It seems like an oxymoron. Multipotentialite life purpose. That ONE elusive holy grail Purpose for your multipotentialite life. That ONE thing you’re supposed to focus on forever and ever? Does it even exist?
A recent article on Why You Don’t Need a Life Purpose had me nodding my head.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t have goals or aspirations, quite the opposite actually. I had too many. Truth is, there is an incredible amount of things I want to accomplish in life and some of them aren’t even related. I finally decided I don’t need a life purpose and don’t feel the need to come up with one.
Rather, I choose to find direction in what I value in life. For me, some of those values would include things like, love, learning, health, adventure, authenticity, compassion, fun, justice, and passion.”
Are you looking for your purpose or calling? Don’t sweat it. Don’t let a lack of purpose stop you from exploring what excites you. You don’t NEED purpose to have a meaningful life.
What is purpose?
- Purpose is something that comes gradually. It’s a series of things that lead to an eventual A-HA.
- Purpose is something that you choose consciously. It’s whatever you want to focus on, not forever, but for NOW.
- Your purpose is not set in stone. It’s whatever you want it to be and it will change.
When I was too busy worrying about my purpose, getting stuck in ‘deer in headlights syndrome’, I forgot that life is best lived.
The point of life is happiness. – Dalai Lama
How to find your multipotentialite life’s work
Is life work different than a life purpose? Life work, life purpose, life calling, life mission; call it what you want, it’s all semantics, and I use them interchangeably.
To embrace a multipotentialite version of “Life Work”, you’ve got to embrace living in the moment. Moving to the beat of what absolutely excites you and doing just that. Don’t think of life work as “Forever”, think of it as “Now”. You’ve got to embrace living in the now.
That doesn’t mean you should throw out all plans. But plan goals in a way that leaves room for more exploration. I love Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map. Instead of thinking about a list of goals, how do you want to feel in 6 months, a year, or 5 years? Measure by emotions and feelings. What excites you? What makes your heart skip a beat? What will make you happy? Like the article I pointed out earlier, what do you value the most?
I want to feel… transformation, intuitive guidance and courageousness. So far this year has been just that.
I’m tired of feeling… broke all the time. And I have been feeling more abundance than being ‘broke’ or lacking.
What things can you do to move towards the feelings you want to have? If you’re in an unsatisfying situation, what can you do to make it better?
Declaring a life purpose – not all who wander are lost
I love to travel and I hate how jealous gatekeepers say that traveling is for people who are “searching for something”, or worse yet, “running away”… Not all who wander are lost. And perhaps the very nature of searching, like an explorer, or someone who discovers ancient artifacts or a cure for cancer, isn’t something you should see as negative anyway.
We need more explorers, discoveries, and Curious George’s (one of my favorite book series growing up).
I like to think of my guidance as my inner compass. My intuition. Like an explorer, I use my inner compass to live life off the map. I don’t go from point A to B in a logical manner, but my inner compass always points me exactly where I need to go.
Your life purpose is exactly what calls you. It’s not something that you wait for, wondering when it’ll magically appear to you. It’s something you decide and declare.
Your Turn
What’s your multipotentialite life purpose? In other words, what do you value most in life and how do you want to feel?
Great arcticle! I kept thinking that I was still trying to figure out my overarching theme or life purpose, cause at 15 you don’t know yourself well enough to find that out. But you’re right; it is what you make it and it isn’t set in stone, thanks for enlightning me.
Right now, I think mine is learning. Not sure if that counts, or whether it i just a multipotentialite trait of mine, but I am going with it till I changes. I dig my claws into anything I can learn something interesting from so it fits me well. Thanks again:-)
learning is great and definitely a multipotentialite thing too! have fun with it 🙂
Don’t think of life work as “Forever”, think of it as “Now”
That was great advice and definitely something I needed to hear for most of my 20’s, thanks for putting it into words!
Now that I finally know this I’ve been able to get on with committing to something.
May not be forever, may not even work out, but it lets me play all the roles I want to based on my interests. If it turns into something, though, I know I’d be good at it and would love it.
Glad you got to figure it out past your 20s!! Those were some whirlwind times… Glad I’m past that 😛
Yeah, just do what’s fun and what you enjoy doing. Now lately, I’ve been feeling like picking up guitar again (gave it up for pretty much most my 20s but at one point I was pretty decent and could even pick up songs by ear) and violin and getting back into music!
Janet! Another great one!
I used to always get caught up thinking about how what I was interested in had to be the big forever. Then of course the multidimensional… I mean multipotential brain would kick in and switch gears and I’d get all down on myself: I guess I failed, I can’t do nothing, boo-hoo whoa is me. It took me way to long to realize that if I just enjoy things in the moment, take them as the come, I can’t possibly lose; only grow.
As for the journey, I could’t agree more. I was just writing the other day about creativity and I popped out this gem
“move often and often in new places”
Some times the journey is near and sometimes it’s far but the minute we stop exploring is the minute our brains shrivel up and cry.
Thanks Cotey 🙂
Yeah the big forever is a mindf*ck. And unrealistic expectation. I never take things that end as “failures”. Because they give you so much to learn. Movement is essential. For sure. I’m nomadic and that’s just how I’m wired. Can’t stay in one place for toooo long! I do struggle with how I tend to want change that I’m being “flakey”.
Hi Janet,
this article is truly inspiring. I think that we all need some kind of purpose or vision that get’s us up in the morning and motivates us to do things we love.
For me, that is working towards being free. I’m working to generate passive income, allowing me to spend the time with things I want rather than working from 9 to 5.
I agree with you that this purpose might change over time, just like our environment and our preferences change. And that’s totally ok, as long as we keep taking action to reach our goals.
I also agree that it’s important to focus on the present instead of letting your mind worry about the future. Recently I saw a video presenting a study that more than 60% of mind-wandering situations are related with negative emotions. That really kick my ass and motivated me, to stay even more focussed at the moment.
All the best,
Jan
Passive income would be great!! That’s something I still really struggle with. I need to diversify my income streams. It’s also nice that this goal you have for passive income can manifest in many different ways. Definitely great for multipotentialites!
That’s an interesting percentage.. Trying to think of examples in my own life and I would say its true. If I mind wander to the future it’s a lot of anxiety and fear.. To the past, then it’s kind of overthinking about how I could have done something better or differently etc.
Hello Emelie,
I’m so excited to have found this website! I was searching for “how to combine several ideas into one business plan”. I’ve started a few endeavors in the past, but they ultimately didn’t produce the desired results due to poor planning. This time around, I’m going to write an actual business plan that clearly defines my ideas and goals. I’m stressed out about it because I have an opportunity to present the plan to investors, and I’m having trouble pulling multiple ideas from my noggin and putting them onto paper in one cohesive plan. Puttylike is going to be instrumental in helping me to achieve my goals. Thank you so much!
Hi Lizzie,
Glad you like the site and hope it gives you lots of new things to think about. 🙂 I think as long as you have a good vision with what you want and know what your values are so that your business can align, you’ll have a good foundation. Good luck on the business plan… presenting to investors, wow, that sounds exciting!
I love this post Janet! I have many interests too and there’s a lot of different things I want to achieve in my life, I couldn’t imagine having only one sole purpose.
“Moving to the beat of what absolutely excites you and doing just that” – this really resonates with me. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with interests that evolve over time in fact I think it’s healthy!
Isn’t this article going against the whole point of Puttylike – that of not needing a life purpose and just enjoying doing lots of things?
Why the need to thread all of our main interests together – and then declare the thread?
Is it so important to you to identify yourself by your job first – and then justify why you’re doing it, because of some cosmic reason? If you ask me, that’s ridiculous – and says more about innate insecurity than anything else.
So what if you do loads of stuff, have loads of interests? That’s great. I don’t see the point of analysing the “why”. Why does there even need to be one? There probably isn’t one.
This whole “gotta have a life purpose” topic (that’s filled many books and websites out there) is also just so ego-centered. It’s coming from a place of self-importance and entitlement.
Why not just live and enjoy this one precious life you do have, and just do everything you’d like to do?
And be free of needing internal and external validation for it?
I don’t think Janet’s piece contradicts the philosophy here at all. The title is a bit of an oxymoron and it’s intentional. I think what she’s saying here is that you don’t need one Why. Simply think about how you want to feel, listen to your intuition, and don’t worry about having it all make sense. I think you guys agree.
I know this is an old thread, but maybe you can still comment?
I’ve read a bunch of posts now on this multipotentialite and I’m definitely one of the “afflicted” at least thats how I still perceive it in my narrowed experience. My interest in many things brings me enjoyment in the short term, but little long term sense of fulfillment and purpose.
I’m truly struggling to find purpose…I guess similar to the ‘big forever’….but just something I can do during the day that lets me fall asleep at night in peace, not anxious of missed opportunities and unfulfilled self-expectations.
I really want to see the value of this personality trait. I love your articles and want to learn how to find VALUE in what I do. Perhaps I’ll find ways to help others, but with a diversity of skills, I have nothing to offer in any one area specifically. Its a truly negative self-defeatist cycle in which I realize that I will only accomplish things for myself, and not for others. 🙁
Eek….I really hope you don’t mind a comment that seems negative, rounds out all the positivity, eh? I’m just in a different place where I’ve lost so much due to my multiple interests and lack of specialization.
Thanks so much.