Developing a Purpose Takes Time.

We think purpose is this great and intangible thing. Something most of us spend our lives seeking out and only a few of us get to truly discover. That's a myth. You just need to put in the gritty work.

A lot of us - if not all of us - want to feel as though we're working towards something. We want to pursue a purpose to help feel fulfilled and have direction in life. We put pressure on ourselves to know what that is and to figure it out immediately. However, without this pressure, comes hopelessness and hopelessness leads to depression. As people, we need to feel as though we're doing something, going somewhere - or what's the point of doing anything at all?

I'm currently reading a book called Grit by Angela Duckworth (highly recommend). She delves into how finding purpose occurs. In doing so, she shatters the myth that one day we stumble across something and instantly know exactly what we're meant to be and do. If you ask anyone who feels they've discovered their purpose, they usually have a back story of circumstances and a honing of skills and interests that led them there. For instance, Bill Gates didn't just wake up one day and decide to launch Microsoft. He spent the majority of his childhood around computers that he was lucky enough to have access to due to certain circumstances. The more he delved into writing code, the more attuned his skills and interests were. Here's the gist of finding a purpose:

Dapple in several different things that interest you (this can take years) --> Pursue one of those interests with everything you've got --> Interest becomes passion --> Figure out how your passion can help others --> Passion becomes Purpose.

Simplified: Interests + Passion + Time = Purpose

Duckworth writes in her book about when we first come across something we're interested in, that interest and giddiness can fade before we give it enough time to turn into something more. With time and effort, an interest can turn into an area of expertise which eventually leads to learning the nuances and ultimately discovering a passion and a purpose.

How do you grow an interest? You learn more; you spend more effort and time with it. For instance, say you really like playing pickleball (basically ping pong and tennis combined). If you want to turn pickleball into a passion, you can research which paddles are the best, you can watch YouTube videos of the pros, you can research the rules, find people to play with that are better than you, etc. After all of this, you may be really passionate about pickleball - but how can you turn this into a purpose? This is where some of your other interests might come in. If you like teaching and helping others, you could launch a pickleball camp or club. If you like entrepreneurship and sports, you could start a league, host a tournament. The possibilities are endless if you just give them the time of day. As humans, we're dynamic and ever changing. We don't always make progress through life in a linear formation. We take turns, change our minds, circle back, pivot, etc. Just know, that if you keep hope and keep striving, everything will eventually come together in this fickle thing we call life. It may not be the way we expect, but the Universe is funny that way. Everything leads to something.