How to Determine If Your Life Purpose Is a Noun or a Verb
When navigating transitions, it is important to identify and gain clarity of your purpose. Purpose can be expressed as both a noun and a verb. As a noun, purpose is something you possess (an asset you can show others). However, as a verb or a practice, purpose is a deliberate and conscious way of being and is the soul of your purpose. Chip Conley remarks in Living & Working on Purpose, “You can’t be the noun if you don’t do the verb.”
Here are some important facts to consider about your life purpose:
Embracing your purpose can extend your life by up to 7-8 years.
You are likely over or under purposed if you are experiencing stress, overwhelm, bored, uninspired, unmotivated, stuck, out of balance, indecisive, or not doing any one thing well.
An outer purpose without an inner compass will leave you lost.
You may be experiencing purpose anxiety if you are living with another’s expectations or purpose or thinking you are the one experiencing an unpurposeful life.
Purpose can evolve over time and throughout different seasons of your life.
Ikigai (that which makes life worth living) is at the intersection of living life doing what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. Living in Ikigai is the difference between a career and a calling.
Living with purpose (as both a verb and a noun), is a life in “flow.”
The most holistic expression of living life in/with purpose is when it combines passion, mission, profession, and vocation.
Let’s circle back to the Viscott quote from the first blog in this series to remind us about purpose and its connection to the work of life and meaning:
“The purpose of life is to discover your gift.
The work of life is to develop it.
The meaning of life is to give your gift away.”
David Viscott
Are you struggling to identify your purpose? Is it difficult to identify the fruits of your purpose? Are you currently in the midst of a life transition causing you to examine your life’s purpose and meaning? Having a coach journey alongside a person in transition helps illuminate the pathway forward. Coaching during a transition can provide you with a deeper connection or articulation of your purpose, clarity, confidence, and perspective. Click here to explore the current transition coaching packages available.
