Do you feel called to something?

Have a cause you are passionate about?

Know your life purpose?

 If so, have you written it down?

Dr. Henriette Anne Klauser says writing down your dream or goal is the first step to realizing it. “Write It Down, Make it Happen: Knowing what you want—and getting it!” is her book title and mantra:

Putting a goal in writing is like buying a blue Honda; it sets up a filter that helps you be aware of certain things in your surroundings. …Once you write down a goal, your brain will be working overtime to see you get it, and will alert you to the signs and signals that, like the blue Honda, were there all along.

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Composing a life purpose statement can be overwhelming: How can I reduce the purpose of my life to one sentence? You may wonder.

Or it can feel limiting—like a pair of handcuffs: Who wants their life to be about only one thing?

Actually, a purpose statement simply captures an overriding theme already present in your life. It puts down in words the true work you are here to do: the cause you will pursue, the wound in individuals or society you will seek to heal, the problem you will devote your life to fixing. It states the highest, purest, most others-oriented aim of your life.

What if I don’t want to know it or write it down? You ask.

It’s OK – it’s not required! You may very well live out your purpose whether you ever know it, say it, or write it down because it’s who you are. It is what you’ve been shaped by God to be about, to do. You are it.

However, you can also choose to be intentional about it. Stating your life purpose can be a powerful first step to seeing it fulfilled. A purpose statement is an instrument to:

-Direct you

-Guide you in choosing what you will lend time and energy to (or not)

-Filter the noise of culture, turning the volume up, down, or off

-Keep you on track or return you to the track of your true life if you get derailed

-Help you know in the end that you became yourself and lived your meant-to-be-life.

 Life is a narrative that you have a hand in writing, says Dr. Klauser.

How will you write yours?

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Tomorrow’s post gives specific “how to” steps for writing your Purpose Statement.

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photo credit: djking (creative commons)

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