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We all come into this life with a soul purpose and with gifts that we are here to share with the world.

This is also known as our dharma, or our act of devotion to the world. For many of us, life before discovering that purpose is…utterly purposeless.

Personally, the search for my purpose completely consumed me throughout my adolescence and into my early adulthood. I had this burning sense deep within me that there was something I knew and came here to do but somehow forgot.

I could not rest. I would not be satisfied until I found it.

I was relentless in my quest to uncover it, constantly asking, “Why am I here?” “What is my purpose?” and “How can I help people?” I was turning over every stone, going on many random forays, and journeying down every pathway possible to find the answers.

I was wildly unhappy and felt a gaping hole within me until I found the path that I am on now and began connecting with my soul’s purpose.

There are no words apt to describe the joy, the magic, the bliss, the excitement, the abundance, the fulfillment, the miraculousness, and the alignment that comes from being connected with your purpose here in this lifetime.

I am incredibly grateful that my soul contract saw me connecting with my purpose so early on in life, as many people go their entire lives searching and never finding this purpose. And part of my purpose is helping others uncover theirs!

Here are five windows that you can look through and make a self-inquiry in order to uncover your soul’s gifts and purpose:

1. What are you naturally good or gifted at doing?

We are conditioned to believe that we need to work hard in order to succeed. It’s hard for us to believe that we could be celebrated, paid, and appreciated for the things that we find easy or natural to do.

On the contrary, our soul’s purpose and gifts are actually something that come easily and naturally to most of us. That’s why they are considered our gifts.

Look at what comes easiest or naturally for you and you’ll quickly uncover some of your core soul gifts. These could be skills and talents that you have, such as public speaking, healing, dancing, painting, cooking, musicianship, writing, or being good at math or science. Also, they include your inherent personality traits.

Soul purpose is not only about what you are doing but who you are being in the process.

Traits that come naturally to you, such as emotional intelligence, empathy, compassion, problem-solving, leadership, creative thinking, or even esoteric wisdom that you simply possess without knowing how you know also count as soul gifts.

Perhaps, people always come to you for help and support and you’re great at helping them solve or work through their problems.

Perhaps, you’re amazing at lifting the vibe when those around you are sad.

Perhaps, you’re a natural-born leader and people tend to respect and look up to you.

All of these are traits belonging to your soul signature, and being an authentic embodiment of them is an important part of your soul’s purpose here. If you’re struggling to answer this question, ask your friends and nearest and dearest to help by asking their opinion and what they perceive your strengths to be.

2. What bothers you that other people aren’t good at doing, or that other people are naturally embodying?

Often it’s the gifts that come naturally to us that we can’t for the life of us understand why others don’t have them. We take these traits or talents of ours for granted, assuming everyone else should find it as easy or natural as we do. Therefore, we are often frustrated or impatient when someone around us isn’t embodied in a soul gift or trait that comes naturally to us.

Look at where you become easily bothered or annoyed at someone for not understanding, being good at, or “getting” something the way you do.

Does it trigger you when people are slow at doing certain activities?

What can you not tolerate other people lacking, for instance, emotional intelligence, the ability to grasp concepts, and the ability to take action on their desires?

On the inverse, are there certain things, positions, roles, or traits you see others embodying that trigger you?

We are often triggered by somebody who is authentically, unashamedly expressing an aspect of ourselves that we have repressed. For instance, you may see a woman who is radiant and unashamed in her sensuality, and that might trigger you because you repress your own.

If you see someone who is a powerful speaker, it might trigger you because that is a gift that you have that you are not using. Our triggers are wonderful doorways and windows into the deeper truths about ourselves.

3. What can you lose time doing? 

Our soul purpose and gifts activate the flow of the life force within us. When we are fulfilling them, we become open vessels, channels, and conduits for divine inspiration to flow through us. This energy heals, uplifts, and brings joy and love to others and to ourselves.

In a flow state, all worries and thoughts melt away and you become completely present—devoted and immersed in the activity you are doing. You seem to slow down or lose all sense of time completely. You look down and begin writing, and then when you look at the clock again it’s been five hours.

Look at the hobbies, interests, activities, and talents in your life that you can lose all sense of space and time doing, and more importantly, the things that bring you immense joy. This brings me to…

4. What lights you up, what brings you joy, and what are you passionate about?

In order to find your purpose, the most important barometer to follow is:

What brings you joy?

What feels good, juicy, pleasurable, and exciting for you to do?

What brings you genuine joy?

What takes you into a childlike state of wonder, play, and curiosity?

If you can’t answer these questions, this is a good place to start.

Our souls will always be speaking to us through little pings of joy, tingles of excitement, and feelings of pleasure. Follow the fun crumbs!

Abundance, joy, and love are our soul’s natural state of being, so anything that gets you in touch with those states of being is going to be in alignment with your soul purpose. Yep, even if you can’t figure out how to monetize it yet. (This comes later, as you’ll always be supported to fulfill your soul’s purpose. It’s literally stipulated in your soul contract.)

When we are in a state of joy, excitement, and passion, it is infectious to those around us. You can’t help but feel excited and uplifted around someone who is passionate and joyful about what they do! In doing things that bring us excitement and joy, we are giving others permission to follow their bliss and do the things that light them up, by allowing them to activate and share their soul gifts.

When looking at this window, ask yourself:

What could you talk about or do until you’re blue in the face?

If you were stranded in the desert and could take or do only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

For the record, I want to say that there have been times on this journey when I’ve had no clue what actually brings me joy, particularly during my experiences of the dark night of the soul. I was feeling super disconnected from my feelings of joy, happiness, and a desire to live at all.

So, if this is you, and you can’t connect to or figure out what brings you joy right now, that’s okay. I invite you to go out and try a whole heap of new things until you find activities that do. You’d be surprised at what you might find. I didn’t actually know half the things even existed that now bring me the most joy.

A beautiful mantra you can use every day to connect to this intention is:

“Soul (universe/higher self/God), guide me to what would truly nourish, fulfill, and excite me today.”

Last, but certainly not least…

5. What traits or gifts of yours, when you are authentically expressing them, bring joy, peace, love, healing, or activation to others around you?

As I’ve already pointed out, our soul purpose and gifts are given to us to share. In the act of sharing these gifts, we are uplifting those around us, and as a result, the vibration of the planet.

When looking through this window, ask yourself: What is it that you do that people often express their gratitude toward you for doing or being?

For instance:

Are you naturally thoughtful and kind?

Do you enjoy nurturing, helping, and supporting others?

Is your presence uplifting or inspiring?

Do people go nuts for your cooking, or become overwhelmed with emotion when you play the instrument you play?

Do people reach out to you to thank you for inspiring them with your writing?

Or, do they simply appreciate you for holding a loving, non-judgemental space for them? 

What is it that you do that you know brings a positive impact to others?

These are five windows you can look through in order to uncover your soul’s gifts and purpose, but in no way is this an exhaustive list. Your soul purpose is multifaceted and is not just what you are doing but who you are being.

Allow that to sink in. It’s less about doing and more about being.

In order to fulfill your soul purpose and mission, literally all you need to do is: be the most authentic, unique, You-iest version of you that there is and share that with the world. Any work that you can do to connect to your true self, or the self beneath the conditioning, the limitations, the masks, the stories, and the identities is inevitably going to align you with that sense of fulfillment and purpose within.

And don’t forget, your soul’s purpose is your authentic soul expression and the art that you share in the world—no matter what form that comes in.

~

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