What’s up? We appreciate you checking in. If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ll be familiar with our L.I.F.E acronym, which stands for Learning Is Full Existence. Let’s keep it REAL, if you’re not learning every day, why are you alive? Think about it. It should be why you wake up in the morning; to learn something new. As we’ve said before, learning is how you grow, and again, if you’re not growing, why are you alive? We have an obligation to learn and grow as long as we choose to be alive. Yes, life is a choice. We’ve said it before and we will say it again, you can be alive with no heartbeat, and dead with your heart beating. Life is all about choices.
If life is a choice, our next question should be, How will you choose to live? Another way of putting this is, what is your purpose in life? A BIG question, we know; but this should be an easy question to answer once you’ve figured it out. Yes, it might be hard to get to the answer to this, but once you have it, it’s yours forever. Let’s break it down… what is your purpose while you’re alive? We have to define purpose to get to this answer. Purpose is a noun. It can be used as a verb (or adverb?), but for the sake of answering this question, it’s a noun. So let’s keep it REAL for a second… is “purpose” a person, place or thing to you? Think about it. It’s not our purpose to figure out, it’s yours. This little exercise, if you haven’t done it before, will help you start to lock in on what exactly your purpose in this life is. One thing we highly recommend when doing this exercise is to not limit yourself or put boundaries on what you’ve decided your purpose is; because the next thing we have to do is to decide the “why”.
Yes, now it’s going to get a bit more difficult to answer. Why did you decide on your purpose? When you answer this question for yourself, remember, this is YOUR life and YOUR purpose so be very honest with your answer. The “why” is usually more difficult to answer than the “what” so take your time, but remember, honesty is more important here than pace. Sometimes the “why” might be easier to answer, we just might not accept that answer. We challenge you to accept your “why” and embrace it even. This will help you with the final piece of this all important journey of finding yourself and your purpose. Now that you know “what” your purpose is and “why” your purpose is what it is to you, you’re ready to unlock the “how” of your purpose.
Let’s keep it REAL, a lot of us don’t make it this far on our “purpose” journey, so let’s pause for a moment and congratulate ourselves for making it this far… celebrate the small wins! Now that you’ve pat yourself on the back, it’s time for maybe the most important question to answer on this journey. Okay, all questions are equally important, but this piece will be “how” you will make your purpose REAL. Consider an example:
Stu has decided he wants to live! He’s tired of just going through the motions of life and wants to make a true impact. This choice is his first step. The next step is determining what his purpose truly is. He’s decided that his purpose is his family. He wants to provide his family with everything they ever dreamed of and more. He knows that his family is struggling financially and wants to be the reason they all end up in a better place. His “why” comes from the daily struggle he witnesses his mother go through. She remains as positive as she can be, but with five kids and no help, she has her moments of frustration. Stu knows his mother and siblings don’t deserve to struggle so he’s on a mission to change that. He decides that he will change his family’s circumstances by getting an academic scholarship to college. He knows life after his degree will be worth the late nights studying. He’s committed to his purpose and understands that this will be a marathon, not a sprint. He is also aware that an academic scholarship will not only help his mother in the short term, because she wouldn’t have to take out any money for college right away, but he also knows this will be a win on the back end as well because he won’t have to pay any student loans and can focus on using his money to help his family. While he will use his financial stability to support his mother, he will provide knowledge to his siblings so that they can be stable on their own terms.
This example might seem relatable to some of our supporters, but this is just one of many examples that could help you figure out your true purpose in life. Stu’s purpose started with supporting his family, but it will end up being a generational benefit to the relatives that will come after him. We hope this blog helped you realize your purpose or at least steered you in the right direction. Check out How To Make Your Dreams REAL if you want a more in-depth post about embracing the journey and the stops along the way. Also, check out REAL Advice if you are in a situation that’s similar to Stu’s and want to help your family out while you’re still in school. Thanks again for checking in and we look forward to the great things you will add to our society and for our future leaders!
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