It can be said that in order to understand what actions and thoughts we deem best, what kind of life we aim to lead, we must come to a relative conclusion on what is commonly referred to as a “purpose.” For this brief inquiry, “purpose” will refer to an understanding of what is to be most valued in life, and how to live in accordance with these highest values. We come to a “relative conclusion” on this purpose because as we will come to understand, purpose is a living, renewing process.
So how would one come an idea of one’s self-determined purpose if such a framework of value and life choices has not previously been seriously considered? Though there certainly is no specific formula, there are principals and ideas to apply in order to come to one’s own most genuine self-determined purpose. The methods below are not an exhaustive list, nor do they have a necessary order per say, though the listed order may prove to be productive. The process of coming to know and living in accordance with “purpose” aught to be a way of life.
May these ideas serve to churn thought towards authenticity and fulfillment.
Studying Our Motives-
In studying our own motives we can come to gain awareness and understanding of our current principals of action – on those things that we currently act upon as drives for our behavior. We might be able to do this by consciously observing our own decisions. We may ask ourselves, what motive drives me to this action? Is this a motive that I aught to act upon, here or otherwise?
For example, one might notice oneself in a loud argument with one’s neighbor – possibly regarding property. In hindsight, one might observe that one’s motives were in fact to make the other man feel poorly. Or one might realize that one’s motive was in fact to arrive at a proper understanding and to calm down the neighbor. In either case, one might be able to understand if the motives behind one’s action are worthy actions to live by.
This continued process may bring one’s common patterns of actions to light in terms of motivational forces. In understanding what motivates us we can come to understand the values that drive us – be they a need for comfort, a yearning to quarrel, growth in our own potential, contribution to the quality of life of others, etcetera. We can then determine weather or not these motives and values can exist if we were to live to our highest purpose, in alignment with that which we deem best.
Observing One’s Own Conception of “Right Action”-
In order to begin to understand one’s own understanding of “right action.” By “right action” I here refer to that which we understand as the proper action to take in a given situation. Everyone has some idea of these right actions, these “shoulds” in their own behavior. This is much like gaining awareness of our motives – but it is not gaining awareness of what our subconscious deems to be our best motives.
For instance when one is awaken by the sun in the morning, one may have an understanding that the best course of action would be to arise promptly and begin a specific project or task immediately. Often, these understandings are not acted upon, they are merely recognized and then ignored. It is important to ask ourselves the origin of these thoughts. Why do we recognize that awakening promptly is the ideal action? It is possible that we would like to cultivate the character of a productive individual, it is possible that we recognize rationally that progress in our project is more valuable that another a few minutes of comfort under the covers.
Searching Without-
Undoubtably, this search for our purpose is – a great extent – an internal process of analysis. However, that need not imply that we become an island. In order to gain perspective on our own understandings and motives, we aught refer to the works of other thinkers, some of whom we will find have struggled with ideas similar to our own.
It is also important to understand the value systems of other people, and information from a variety of sources, in order to gain a broader perspective on the potentials of beliefs, values, and purposes. This may involve reading philosophy, psychology, rich novels, or communicating and juggling ideas of life with those of different opinions.
Determining Our Highest Values-
The reason this seemingly obvious portion of the purpose-understanding process is listed after the other methods is due to the fact that following through with the above methods is likely to allow one to gain an in-depth perception of one’s own current motivators and values, in addition to those values that we might deem highest by our self-determination.
This careful process will involve understanding what values are to be lived by and acted upon, and why. In doing this, we must be diligent to observe ourselves and alter our thoughts and actions towards that which we deem highest and best.
Through these means, one can hopefully assemble a base level of self-understanding and the understanding of ideals in values.
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