So, I get asked a LOT about how to determine what your purpose is. While I believe that the purpose in life is really to grow daily, for me that means living based on the call of my soul.

Purpose is a combination of of who I am, what I truly want and my reason why.

A little (okay a lot but it’s important) back story:

Rewind about 20 years…I followed my passion for business and got a business degree with a major in marketing and finance. Corporate jobs with lots of responsibility and big budgets followed. I loved it. LOVED IT! I was a strategist machine and got off on working huge days. During that time, I had one child and then a divorce. Brief interruption with a major surgery (should have listened to the signs…they are always there) and then a new marriage and relocation.

Life took over and continued too…purpose…what was that and why was it important? Wasn’t I living my purpose? Hmmmmmmm.

Then, my second daughter died during delivery. Full stop. Quit my corporate career that day in the hospital and haven’t put on a suit since.

That was my first big wake up call and I thought long and hard about what mattered most…

My family.

I began to hear the call of my soul once again and it wasn’t to be a marketing strategist for big business (I even turned down my “dream” job (VP of Strategic Development) because it was no longer my dream).

Then, I had two more babies. I began a personal growth consulting business on the side while was raising three kids with a husband who was away most of the time…

My purpose once again got lost a little along the way and the consulting business became more of a hobby than a daily focus that is for sure with all of the daily to-dos of raising the girls and keeping the household running (those tasks became the priority and I worked late into the night while the girls were sleeping).

Fast forward a few years, I got sick. Really sick. I tried to recover for about a year using different modalities and then I found myself in the ER having a hard time breathing, having a massive food reaction and realizing that something was really going on that needed to be addressed by a Functional Medicine Doctor.

Diagnosis: Severe adrenal fatigue…worst stage possible.

Treatment: Take a year off of my life. Doc told me to keep the kids alive and that was it. Verbatim. Word for word. My mouth gaped open but I was too tired and sick to even argue.

During that time of copious amounts of supplements (like up to 60 a day), the vast percentage of my day laying on the couch, bio and neurofeedback to retrain my stress response, yoga, meditation, salt baths daily….etc etc…there was a lot of reading and self reflection that happened.

This (determining my purpose) was what my doctor considered to be the MOST important part of the protocol and it required me to revisit what I thought my purpose was, what my priorities on a daily basis had been and what they should be and decide what I TRULY WANTED for my life as ME. Not as a wife, mother, friend, daughter, …. you get the idea.

Stunned silence for quite a few weeks…I didn’t really KNOW my purpose anymore. I had become a shadow version of the person I was once with that dream of who I would become. My life looked nothing like I would have imagined it to be. What did I TRULY WANT?

I began to have a vague idea of what my purpose maybe looked like but I was still exhausted and how could I find the time. The daily work with the kids had consumed me and was it really possible to live based on my purpose with all of my other responsibilities….I was about to find out.

Here’s why: the doctor said (he had a lot to say as you can tell) I can get your body healthy in 1-2 years but if you don’t adjust your life to live based on YOUR purpose, I will see you again in five years.

My response: Oh HELL NO!

Love him but don’t ever want to sit in that office again except to tell him how much he changed my life.

So, I got quiet and really defined my purpose based on what I wanted and my reason why. And, as I got healthier and off the couch more, I began to spend more and more of each day living based on it. I made it a priority to live based on my purpose and the call of my soul on a daily basis (and this work and experience takes up the vast majority of each day…the daily tasks don’t consume my life anymore. They get done but they aren’t the most SIGNIFICANT actions that I take).

That brings us to today and where you come in:

I want to share what I have learned and discovered along my journey so, I have developed a system and a structure to determine your purpose, live more based on your purpose and create the life you truly want. (Basically all the stuff I have been posting about if you have been following me for awhile). And, I am embarking on a journey to share all of that with you in a much bigger way. Some of it (the beginning steps) already reside on my website and there is more to come.

Before you do anything else, you must FIRST assess how MUCH you are living based on your purpose right now.

So, because I love a good assessment (that is the strategist in me), I created one for you, click here to start your assessment. This is a life changer. You will understand more about where you are at and where you need to go based on what you score means.
Don’t be me. Don’t waste any more of your time, energy and effort.

And if you are tired, worn out, a little lost or just want more, this is a MUST for YOU. Your body, your mind and your spirit is telling you to make a shift and change what you are currently doing.

Use this as the first step. Take the assessment on how much you are living based on your purpose now. Click here.

Love and appreciate you.

You are the reason why I get to fulfill my purpose and live my days out doing what I love.

Remember, I am a PM, email or comment away with anything you need and even closer over in Life MAKERS (my private FB group).

Live the life you want, DO YOU!

Jill Ethier, Your Energetic Ninja with a BComm