7 Ways to Discover Your Purpose

One of the toughest discoveries in life is to find out one’s purpose. People often wonder, “Why was I put here on earth?” If you’ve ever asked yourself this question, then this article is for you!

This article reveals how one person committed a great deal of time and effort to explore his purpose and pursue his passions. Then we’ll look at seven ways to discover your purpose, how to identify your “why” and how your “what” can take your site to the top of the search.

How Ken Levine Pursued His Passions Like a Dog on a Bone

“Think of your favorite TV sitcoms. If you’re of a certain age, you’ll think of such shows as?M*A*S*H, Cheers, Frasier, The Simpsons, Wings, Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker, and Dharma and Greg.?Those shows were all written and/or directed by my friend, Emmy-award-winning writer Ken Levine.” —Dave Williams, radio announcer, playwright, Substack columnist. Read Dave's post here.

Ken was also a play-by-play announcer for major league baseball, radio host for Dodger Talk in Los Angeles, cartoonist for the New Yorker Magazine, podcaster, accomplished playwright and author.

You can watch the entire video interview here.?But I’ve pulled out a few highlights below:?

Starting about minute 26…

Dave: “Are you aware that you seem to succeed at everything you do? You make it look so easy, and that can be very annoying to some of us.”

Ken: “What people don’t realize is how much time and effort I put into these endeavors. And to become a major league baseball announcer…first of all there’s no guarantees going in. I spent two years, every night, going to Dodger Stadium and Anaheim Stadium sitting in the upper deck broadcasting into a tape recorder learning how to do play-by-play, analyzing my tapes, getting critiques from announcers, and working my way up to where I felt I was at least good enough to do minor league baseball. I sent around tapes and I spent at least three years announcing minor league baseball.”

Also, check out these insights:

Minute 40: what it took for Ken to become a major TV sitcom writer

Minute 47: Ken’s efforts to become a contributing cartoonist for the New Yorker Magazine

Ken knew it wouldn’t come easy and he was willing to put in the time and effort to realize his dreams. But how did he know what passions to pursue in the first place?

Let’s find out.

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” —Thomas Jefferson

7 Ways to Discover Your Purpose

Passion and purpose often go hand-in-hand. So here are seven questions to ask yourself on the journey to self-discovery. Maybe one of these points will help you get closer to the life you were meant to live:

1. What did you do for fun growing up? Was it something you leveraged into another activity later in life? Example: being a synchronized swimmer, as I was in my early years, didn’t lead me to to my present career. However, my love for writing did. I started publishing newsletters in high school on a blue mimeograph machine when the nun’s weren’t watching!

2. What is something you can’t not do? Even if years go by before you pick it back up again, do you know you’ll try to pursue it for years to come? Is it impossible to think you’d ever ban it from your life?

3. Have you built this activity into every position you’ve ever held? Whether it was in the job description or not, did you try to embed it into your work in some way? Have you joined associations devoted to this activity? Have you subscribed to magazines focused on this interest, read books or listened to podcasts on the topic??

4. What can you immerse yourself in? What would you be willing to spend months (and maybe years) studying and practicing? People say that before you plan to write a book, be sure to choose a topic you can write about (and talk about) for years on end. Your enthusiasm must be so great that it can sustain years of effort.

5. What do people say when you ask, “What do you think I’m good at?” Ask friends, family and co-workers this question. Make a list of the words they choose and note the repetitions. Often it’s the people closest to us who can see what we overlook about ourselves.?

6. What is it you believe you were born to do? When you stumble upon it, you will know. Maybe you will say it out loud, as I did. Perhaps it’s a small job responsibility that flows effortlessly, or it’s the huge feeling of satisfaction you get from accomplishing that thing. It’s possible someone has told you, “Boy, you’re good at that!” at some point in your life. Don’t dismiss it — consider the activities or occupations that are related.

7. What’s the common denominator in the passions you pursue? As Ken described, he pursued many activities over the years, but the common denominator was his love for writing, influencing and entertaining. And, for him, one passion led to another. It could be the same for you as well!

But wait, there’s more!

How to Discover Your “Why” and Why It’s Important

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle concept is famous for helping people ferret out the underlying motivation for their work, hobby or business they’ve formed. He wrote a book entitled, Start With Why, which is pretty good and an easy read.

He recommends asking yourself, “Why do I do X?” rather than only describing the “what” or “how” of your business. In other words, what’s your underlying motivation? You can watch his video about the Golden Circle on YouTube.

He suggests that your “why” may not change, but the “what” you do and the “how” you do it could. So here’s an exercise to help you discover your “why.”

Exercise: A What and Five Why’s

Ask yourself: What do I do?

Then ask: Why do I do it?

Then ask yourself, “Why do I do this?” four more times to get to the motivation that drives you. Somewhere in there you may also discover your purpose.

How Your “What” Can Take You to the Top of the Search

I would suggest that while finding your “why” is important, the “what” you do is also important, but for other reasons. A “why” statement will help you focus your business or cause and avoid the “scope-creep” that plagues those who want to pursue every shiny object. But the “why” statement won’t get you far with the search engine gods.?

The “what” is necessary for your website to optimize search engine results. Prospects will use a keyword phrase (your what) to search for people who do what you do. Your “why” won’t get you too far when it comes to getting better Google results.

So here’s a tip: optimize for your geographic area. Yes, yes, I’ve heard people say, “But Laura, I work with people all over the state (or the U.S. or globally).” I get that. But it’s unlikely you will get your site to the top of the search otherwise.

However, if you optimize your site for the phrase, “Colorado Springs Dog Groomer” or “Denver Cooking Coach” or “Phoenix Divorce Lawyer” you have made it specific to the words a future customer would type into a search engine from that geographical area.

Yes, you do work with people in other locales, but we’re talking about getting you to the top of the search for something, right? You can still put language on your site about the fact you serve customers all over, but that by itself will not likely get you to a top spot on Google. Not without spending lots of money, anyway.

I know this works. Google the terms, “Colorado Springs Leadership Coach” and “Colorado Springs Communication Coach” to see what I mean. And it didn’t cost me a penny to get that placement. I can still accept work from anywhere in the state, the country or the world, but I’d never get a top Google ranking for everywhere in the world and people often type in their geographic location when they do a search.

It takes some time and effort to configure your site, but have patience and keep track of the results. Check back at least five pages to see how your site results progress. And if you really want to spend some money, you can find an SEO specialist with a simple Google search!

Question: Is there one thing you learned from this article that will help you today or in the future? If so, please let us know in the comments.

Coming Up! Check back with us next week to hear the story of how one young woman alerted a large Colorado manufacturing firm to a crisis that turned the company upside down for weeks! ?

Laura Lollar is an author, coach, consultant and professional speaker specializing in communication, leadership and self-employment success. She is also the author of, Wildfire Survivors: A How-to Guide On Your Road to Recovery (ebook, Pinehurst Press, 2025)

To speak with Laura about a project, program, podcast guest appearance or coaching support, please email [email protected]