Note: this is a guest post from Jason who blogs about self development at A Miracle A Day.

The fire inside… the passion that burns, that drives you, that provides you with your energy to drive ahead. The brightness with which it burns can swing from high to low throughout your life. One time when it is very common for it to burn low is early adulthood.

You’re fresh out of your mandatory high school, perhaps having been through college, and you’re out on your own. You have your entire life before you but, for the first time in your life, you do not have someone else providing goals and structure for you. You have to determine your own path forward.

This tends to leave you swinging in the wind, going whatever direction the wind is currently blowing. You spend your mental energy profligately, not knowing any better. Since you don’t have a consistent direction, and are not directing your mental energy consciously, you lose focus. Shortly after that, you notice that your fire has burned low.

So now you’re sitting there, not knowing which direction to go, knowing that you don’t have the drive and energy that you used to have, and not knowing what to do about it. This is a state that can even be depressing, but there is a cure.

The beginning of this cure is to find your purpose, your calling in life. This doesn’t have to be one specific thing, like feeding the homeless, it can be broader, like helping those in need, or have multiple facets, as mine does. My purpose in life, my calling, is composed of three parts, two of which are closely related in their expression in my life.

My calling is to write, to help others, and to create things out of wood. I am currently working on the first two through my blog, A Miracle A Day, and am looking for an opportunity to begin on the third. Devoting some of my time and energy to these things each day, or at least most days, helps to get that inner fire stoked up and burning bright again.

Now on to the important part… the relatively easy way to find your calling. There are a few things you need in preparation for this, so make sure you have them together before you try to start. The things you need are some way to write things down (could be pen and paper, a computer with a word processor, or something else), a quiet place, and at least 30 minutes when you can be relatively certain you won’t be interrupted.

Begin by going to your quiet place with your writing materials. Now, spend a couple minutes just relaxing and letting go. Once you are slightly quieted mentally, ask yourself what your calling might be. Write down every single thing that comes into your mind, regardless of how silly or unattainable it might be. Do this until the answers start coming slower.

You now have a list to start reviewing. Go through the whole list and, at the bottom, add to the list any more things that pop into your head, and especially anything you notice connecting multiple entries on the list. After reviewing the list until you go through once with no new things popping into your head, start at the top and start removing things that you instantly know are not your purpose. Continue this process, adding any new things that pop into your head, until you narrow the list down to a few things that touch something inside you.

Now visualize doing, or even better, having already done, those things exceptionally well. Let yourself feel what you would feel. If it makes you shake, if it makes something catch in your throat, bringing a feeling welling out from deep inside you, you’ve done it. That thing is part of your calling.
Write down each of the things that bring up this feeling in a separate place. Review them. Review them again. Look at them, read them, and feel them. Keep the list somewhere that you can look at it regularly, even every day. This is your beginning of re-igniting that inner fire. Keep them in mind all the time, considering how each decision you make relates to them, to the best of your ability.

Once you know your purpose, the next step is to choose your polarity. This provides you with guideposts on which way to take along the path from here to fulfilling your calling. Once you’ve done that, and committed to it, your fire will be burning much brighter. You can push it to blinding, and an explanation on how is coming soon.

Jason writes advice on how to intelligently guide your self-development and personal growth at A Miracle A Day (100+ articles already available, fresh content nearly every day).

Tags: Meaning & Purpose, Personal Growth //