With knowledge always comes responsibility,which is why some people choose to rather not pursue to find out what they are uniquely designed to do.

Many ask themselves “What will happen if I find out what my purpose is but fail to live/achieve it?” instead of embracing the opportunity to experience a life that is filled with meaning and  – well, purpose.

It sure takes courage, determination, commitment, most likely a lot of perseverance and sometimes support and guidance to perform such a task.

So here is a simple 5-step process, as explained in an easy-to-remember analogy on five fingers by Mat Boggs, that can help you to become aware of a destination that can spark an amazing journey called living on purpose:

1. Thumbs UP – Joy

The thumb stands for the things that you enjoy most.

What are the things that bring spark into you your life? What gives you natural joy?
If you have a day that you can spend as you like, what are the things that you would choose to do?

These are natural preferences that tie in beautifully with your purpose, even though it may not be very obvious how.

2. Index finger – Priority

Your Index finger points out your precedents.

What are your highest priorities in life? What do you value most in terms of your relationships, your work, social connections, life in general?

Your core virtues and what you value most are always aligned with your purpose

3. Middle finger (keep it down) – Fear

What is it that ignites fear in you? What tasks would make a huge difference in your life if you only were not so afraid of doing them?

Purpose is all about growth and expression. To keep you safe, your unconscious mind will look out for anything that it considers a thread to staying in your comfort zone and disguises it as “fear”.

When you start to investigate what is really holding you back you will be surprised to realise that more often than the fear of failure it is the fear of success that keeps you from achieving your goals.

4. Ring finger – Commitment

The fourth finger stands for your commitments.

What do you spend hours doing that feels like minutes? When are you loosing track of time? What do you do that others experience work but for you it’s play?

What could you talk about to people even if they aren’t really interested in what you have to say? What are you passionate about?

If you had a room that you could design specifically to suit your passion, what would it look like?

5. Little finger – Talent

Your little finger represents your talents.

What comes easy to you that others may find challenging? What do you have a natural talent for? When others come to you to ask for help, what is it they are expecting from you? What is it that do better than them? What´s the pattern?

Your talents will also always be aligned with your purpose.

Sometimes it is more difficult for us to see our talents than it is for those around us, because they are so natural and a matter of course for us, that we simply take them for granted and expect it to be that way for everyone.

If you experience these difficulties, simply ask your 5-10 best friends to independently write down what they think your 10 best talents are, then compare their answers. They may be very surprising!

So here you’ve got the 5-finger test that can give you some clues about your purpose.

Still without a clue?

If you are still absolute clueless because the test did not reveal anything to you, you might need support to dig even deeper than you dare to do on your own. You may very well be very close to uncovering your purpose, which might sound the alarm bell in your ego.

You always have the choice of opting out here and pretending that “others may have a purpose but I don’t and to be honest I don’t want to know!”, but there will always be the underlying question:

“What if….?”

What if you found your purpose and suddenly your life would make sense?

What if you finally knew how to best use your talents and live a life on your terms?

What if knowing your purpose would fill your life with meaning where there was none before?

What if finally knowing what you are designed to do would give you the peace and contentedness you have been searching, praying and hoping for so long?

What if not (daring  to) find you purpose will be the one thing that you will regret most at the end of your life?

There a many books out there that talk about finding your purpose. One I like to recommend is Tim Kelley`s True Purpose – 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to Make. It offers different strategies to choose from and gives explanations about the how, what, why, what-if question we face when we start pursuing our purpose.

Trying to discover your purpose can be challenging for many reasons. Having someone to hold you responsible for your commitments, to guide you when you are stuck, to explore with you why and challenge you when you get stuck or even just to acknowledge you when you have a breakthrough can make a huge difference.

Knowing that, Tim Kelley has trained a selected number of Purpose Coaches and I had the honour to work with one of them when I made the decision to take my life to another level.

Shiona Long, from Authentic Success, is one very talented and gifted Purpose Coach, who is walking the talk with passion and integrity. She patiently supported and challenged me on my journey of finding my purpose, which was the most important decision I ever made and the one that made me realise that there is a reason why I am who I am.

It was a wonderful, challenging, eye-opening, sometimes scary discovery.

I wish for you that discovering your purpose will be the key to unlock your potential, so that you can start or continue to even more purposefully let your unique light shine with courage, and as a result of that help to make this world a better place.

What is your perception?

For some people, seeing a coach is something they would never do, because

a) they are the lonely wolves, who want to do it all by themselves
b) it would be like going to a psychiatrist (“where you go when you need to be fixed”)
c) they think they can’t afford it
d) they don’t feel worthy or important enough or
e) they have no idea how they could benefit from having a coach

To be blunt and honest: if someone belongs to one or several points from a) to d), coaching would be perfect, because those beliefs, which are neither supportive nor motivating, can be easily changed through simple strategies that are in the repertoire of any good coach.

In regards to the benefits – assuming that you found the coach that fits your expectations, the result is the same as it is with networking:
What you get out of it is in direct proportion to what you put in. If you come with a “we’ll see”-attitude, you will get “we’ll see” results. If you are committed to doing what it takes to get where you want, that is exactly where you’ll go.

Coaching is about supporting you to take on leadership over all parts of your life. To take on responsibility for your actions and non-actions and to be comfortable with it, knowing, you do the best you can. It is about offering choice where you could not see alternatives before and finding answers where you did not even have the questions you need to move forward. Coaching is about allowing you to see further than you would dare to and prepare you to pass the obstacles that may arise on your way to get there.

Why do athletes have coaches? What do they get out of it?

[Tony Robbins'] coaching has made a remarkable difference in my life, both on and off the court. He’s helped me discover what I’m really made of and he has enable me to see things from an empowering new vantage point.
With Tony’s help I set new standards for myself and taken my tennis game – and my life – to a whole new level. [...]

This is what Serena Williams, 8-times Grand slam winner and Gold medallist, got from being coached by Tony Robbins.
Does Tony know anything about tennis? Well, definitely not more than Serena.
Did he ‘make’ her anything? Not at all.
Did he support her? Definitely!
Could someone as successful as her still improve? Obviously.

If people like Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Andrew Agassi and so many others, who already have a life others dream of  get benefit from coaching – do you think there is something in it for you?

We all have a different environment we live in, a different “map of the world”, education, strategy…
When we want to step up, we are transitioning to being a person with new, different or better skills than we had before. Those transitions make the stories of our lives. They are what makes it interesting, challenging and rewarding. The bigger the challenge, the more interesting is the story and the bigger is the reward that we experience when have grown beyond what we thought we are capable of achieving.

The bigger the challenge, the more inspiring the story.

No matter where the wonderful people who gave their statements below came from, they were facing change maybe just like you do. What separates them from the crowd is that they were and still are committed to face the challenges that often come with change, they got some guidance to lead them on their journey and they followed through with action.

Whether you are a business owner, want to start a business, want to find your passion or new motivation for your work, increase your confidence and (self-) leadership skills or simply look for support and guidance through a challenging phase in your life where you face change by choice or necessity, Transition Guidance is supporting you to come out stronger on the other side and to create the life you dream of.

So, what’s YOUR inspirational story?

Have a look at this inspiring story:

What is it that is challenging you at the moment? What is the opportunity that lies in there?

Read about more transformations here.