Why are you here on earth?

This is a tough question that most people, if not all, struggle with in life.

But, it has been proven that most successful and effective people on earth have, kind of, figured it out. They have a grasp of why they have to do what they do.

How about you? Do you have a sense of what you’re supposed to be and do in life?

If you carefully look at some of the most successful people, you know of or not, they share a lot in common. Two of the few things, I believe, they have in common could be: how they perceive life that defines their purpose in life and what they do about it. 

Finding purpose depends on your perception of life.

Finding your purpose should begin with how you perceive life. Here are 3 ways that could change your way of perceiving life. 

Life is a journey.

Just as you get ready for a journey, that’s the same way you should do with life. Be ready for it.

When life is perceived as a journey, you will then be able to begin thinking in terms of the following:

• When you want this journey to take place.
• Where you want to go.
• How you want to get there.
• Who you want to go with.

Doing so will stimulate ideas and thoughts that will help you get inspired and be more creative with your own life.

Also, “beginning with the end in mind,” one of the principles for most effective leaders, according to Stephen Covey, comes in handy. That’s your starting point and you should do it at every level of your being: spirit, mind, soul (emotional state of being) and body.

Life comes in seasons.

• Life is a series of stages: birth, infant development into toddler, teenagers until when we become adults. We don’t control all these changes, which make them inevitable. But, we control our perception of what happens to us.
• A person with purpose is the one who embraces changes and uses them as opportunity for growth. They look at changes as ways that could help them evolve more and be better than ever.

Life becomes what you make of it.

• Design your life. A personal mission statement will help you tremendously with designing your life. I’d encourage you to start from there. You can learn more about why you need a personal mission statement and how to design one for yourself by reading one of my blog posts, 4 reasons you need a personal mission statement.
• Plan your life, one day at a time. In a previous post, 11 tweaks to your daily routine to make your day more meaningful, you will learn a few tips to help you do just that.

A framework to help you with finding purpose.

There could be many suggested models out there to help you get a sense of purpose in life. What I’m proposing now is a threefold universal framework you could explore in the process of clarifying on why you’re here on earth.

Model good living.

• Establish a good and solid belief system. This will help you define values for your life.
• As of me, I use my faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible, as the primary source of what I need to know about my faith, has helped me established my values in life.
• Your values in life will help you get some clarity on who you should be. They will shape your personality, behavior and habits.
• In my case, I embody what it means to be a child of God. My lifestyle becomes an example of how to talk, relate to people and handle what life brings about to us. Jesus used this phrase: “be the light of the world and the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5: 13-16).⠀⠀⠀ ⠀

Influence others and your surroundings.

• When you have some clarity on your purpose in life, you will easily become an agent for change.
• This change begins in your life as a result of your belief system. It then becomes contagious to the point people in your life and your surroundings are affected too for the better.
• People only know you based on how you present yourself to them. Jesus also said that they will know you are my disciples because of love you have for each other (John 13:35). That is how we influence others.⠀⠀⠀ ⠀

Care for others and your surroundings.

• You influence others and your surroundings through the way you care for them.
• As a believer in God, that is what I know God wants me to care for all.

I believe that you are where you live for the purpose of caring for yourself, people in your life and your surroundings. That’s your purpose in life.

How you do it will different from the way I do it. That is why starting with your personal perception of life is very crucial.

In practice your purpose in life lies in:

• Being a model people can refer to.
• Influencing others and your surroundings.
• Caring for yourself, other people and your surroundings.

Show some love by sharing this post with someone. Thank you for doing so!