Having a conscious purpose in life prevents you from becoming an Automaton

Most of us have been preoccupied with our ‘purpose’ in life since we were old enough to ‘know’ that life wasn’t a great big adventure.

First and foremost, that conjecture is erroneous on all counts. Life is one big adventure. That’s a mindset.

Secondly, having a purpose in life is much different from having a conscious purpose in life. Everyone has a purpose in life; whether they realize it or not. This purpose is determined by the people around them. Usually the purpose of their life ends up being something like ‘being a tool to achieve the purpose of someone else.’

This isn’t because the people around you are unscrupulous bastards (most of the time). It’s because you, as a human, gravitate towards purposeful action and they can provide it for you.

On the other hand having a conscious purpose in life is a completely different can of beans. When you are 100% conscious of what your purpose in life is, you will never ever end up as someone else’s pawn (unless you’re suicidal or you don’t care about your life) . You will take your life back and become your own means to achieving your own purpose.

This difference between purpose and conscious purpose is so important.

Having a conscious purpose means that you’ve taken the time to think about how you want to spend your time on this planet. It means that you understand your motivations well enough to set a path that will bring you the most happiness. It also means that you are more self-aware than most of the population in the world.

A conscious purpose is guaranteed to make you a thousand times more happy than you would be without one; because without it you are walking around like an automaton.

I always stress the importance of always being present. My philosophy, and the philosophy of this blog, centers around being present in every part of your life.

Understand your choices. Understand that they ARE choices and understand why you choose to act a certain way. If you don’t like what you find, commit to making a mindset change.

Understand your work. Understand why you are doing it and how it makes you feel. If you feel anything less than joy, it’s time to re-evaluate your position in life.

Understand what you believe in and why you believe it. Then hold these beliefs without guilt and never let anyone tell you you’re wrong.

Understand yourself. Know what you love, what you’re worth, what moves you, what motivates you.

Most importantly, understand what your purpose is in life. Most of your purpose you can choose by having the right mindset. The other bit depends completely on who you are as a human being and how your experiences have shaped your view of the world and your life. It’s much harder to control, but it’s never set in stone.

So now you probably want to know how you find your purpose.

You are in luck, because I have a step by step process that works for everyone.

1.) Wait until it gets dark.

2.) Sit in the middle of the darkest room in your house with a bottle of cooking oil and a can of ravioli.

3.) Hold the cooking oil in one hand while squeezing the can of ravioli between your two feet.

4.) Your other free hand should be making hula motions the entire time.

5.) Remain in this position until you think of your purpose in life.

Or, if the above doesn’t work for you (or you just don’t dig doing hula) you can read Steve Pavlina’s post on finding your purpose. It really works.

After you’re done, come back and tell me what your purpose is (unless it’s real private in which case you can just tell me you succeeded).