Have you ever heard this statement? “I don’t know what I want to do with my life,” especially from teens. Students face pressure to establish their life’s purpose and begin working towards it.
Parents are not responsible for identifying their teens’ purpose; this is the teens’ “work.” But parents can introduce options, provide support, help sort through choices, and model a life rooted in meaning and purpose.
A purposeful life isn’t built on finding your purpose, it’s built on finding God’s purpose and joining him in his heroic story. We learn how valuable God is, and how valuable each of us are to him. Teens will need to: Reach upward to God, reach outward by developing empathy, reach inward by practicing gratitude, patience, self-sacrifice, virtue, kindness, truth, and determination, reach forward by learning to find satisfaction where you are, even as you are constantly looking to where you want to go, reach backward to those younger by giving back for no reward.
A life purpose can be thought of as the motivating and inspiring aim of life, the reason to wake up in the morning. It can be linked to career, responsibilities, friends or family, spirituality and religious beliefs, or all of the above.
Teens can be helped to know their purpose by building up key qualities and connecting with their temperaments (Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic and Melancholic).
It’s about helping teenagers finding what they love, what they are good at, what the world needs, what they can be paid for and aligning these aspects to create a fulfilling life. It involves introspection and self-reflection to identify passions, strengths and values and then aligning those with their career and contributions to the world
Research shows you are 42% more likely to accomplish your goals if you take the time to write them down. If your objective is to be more intentional in life, then put a pen to paper.
Intentional living is the practice of determining your values and beliefs and then consciously changing your daily behaviours to reflect those personal principles. The intent of this lifestyle is to knock you out of autopilot and help you to become your best version of yourself.
This means defining your version of success and throwing out the expectations of others. It also requires you to practice mindfulness. By living in the moment, you can better evaluate your life, center your goals, and remove the hinderances that are preventing you from living fully.
