Life purpose

What are we doing here on earth? Is it simply a series of seemingly serendipitous events or is it totally random? Do we all eventually get to perform what we were meant to do? Or is everything a blank sheet of paper and we define what we want in our lives and go out there to get it? How much control do we have?

I have been talking to a number of people lately and a common theme that has cropped up is life purpose. What are we placed on this earth to do?

Religious ones have it easy because they already believe that they are put here to do god's bidding, or to reap the karmic seeds sown in the past. What about the rest?

There are a small number of people who grow up already knowing what they want to do, usually having experienced something profound in their youth. Most of these people would have very influential parents or familiar figures around to impact them with that much force. I believe this number represents only a minority of people. Majority of people fall into their life purpose much later in life, after trying out several paths that appeal to them.

So what then, do we do when we are sitting here, staring out into the bright stars in the sky wondering if we are on the right path? Try these.

a. Explore. Find time to talk to people from all walks of life and across industries to find out what appeals to you. There will be certain things that you will gravitate towards. Note what these are.

b. Review your skills and training, what you have been educated in so far. Education takes on many guises. Consider both formal and informal education. The summer you spent waiting tables on holiday may bring about skills in allocating workshifts to staff, handling customer complaints and how to serve customers or cashiering.

c. Work out a match of both interests and skills and match that to market demands. It doesn't matter how highly skilled you are and how passionate you are about a certain topic, if the market does not require your skills, it amounts to nothing. Or you may need to change your living environment.

d. Be constantly networking. Most great jobs never appear in the classifieds. To be a mover and shaker in your industry, you need to have your finger on the pulse. In order to spot the next trend and pioneer, you need to have wide ranging networks to bring to you information from all levels. So, if you are not already networking hard, start doing so.

These steps will help assist you in getting some clarity in what you want from life. There will eventually be a point whereby you will just know if it's right for you. Good luck getting there.