{"id":72325,"date":"2022-07-19T12:46:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T16:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=72325"},"modified":"2022-07-20T14:53:24","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T18:53:24","slug":"live-your-life-with-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/live-your-life-with-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Live Your Life With Purpose: Sinek’s 2 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are the benefits of living your life with purpose? What steps can you follow to live your purpose<\/a> and share it with others? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find Your Why<\/a> <\/em>author Simon Sinek<\/a> believes every individual and organization has a purpose. According to Sinek, \u201cfinding your Why\u201d means finding your purpose<\/a>: the single core belief that inspires you to do the work you choose to do and constantly live your life with purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to learn the two actionable steps for living your life with purpose, according to Simon Sinek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How to Begin Living Your Purpose <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sinek identifies two key actions to take after you discover your purpose in life<\/a>. First, identify your How: the practices and methods that characterize you and help you live your purpose. Then, share<\/em> your purpose statement<\/a>. We’ll discuss determining your How, or methods, and suggest ways to share these insights with others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Determine Your How<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first step to begin living your life with purpose is to identify your How, or what practices will help you accomplish your purpose. Sinek says your How comes from the list of themes you set aside <\/strong>when you <\/strong>drafted your purpose statement<\/a>. (Themes are the ideas and actions that came up repeatedly in the stories.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Importance of Determining Your How<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Your How is the way you operate when you\u2019re at your best.<\/strong> While your Why guides you to opportunities that will bring you fulfillment, your How helps you distinguish between them to identify those that will allow you to use your best qualities and those that won\u2019t. Although many opportunities, like potential jobs or invitations to social events, may be related to your purpose, they won\u2019t all be right for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, your Why might be, \u201cTo help women unleash their inner power to create a life where they feel fulfilled, inspired, and empowered.\u201d <\/em>That purpose can direct you to a wide range of fulfilling opportunities, from being a life coach for women, to working at a venture capital<\/a> firm that funds women-led ventures. That\u2019s where identifying how you will live your life with purpose becomes crucial. If your practices are to \u201cforge deep connections with individuals,\u201d \u201chelp people find their own answers to their questions,\u201d and \u201cmaintain a positive outlook even in challenging times,\u201d those methods are nudging you in the direction of a life coach rather than venture capitalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also use your How to analyze your current situation. If you\u2019re feeling discouraged by your circumstances, your How can help you identify where the discomfort is coming from.<\/strong> For instance, if you\u2019re working at a company whose purpose aligns with your own but you still feel unfulfilled, it might be because the specific role you play doesn\u2019t let you use your strengths. Perhaps one of your practices is to forge meaningful connections with people, but your job requires you to work on your own most of the time. In that case, your job is not allowing you to do your best work, even if, at the purpose level, you\u2019re aligned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: While determining your How can help you understand why some situations help you thrive while others work against you, the authors of Designing Your Life<\/em><\/a> offer a way to pinpoint exactly which situations have either a positive or negative effect on you: a wayfinding journal<\/a>. The journal works like a mood tracker where you list all your activities in a given period, and rate how involved, energized, and joyful you felt while doing each of them. You can then analyze the tracker to find where your involvement, energy, and joy lag or rise<\/a>\u2014and use your How to understand<\/a> why.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Process of Determining Your How<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The process of identifying your How, or methods, is the same for individuals and teams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, group similar themes until you have no more than five.<\/strong> (Remember not to use the themes you already wrote into your purpose declaration) These themes are your How, or methods. Sinek recommends stating your How in actionable language that will be easy to understand. Make the statements active, declarative, and inspiring. For example, \u201cmake room for people\u2019s feelings\u201d instead of \u201cbe empathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, elaborate on each How to make it more concrete.<\/strong> For instance, if a How states \u201cwe build safe communities,\u201d you could add the following clarifying statements: <\/p>\n\n\n\n