How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose

Globally, COVID-19 has crashed economies, challenged healthcare systems, and disrupted everyday living in a way no one imagined before. This pandemic has made us afraid to shake hands and feel safe in social distancing. It has changed our lives to lockdowns, stringent social distancing, wearing face masks and work from home becoming the new normal. Here, I share some of my own experiences, what I learnt from them; and how I honour and use my special skills and abilities.

Initially working from home sounded good. It meant not having to get dressed and helped cut costs by saving travel time. But one could easily fall into a purposeless rut and a feeling of isolation.

Apart from having a comfortable home office setup to help maintain a quiet and productive work atmosphere, I ensure I take regular breaks, set boundaries, and maintain a strict work schedule. I also ensure a healthy morning routine which includes meditation, a walk in nature or practicing some yoga. To make it healthier for my body and my finances, I cook at home a lot! Cooking and cleaning is time consuming, but planning ahead helps; plus I started making my own bread at home which I have become pretty good at. I also learnt how to prepare a few new dishes.

Nonetheless, not having a steady dependable income is not a bed of roses; I decided to do a major declutter and move into a shared apartment with a friend! Phew! Not an ideal situation but it was certainly consistent with integrity and mutual benefit. Everything had to be strategically planned to exit from my tenancy lease at the previous apartment. I sold my old Kia Rio that served me well for a couple of years but the repair costs became unmanageable and I was relieved when I managed to sell it off via Facebook Marketplace. The move was stressful and exhausting but my four cats and I survived it! Two and the half months later all four cats are finally settled in and I am back to a more normal routine.

I recall how in August 2013, I took the leap of faith by becoming a freelance yoga teacher, using my home as a yoga studio or going over to clients' location and later, teaching online. Now I am finding the flow again. I wanted to write for my blog, to write whatever junk I chose to write about; therefore, I participated in a part-time Creative Writing for Beginners course with Word Works from May to August 2016. With that I moved on to writing a few articles for my blog on yoga wellness, lifestyle etc. In 2019 I took on a sales job and in the following year I also decided to become a real estate negotiator! Alas, thanks to the Pandemic, everything that I attempted was hardly sufficient nor good timing except for learning new skills which I totally did – so no regrets.

It's been more than a year since my last blog post; during the first 9 months of Covid-19, I was like a headless chicken; then I was also recovering from an unpronounceable wrist condition–De Quervain’s tenosynovitis which is a painful condition that affects the tendons in your wrist. The therapy sessions didn’t help much; however, the Traditional Chinese Medicine “bone setter” was more effective. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I healed myself by re-learning how to avoid using my injured left wrist as much as possible, which meant not doing yoga either! Instead I took advantage of the lovely recreation park at Bukit Jalil, walking and connecting with nature.

So where is this reflection leading to? What inspired me to recreate myself? I love improving my life so I keep working on myself from re-reading my motivational books, to learning new skills from free tutorials on the Internet, YouTube, Blogs, and so on.

You could learn skills now that you may use in different ways later. Do not look at the world to figure out what to do with your life. Look at yourself and ask what is it that you want to do or love to do. What attracts you? What excites you? What are the issues you are working on in your life? What can you get enthusiastic about doing? After looking at the skills you want to use, look at your dreams. Take a moment to get in touch with it. Allow yourself to think and dream in unlimited ways. All you need to do is get clear on what you want, and dare to think big.

Below is an exercise I did from the book Creating Money by Sanaya Roman & Duane Packer, per the chapter Discovering Your Life’s Work. It helped me revisit my dreams and get my goals back on track, and I hope it helps you too. The only way to achieve more in your life is to continuously work on it!

Imagine you are living a life that is truly joyful and loving. Use your imagination.

• What activities are you doing or what type of skills are you using, such as reading, talking, negotiating, counselling, thinking, writing, organizing, or managing; working with people, teaching or working with plants, animals or data. List them all out.

• How many hours a week do you devote to moneymaking activities. What hours do you work? How many days in a row do you work each week or each month?

• Do you have a physically active, fast-paced job, or do you work in a slow, relaxed atmosphere?

• Do you work with the same people daily or weekly? What are these people like? What role do you play with them? How much of the time do you work alone?

• What does your work environment look like? Is it indoors or outdoors, in your home, or in a centre or office? Do you travel? If so, where and how often? Do you work in the city or the country?

• What status do you have or what role do you play? What responsibilities do you have? What are the opportunities for advancement? Are you part of a team? Do you work for a large or small company, or for yourself? Do you work for one employer or group, or do you contract your work to several clients?

As you imagine this joyful life in more and more detail, continue refining and adding to your answers, thinking of even more possibilities and choices and imagining yourself having even more than you did the previous time. You may find that you get clearer about what you want as you focus on it and take away any limits you have placed on what is possible. You are creating a model that tells your higher self what your ideal life would be like. As you complete these questions, your higher self is already beginning to find ways to bring your ideal life to you. Are you ready for it?