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The Keys to Finding Your Personal Purpose and Turning It Into Your Profession.
12 de April de 2021
Mark Twain used to say that the two most important days in your life are the day you’re born and the day you find out why. The less time goes by between these two moments —we may add—, the fuller the rest of your life will be.
This won't be about finding an answer to the metaphysical question of the origins of existence. It’s enough to discover what makes your life full — finding that which brings a special energy, that which you enjoy and makes you feel good, that which comes out naturally, with no effort, that of which you never grow tired.
If you’ve already found it, congratulations! You’ve taken a great step towards living life to the fullest.
But to reach plenitude, there’s still a third and crucial day: that in which you chose to turn that answer into the main focus of your life, in which you accommodate everything in your life around it, in which you turn it into the ultimate goal of your every action and you make it your personal purpose.
But, let’s go back to the beginning — the day we’re born. On that day, we find out that there’s a carefully designed plan for us: nursery, school, highschool, university… Finding our “why” requires time. And that’s something that we don’t have much in this tight roadmap we’re given at birth.
That’s why, for many people, it takes years to find out what’s their passion. And, once they do, they think it’s too late to turn it into their life’s purpose. They have directed their professional career down a path that has nothing to do with that purpose. Their work, to which they dedicate a great part of each day, becomes that thing that gets them further away from what makes them feel so good. Far from being a source of personal fulfillment, it becomes a source of frustration.
The third day, that in which we take our purpose and put it in a central place, starts to gradually move away as we keep on turning that hamster-wheel that, with every passing day, brings us less and less satisfaction.
Until, one day, we step out of the wheel and we make a run for wherever we want to be instead of being where we are expected to be. Then the concept of work is transformed. We no longer do things because we have to, but rather because we want to, because we enjoy doing them, because they make us feel good, whole and fulfilled.
That’s exactly what Anna Buira did. She worked, first, as a communicator and, later, as project manager, before finding out that people were her passion. She did the Executive Master in Leadership & Coaching at EAE Business School and now she’s an Executive Coach at Koa-Kura Latam.
These days, Buira helps people identify their purpose. She helps them connect with what really makes them feel whole and turn it into their life’s main focus. Some days ago, she took part in an Alumni Learning Session together with Jordi Vila, EAE Business School’s Leaders Programme director, and she shared her personal experience, showing us the keys of a path that is not easy but, according to her, always leads to a good place.
1. Be Absolutely Convinced
It may seem obvious but, as it happens with so many big decisions, the first step is to be absolutely convinced that you want to do it. According to Buira, this doesn’t mean that every fear and doubt will disappear instantly. “Doubts and fears will be there. We must accept them and take them for what they are: a part of our journey”, she points out.
Buira made her decision during an activity that took place during her Master in Leadership & Coaching at EAE where she delved into the depths of her mind to rescue her purpose and bring it afloat and, then, she started thinking on how she could apply it to her professional life. Buira defines her experience as if something had “clicked” — which, for her, is the unequivocal sign that the time has come to start the process, that we’re ready. “When things come to the surface, it’s because we can address them. When we become aware of something, it’s because we’re already ready to handle it”.
2. Don’t Rush, But Don’t Delay Either
Having understood that you want to get off that hamster wheel doesn’t mean you have to jump while the wheel is still turning. Making the decision is the first step in a gradual process towards finding what makes you feel whole and that you want to turn into the fuel of your life. “It’s crucial to identify which are the things that you’re doing because you want to and which are the ones you’re doing because something or someone else is telling you to. That’s a huge step, because you realise how many things you do without even knowing why”, explains Buira.
In this process, your mentality is crucial. If you have made the decision of turning your purpose into your way of life, you must not settle with less, nor lose your way. “Whenever I have found something I didn’t like, I’ve always looked for something else. We have to chase what moves us. It makes no sense to stay somewhere if there’s no better reason for that than just being there”.
3. Your Purpose Is More Than a Job
A personal purpose is not necessarily —or, at least, not exclusively— a specific activity or profession; especially when we’re talking about the work environment. It can also be something more abstract: a way of doing things or a way of understanding work and professional relationships. That’s why Buira also recommends identifying which people, circles and environments bring out the best in us, then including them in our purpose and in our professional project.
4. Your Purpose Must Be Alive and Evolve
If it’s going to fuel us and push us throughout our entire life, our personal purpose must be in a constant state of evolution. We’re living in fast changing times and, in order to adapt to these changes, our purpose must be alive. According to Buira, this requires daily caring and feeding. It must always be present in everything we do and we must constantly think about how we can take new steps towards aligning ourselves with our life purpose.
5. Stick to Your Path… And Trust Yourself
Buira describes the process as a rollercoaster — curves, ups and downs. There will be moments of uncertainty in which we won’t know what comes next. But we must trust the path we’ve chosen and be confident that, if we remain firm, everything will be alright and the journey will finish where we wanted it to finish.
Now that we’ve seen the positive effects of finding our life purpose and giving it a central position in our lives, and now that we have the roadmap, all that’s left to do is taking the first step. If you don’t know when to start, remember that famous quote by Dalai Lama: There are only two days in life when nothing can be done; one is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow