big questions
Draw up a list of questions that touch on the most important things in your life, then write down your answers. Ultimately, your answers will help you see a pattern of who and what you prioritize. Once you know that, you can set goals based on your priorities.
So, what sort of questions should make the list? That will vary from person to person, but the “life questions” below will get you started.
Who is most important to me?
What are my happiest memories and experiences?
What is the best way for people to live?
What makes me feel most fulfilled?
What is my biggest regret?
What are three things I hope for?
What do I do when I fail at something?
What individual attributes are most important to my identity?
What would be worth dying for?
Tips on how to find purpose in life
Here are a few tips from our experts to help you really home in on your purpose in life:
Embrace simplicity.
Allow for revision.
Forgive mistakes (yours and others’).
Be open to new experiences (like a new hobby) and thoughts.
Do not compare your journey with anyone else’s.
Adjust your goals and expectations based on your priorities.
Establish clearly defined boundaries, both with yourself and with others in your life.
Schedule a regular time for self-reflection and self-evaluation.
Stop chasing perfection.
This last point may be the most important, says Thomas. You’re not going to get it right on the first try. You may encounter things that change your sense of purpose. That’s not just OK—it’s the point. Remember, the process of finding your purpose is more important than what words you finally settle on.
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