9 Truths You Need to Know About Living with Purpose

Do you find yourself in a season of life—or transitioning from one season to another—where you are asking, “What is my purpose?”

It’s easy to get stuck thinking purpose has to be found in one big answer. In reality, purpose is often quieter and more personal than that. It is something we sense, shape, and live into over time through our choices, values, relationships, and the seasons we move through.

Purpose or contribution is one of my 5 core values. This has led me to listen, pay attention, explore, and research what gives people sense of purpose. Or what it feels like to live on purpose.

Understanding the following truths about purpose will help you in every life season. But when you are walking through a liminal space, or big life transition, it’s particularly important to know what gives you purpose. And to intentionally use purpose for your wellbeing. To keep you steady and anchored when life feels uncertain or in upheaval.

Purpose can show up through healing and growth, service and joy, relationships and vocation, or simply being more fully ourselves. Here are nine keys to thinking about and living into your purpose.

1. Purpose supports your well-being

Finding and understanding our purpose, living with purpose, and living on purpose are not inconsequential concepts.

As I discuss at the beginning of the podcast episode above, there is substantial research demonstrating strong associations between purpose and higher life satisfaction, well-being, and longevity. 

Having a sense of purpose supports a variety of positive health outcomes, including:

• Reduced stress reactivity.
• Lower risk of inflammation, stroke, and chronic disease.
• Lower risk of cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
• Lower overall mortality risk, especially in women.
• Improved mood and sleep.
• More health-promoting behaviours.

Interestingly, the benefits of knowing your purpose are rooted in the “why,” not necessarily the “what.” In other words, the meaning we attach to the actions we take in alignment with our sense of purpose may be more important than the decisions or actions themselves.

2. The difference between living with purpose and living on purpose

In my coaching work, I teach about living with purpose and living on purpose.

Living with purpose means having a deeper sense of meaning, direction, and contribution in your life. It’s the bigger picture—the feeling that your life matters and that your choices are connected to something worthwhile, even as your sense of purpose shifts across different seasons.

Living on purpose is more about how you show up each day. It means living intentionally, making conscious choices, and aligning your actions with your values instead of drifting on autopilot or being driven by fear, comparison, or outside pressure.

These two perspectives work best together. Living with purpose gives you the why, while living on purpose gives you the how: the daily practice of being true to yourself, using your agency, and letting your life reflect what matters most.

3. Purpose as an expression of True Self

One way of thinking about purpose is as a seed already planted within us—one part of the expression of our True Self.

In this framing, purpose is something to be discovered, nurtured, and expressed over time. It is not a single job, role, or achievement to chase, but a dynamic piece of your identity that unfolds as you heal, grow, expand, and become more fully yourself.

In other words, purpose is not something you create from nothing. It can be something you learn to recognize and express more clearly as you become more honest about who you are, what matters to you, and how you are naturally gifted.

4. Purpose as a practical tool for growth & navigating life

Purpose can also be thought of and used as a practical tool that helps you navigate seasons of transition, periods of healing, or times when you are coping with trauma.

In certain life seasons, especially during crisis or transition, purpose can be deliberately chosen as a stabilizing focus. It may be something that helps you get through the day, restore your well-being, or hold onto hope when life feels overwhelming.

Related to this idea, purpose can also be applied as both a short-term and long-term strategy for living with freedom, health, and joy. As I discuss in the podcast episode below, you can use purpose to guide both the season you are currently in and the person you are becoming.

Purpose for short-term goals

To leverage purpose as a tool for short-term goals, think about the year you are in—or even the current three-month calendar season (spring, summer, winter, or fall).

Identify your current growth edge and clarify your “why.” Then use that “why” to help you filter choices about your money, time, attention, and focus.

From there, pursue positive short-term goals—trips, projects, or experiences—that generate joy and well-being related to your current growth edge.

Purpose as long-term strategy

Purpose as a long-term strategy is connected to your ongoing expression of True Self. In this case, the actions we take to feel a sense of purpose or to live on purpose are investments in our future or in our future Self.

It is like planting a seed and watering it, knowing that it will bear fruit in time.

Practically, this may look like investing in things with a long-term return, including your:

• health
• relationships
• finances
• work
• gifting
• legacy

It also means walking out your core values in every season and operating from your place of deepest gifting.

Need some help walking out your core values?

5. Purpose evolves through different life seasons

How we know and experience our purpose is not fixed. The way purpose looks in your twenties will probably not be the way it looks in midlife or later life.

In earlier life seasons—or when we are living in what I call Old Self—purpose may be tied to ambition, growth, and future possibilities.

As we enter our New Self phase, usually around midlife, we may go through seasons of intense discomfort as we shed old beliefs, behaviours, habits, relationships, and expectations. During this time, purpose may be found in letting go, simplifying, or rediscovering what matters.

Then, as we move into our True Self, purpose often becomes quieter, clearer, and more reciprocal. Aligned living creates an overflow of impact on others without requiring a grand external mission.

Looked at through the lens of hedonic versus eudaimonic well-being, purpose may begin in a more pleasure-seeking place and gradually mature into an expression rooted in growth, self-honesty, sacrifice, relational depth, and a willingness to tolerate discomfort without expecting life to be easy.

That is why the question “What is my purpose?” is sometimes better answered with a seasonal lens.

Instead of seeking one permanent calling, consider:

• What season of life am I in?
• What is asking for my attention right now?
• What is giving me energy?
• What am I being invited to release?
• What is helping me become more fully myself?

This approach makes knowing your purpose feel less like a burden and more like a process. It allows your life to unfold without demanding that every season look the same.

6. Signs you’re living out of purpose

Signs that you may be living outside your purpose include chronic stress that does not ease, an inability to rest or enjoy life, and a constant experience of urgency, pressure, or mental noise.

These patterns can point to a readiness for an identity shift, a slower pace, or a clearer sense of what actually matters right now.

Other clues may include:

• Comparing your life to an imagined ideal.
• Hearing your inner critic grow louder.
• Feeling overwhelmed by the world’s needs.
• Acting from fear, pressure, or comparison.
• Continuing to pursue goals that no longer feel meaningful.

When these patterns appear, it may help to do some grief work, examine old beliefs, and narrow your focus to the area of life where you can genuinely make a difference.

Living on purpose does not mean responding to every need or fixing everything that feels wrong in the world. It means discerning what is yours to carry in this season—and what is not.

7. Living on purpose begins by Befriending Yourself

Living on purpose is about choice. It means taking action in alignment with your values, your gifting, and your current season rather than reacting out of fear, pressure, or comparison. And that requires a healthy relationship with yourself.

Befriending yourself is one of the overlooked parts of living with purpose. If you are constantly criticizing yourself, doubting yourself, or trying to be like someone else, it is very difficult to live in an intentional, soul-honouring way.

Being on your own side does not mean avoiding growth. It means learning to listen inwardly, trust what you know, and make choices from a grounded place.

Purpose is not meant to drain you. It should support your well-being, not constantly compete with it.

8. Purpose in ordinary, everyday actions

One of the most common misconceptions about purpose is that it has to look impressive. People often imagine that if they are really living on purpose, they will have found the right career, the right title, the right level of productivity, or the right kind of public contribution.

But purpose is not a performance. Nor is it about proving yourself.

Research shows that when it comes to purpose, the reason behind what you do matters more than the action itself. A season of caregiving, a period of recovery, or a simple habit you build can all be expressions of purpose.

This is why it helps to ask not only, “What should I do?” but also, “Why does this matter to me?”

That question can reveal the values that guide you, the kind of life you want to live, and the ways you naturally contribute to others.

Purpose is often found in very human places:

• Tending a garden.

• Making a meal.
• Helping a child.
• Showing up for a friend.
• Serving in your community.
• Building something useful.
• Resting.
• Allowing yourself to heal.

These are not lesser expressions of purpose. They are often where our sense of purpose feels stronger and becomes more deeply rooted. It moves from an idea into an embodied practice or way of being and living.

9. Multiple paths to purpose

One of the most freeing parts of thinking about purpose this way is that it removes the pressure of a single formula. Purpose does not have to come from one career, one role, or one grand plan.

As I explore in the podcast episode below, there are many different ways to experience purpose, and it will not look the same for everyone.

Purpose can be inspired by the Japanese concept of Ikigagi as finding your reason to get up in the morning or waking up to joy. For Indigenous author, Richard Wagamese, finding your life purpose starts with joy. 

For others, purpose may show up through community service or caring for loved ones, especially when those actions express their values and gifting. Neuroscientist Caroline Leaf talks about purpose as our impact on others.

Mythologist Michael Meade teaches that purpose is awakened in us by reconnecting to the source of our life, which is similar to my own concept of True Self. Relatedly, Parker Palmer connects purpose with growing into your authentic self and finding your vocation.

Jack Canfield believes that fulfilling our soul’s purpose is what gives us a feeling of success.

To summarize, purpose may be found through:

• Joy
• Healing
• Service
• Vocation
• Creativity
• Relationships
• Spiritual connection
• Personal growth
• Becoming more fully yourself

Where do you find your purpose?

The more we understand purpose, the more we see that it is not one fixed thing to find and then hold onto forever. It shifts across life stages, deepens with self-knowledge, and often becomes clearer when we stop striving and start paying attention to what matters most right now.

Whether purpose shows up through joy, healing, service, vocation, or simply being fully yourself, it is meant to support life rather than drain it.

Living with purpose is not about doing everything perfectly. Rather, it is an invitation to listen to, trust, and express your True Self—one season, one choice, and one meaningful action at a time.

Join my Life Visioning Course and get the tools and support you need to put these ideas into action in your life.