How to Live a Meaningful Life When You Feel Purposeless

Do you know how to live a meaningful life?

Have you ever felt like you have nowhere to go in life? Do you believe you have no real purpose among the sea of people you socialize with every day? You’re not alone, and this feeling isn’t alien — many feel lost about where they’re heading.

You can ask dozens of people about their inner purpose and half of them wouldn’t be able to pinpoint what it is. Others will give an answer they think they’re supposed to, not one that applies to their true desires.

Everyone on Earth has a purpose, whether big or small. Some people achieve their dreams exactly how they intend and others don’t, but no one is purposeless. If you’re struggling on how to live a meaningful life, try approaching it with some different perspectives and see where they take you.

Recognize Your Values and Goals

A major step in understanding your purpose is knowing what you want out of life. Why do you want to find your purpose, and how will you attain it? What tasks will you accomplish each day to reach self-actualization? What goals do you have, not only for the distant future but for waking up each morning? Creating goals prevents you from feeling like you’re drifting toward an indefinite future.

Though you may believe your objectives are far away, you can form ideas on how to bring them closer once you know what they are. Fulfilling goals includes heightening your inner motivation, which you can do in numerous ways.

While you consider your goals, you should also examine your values. These are easier to recognize because they drive you through life and help you decide right from wrong. If you think you don’t have any, trust me — you do.

If you didn’t have definable values, you likely wouldn’t have opinions on any social or personal issues. Work on strengthening your values and understanding how they came to be and why they’re significant to you. Decide if you should let some go or adopt new ones.

Surround Yourself With Interpersonal Relationships

Humans need companionship. Belonging to a group who accepts you as you are is one of the best feelings you can experience. You’ll know for certain that people understand you, and you’ll give them that same understanding.

Valuing others is as vital as valuing yourself. When you see the goodness in other people and understand that they deserve to be here, you’ll start to feel that way about yourself too. Why should you leave yourself out of the celebration?

The relationships you choose should enrich you and push you to be a better individual. Avoid those who only like you for certain aspects rather than the entire picture. Don’t split yourself apart for the sake of others — they should accept you as a whole being or not at all. Do the same for them.

Achieve Transcendence

Transcendence means shattering the limits of convention and discovering a higher sense of self. It doesn’t look the same for any one person, so it will take some experimenting. If reading classic literature transports one person to a state of transcendence, it doesn’t have to do the same for you.

Maybe you feel otherworldy when you take a moment to observe the beauty of nature. Perhaps transcendence occurs for you when you ponder the one dream or career you’ve always wanted.

No matter the situation, transcendence should feel like you’ve accomplished the most significant task in the world.

Integrate Faith-Based Principles

Whether or not you are religious, being spiritually in-tune can help you feel less alone. Spirituality means something different for everyone. There is no standard for it, so do whatever feels right to you.

Look to core religious and spiritual principles for ways to improve your mental and emotional state. Such principles include treating others fairly, being kind to the people you meet and respecting yourself and others. Everyone should uphold these concepts for the betterment of themselves and everyone around them.

Ground Yourself In Today

Though the future is important, try not to excessively focus on things you haven’t yet achieved. The present is equally valuable, and sometimes people forget this because they’re so determined to attain their goals. Achieving things you set out to do isn’t a problem, but take stock of the present too. Sit down at the end of every day and think about the day’s happenings.

Remind yourself of three things you did well that day. This practice grounds you in the present and reassures you that you’re achieving something, even if it’s not what you expected.

Purpose Is Within Your Reach

Work toward your goals at a healthy pace and you’ll discover how to live a meaningful life. Avoid comparing yourself to others, because your life path belongs to you alone. When you find what that path is, you’ll come away from each day with a sense of fulfillment.