Sometimes you can know your life purpose but then get sidetracked and never fulfil it.

The vast majority of people don’t know their life purpose or they are unsure about their purpose.

It is difficult to find something when you don’t know what you are looking for.

A few know their purpose but feel they don’t deserve it. Others know their purpose but are afraid of failure.

A small few know their purpose, but they get stopped because they feel they could never handle the responsibility that comes with it.

That’s a combination of guilt, fear of failure, and fear of success. Imagine the sadness and frustration of knowing your life purpose to then get hindered from moving forward.

If you don’t know your life purpose, don’t fret just yet, you may need longer to discover it.

You need to do the work necessary to find out what is that makes you feel happy and fulfilled.

In this post, I will give you tips to uncover your life mission and show you the three most common reasons that stop people from fulfilling their life purpose.

What is your life purpose?

Bob Proctor posed this question, “If I could spend my life doing one thing, what would I really love doing?” 

In answering this challenging question, you will uncover your life purpose.

At first inspection, it may seem an easy question, but it can take many people weeks or months to find the answer.

Everything fulfils a purpose in this world. Though wasps might be an exception.

The Sun provides light and warmth to support and sustain life. The Clouds provide the rain giving water to all living things.

Sand and rocks serve to filter the water. Plants provide oxygen and food for us. Do I need to mention that bees pollinate the plants or do you get my point?

These all have a set purpose. You could argue that they were designed or created for that purpose. For example, trees can’t decide to provide oxygen or not.

We choose

We humans are different, we can choose our life purpose.

Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why.”

What I think he means by this is that discovering your purpose gives your life real meaning.

Discovering your life purpose gives you a reason to get out of bed every morning.

If your answer to why you get out of bed is, “Because I need to go to work.” It is not the right answer unless you love your job.

There has to be more than going to work because you need to pay your bills.

There is a great story dating back to when John F. Kennedy visited the NASA space centre.

The then President of the USA saw a janitor pushing a mop and walked over and asked him what he was doing.

A man on the moon

The janitor replied with this brilliant line, “Mr President, I’m helping put a man on the moon.”

He was not being sarcastic or smart-mouthed, he had a strong sense of purpose. The purpose is that sense that we are needed, that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that we have something better ahead to work for.

Read the janitor’s reply again. You can feel the pride he has in his job.

He may not be that high on any organisational chart depicting the story of America’s space exploration.

But there he is, filled with pride at the mention of the common purpose he shares with the very men who would walk on the moon.

Your purpose is your reason for living. Like it was painting for Michelangelo or writing was for Shakespeare.

Every person is hardwired to do something, we all have an exceptional talent or skill.

It might be some kind of sport or art, writing, researching, helping others, serving, being a good parent or spouse.

Never work another day

There is a joy to discovering your purpose. Once you do, you will never work another day in your life. Why? Because you will love what you do.

You will be passionate about it. You will be eager to get out of bed every morning to fulfil your purpose.

Picasso said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” 

Once you discover your reason for life, you will create your vision. Your vision shows you what you need to do to live a life of purpose. Then you get to set your bite-size goals to get there.

Despite all of this, some people find themselves not acting on fulfilling their purpose. These three reasons are the ones most likely to stop you and keep you stuck and frustrated.

3 Things That Keep You from Fulfilling Your Purpose

The important step you need to take to get out of that rut is to decide to take control now. You need to identify what it is that stops you from moving forward.

In all likelihood, you’re in the grasp of one or more of the following three everyday things that stop people from finding and fulfilling their purpose and living their life mission.

But you don’t achieve your life purpose. What prevents you from fulfilling your life purpose? What is keeping you stuck?

Being stuck and your lack of progress is frustrating. You might even feel depressed.

You need to get out of that negative cycle, out of that rut you are in. The good news is there is an important step you can take to get out of that rut.

If you have been searching for your purpose, mission or vision for your life, and are still searching with angst and restlessness, like I was, you’re probably making one of these three mistakes.

1. Self-doubt

All of us, even the best amongst us, falls prey to self-doubt at some point. It’s a way to keep yourself safe in an often-confusing world.

The most significant thing that holds people back from realising their true potential is probably fear of failure.

And in a world that values wealth and conspicuous success, striking out for something you believe in can be risky.

But if you stay stuck in a mindset of fear, it’s guaranteed you will never achieve anything substantial.

When you stay small, it prevents you from acting, it prevents you from growing and being your best you.

2. Other people’s opinion

Self-doubt is fed by caring what other people think of you. Reality dictates there will always be a plentiful supply of naysayers trying to stop you from pursuing and living your dreams.

And I can give you a cast-iron guarantee that whatever your life purpose, you will encounter people who doubt your dream and your ability to achieve it.

Thankfully, there will also be some people who support you and believe in you.

And your biggest cheerleader should be you!

You don’t need anyone’s permission to live your purpose.

You only need a strong sense of conviction and the will to pursue your passion.

3. Lacking intention

This is not often talked about but living purposefully with intention is crucial to staying true to your life purpose. It’s pointless to have a passion or dream and to be lazy about it.

Be intentional about your life purpose and step up to the plate.

Use the same approach you would for any other project. Be methodical, be organised and give your life purpose the attention and care it deserves.

Yes, that means having a plan, writing it down and making yourself accountable. You start by taking the attention off yourself and thinking about the impact you want to have on the world. What legacy do you want to leave?

I am not worthy

Maybe it is not, “I’m not good enough.” But how about, not strong enough, smart enough, or simply “don’t have what it takes”? 

Anxiety

These feelings are unfortunately all too common. These anxieties are more than happy to exploit you.

We are all in the battle of our lives in our personal war with anxiety. Anxiety attempts to make us believe that we aren’t worthy enough and that we don’t deserve to live our life purpose.

One of those ridiculous ways is to make us think that we are being selfish if we celebrate our achievements.

Anxiety tries to invalidate you by saying: “Are you mad? Don’t do that.”

Who are you to be showing off, and making yourself out to be better than anyone else?

Who do you think you are robbing someone else’s nose in your success? Especially when you know exactly how that feels.

And anyway, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like you won the Nobel prize.”

After that doubt is placed in your mind, you downplay every victory and every good quality you have.

And, before we realise it we are questioning if we are worthy of any good thing.

This vicious cycle

Forget about celebrating something when you are not worthy of it in the first place.

This vicious cycle reinforces the negative thinking and lack of self-respect and self-confidence.

Old habits are hard to break. Negative thinking and lack of self-respect and self-confidence may have been a part of your life for a long time.

To make it more difficult, we have society telling us at every moment that we need to act a certain way, look a certain way, and wear a specific size of clothing.

You can defeat the demons of anxiety, guilt, fear of failure, and fear of success that stop you from fulfilling your life purpose. It will take discipline and dedication.

Are you up to the challenge? If you are, then enrol in my free webinar, 5 Ways To Perform At Your Best. and remember happiness is a result of accomplishing what you were born to do.