The search for meaning: the path to life's purpose (with quick guide)

A topic or a question that has been with me personally for a very long time: What is my purpose in life?

I have always felt a certain jealousy towards people who come into the world and simply know what they have to do. My first contact with this topic was at school when I was looking for an apprenticeship. I decided to become an automotive technician purely because the wind was blowing in that direction. I also completed further training as a mechatronics engineer without knowing exactly what else to do. At least I already had the idea back then that I wanted to be good at what I do - hence the further training.

Now, after several years of gaining many life experiences, I still can't identify with a specific purpose in life. I have a myriad of interests, but I am not like that one friend who is a musician or the other who is a passionate book reader. That's why I started this blog - as a place where I can record everything that interests me. If someone else can benefit from it, all the better.

Back to the topic: purpose in life.

Over the last few days, I've been thinking about this intensively and have come to an interesting conclusion. Based on my observations of people who know their life purpose and my research into various sources, including the internet and TED Talks, I have found five questions that can all be answered with a life purpose. The others are not able to.

The five questions are as follows:

1. who am I?

2. what do I do? (Who would have thought that these would be the first two questions? 😉)

3. who am I doing it for?

4. what are their needs?

5. what do I get out of it?

All readers who have not yet found their purpose may think this is nonsense. There is certainly no-one who has not yet asked themselves the questions "Who am I?" and "What am I doing?". Actually, I should know exactly what my purpose is if I can answer the first two questions, right? Not quite. I believe that you have to answer all the questions in order to be able to claim this. It should be noted that the first two questions relate to oneself, while the others are aimed at the external environment.

It could be argued that everyone who knows their purpose in life also knows what they are doing for other people. Isn't this fact crazy? Surely I'm not the only one who has always thought that life purpose is only about myself? Somehow this gives credence to the saying "The secret of happiness is not in possessing, but in giving. He who makes others happy becomes happy" (Andre Gide) suddenly makes a lot more sense, doesn't it?

For those who have difficulty answering the questions, I can offer a little help: Nobody said you have to answer the questions in order. It can be helpful to look at the external environment first and then work backwards. Of course, it also helps to think back to very old memories. A good example of this is Robert Greene. He is an author and had exactly the same problem as all of us. However, he suddenly realised that he already had a strong interest in words in the 3rd grade. He didn't know exactly what it was back then, but somehow he just loved letters. Later, it was words that formed sentences. He says that this is the reason why he is an author today, because he realised that he found letters and words fascinating at a young age.

Also, some readers may not have had many experiences in life. For them, the clear answer is: Live! Gain experience, travel the world! Even if you don't like something afterwards, at least you will know what you don't like doing.

With this in mind, I invite all readers to immerse themselves (and their surroundings), and I hope that I have been able to help some of you with this.

P.S. The next time you are asked what you actually do, you can quote the answer to the fifth question.