Saw this interesting video claiming to know your life purpose in 5 minutes:
Adam Leipzig says people who were happiest knew five things about their purpose:
- Who they were – What is your name?
- what they did – what do you love to do?
- who they did it for – Who do you serve?
- what those people wanted or needed – What do you serve them?
- and what they got out of it – how did they changed as a result?
I liked his point about the examined life being worth living but if examining is all you’re doing your missing the point – that’s not living! We can get so bogged down in theory and navel-contemplation that literally we fail to take any action.
Only two of the five things successful people know according to Adam are about ‘you’; the rest of the purpose is outward-facing and about others. There is a good degree of evidence to suggest that helping others and working in the service of others is good for creating happiness, so am not surprised that he is saying it.
I really liked the approach of using five questions to find out one’s purpose: Answering all the question and then constructed my elevator pitches, so next time I am at a party and introduce myself using one of those. Looking at it again, I am clearly not short of purpose.
So here are some of my elevator pitches:
‘I am Volker and I love talking to people about fulfilling their dreams so they can lead awesome lives.’
‘I am Volker and I write songs to inspire people who need understanding, courage and love and to feel good’
The Coaching Reflex 