At various stages of life people often reflect on the ‘purpose’ of their life. It seems to be very similar to the search for ‘happiness’ in that it is more about a journey and managing it as you evolve and age, rather than thinking of it as a specific destination that is unwavering across your life. This is consistent with what UC Berkeley researchers at the Greater Good Science Center (n.d.) have found.

At the risk of sounding like an advert for edX, there is actually a fantastic course on that platform put together by UC Berkeley called ‘Finding Purpose Across Your Life’. It clearly explains four key steps you can take if you decide you want to lead a more purposeful life (Pause, Dream, Activate, and Reflect) and provides some useful worksheets and other resources to help guide you through these stages. Life can be challenging and as you transition into different stages this four step framework provides a useful way to reconnect with your purpose, grow, and change. I particularly liked the idea of using ‘experiments’ to put your purpose into practice.

Life coaching can support this process by giving you a space to reflect on your purpose within the above mentioned framework, or another method of your own design. You are the expert on you, so while it useful to incorporate tools to explore ideas such as purpose, you may have your own unique way that life coaching can adapt to and facilitate.

REFERENCES

Greater Good Science Centre (n.d.). ‘What is Purpose?’ https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/purpose/definition