“What am I here for? I mean, what am I REALLY designed to do?” she asked. “I feel empty and unfulfilled; I am longing to find the love of my life.” The urgency in her voice suggests that this is something serious. If she were to tell the story, she would say that she feels unimportant because her life has no significance. Her life is void of purpose and she is longing to discover what that is.

This is not at all uncommon. We are all searching for meaning in our lives at one point or another because without it we lack direction. Without direction,  we then become stagnant. We are all designed for a God given purpose and knowing what that is gives us a sense of significance, a place in the world.

So what is your purpose?

It’s the place where your God given gifts and sharing them with others collide and the magic happens.

Still not sure what yours is? Answer these 5 questions to get you started.

1. What do I want to do? Generate a list of action words that resonate with you. Write down as many as comes to mind. Once you’re done, choose the top 3 that you seem to connect with. Here’s a list of action words to get you started.

2. Who do I want to help? Who is it that you sense an obligation to? Is it men, women, children, families, parents, clergy, leaders, etc. Which population resonates with you? Which population(s) are you qualified to help?

3. What do I want the result to be? In other words, what value will you create? How will the “who” in #2 benefit from your “what” in #1?

4. How has my past influenced me and how might that play a role in my purpose in life? I once heard someone say that your pain remains your pain unless you turn it into ministry. Sometimes we go through hardships so that we can be of help to someone else.

5. How is someone’s life different because they crossed your path? Often times we are already operating in our purpose. We make the mistake of thinking that it has to be this grand plan when it could be something as simple as “bringing joy to those around me by encouraging them.”