melissa_blueOne of the most common questions I get asked by clients is “What is my life purpose?” or “What am I here to do?” I know that many of you are plagued by this question. Or even if you have a pretty good understanding of what your life purpose is, you probably still need guidance on what steps to take in order to fulfill it more effectively and abundantly.

In keeping with our theme of aligning with your life purpose in January (Don’t forget to register for the upcoming free teleclass!) I thought I would share some practical, simple steps you can take to fulfilling your life purpose.

1. Decide what it is you truly want.

A soul moves by desire. In order to discover what you are here to do, take a look within at your inner most desires. Ask yourself, What do I want? Is that what I really really want? What else do I want? The deeper you can go with this process, the stronger it will be for you.

Be sure to discern if it is something that you REALLY want, or whether it is something you think you should do, or someone else wants you to do. I recently helped my client Megan work through this process of deciding what she really wanted.

She had been talking about moving back to her home state of New York to be close to her family for quite some time. So when I asked her to write a list of the things that she really, really wanted, a move back to New York was at the top of her list. As we worked on this goal for her, I kept coming up against resistance and her reasons why a move to New York would be difficult. For example for financial reasons, her husband might not get a job and doesn’t like commuting to the city, she couldn’t afford the same size house in NY as she has in VA..etc.

It is normal to have to work through limiting beliefs in order to have what you desire. But this was different. It really seemed like there was no positive solution. She wanted her sister and her Mom to move back to NY from VA also, and she felt she had to pay for them too because they couldn’t afford it. She believed this was the only way for the family to be together because “My other sister will never move from NY”

I realized that her motive for everyone to be together was coming from a sense of responsibility to look after everyone else. I helped her to see that she can’t interfere with her sister’s free will not to move from NY. Sometimes, what we want is not the same as what other’s want and so we have to accept their choices and let it go. Finally I asked her “Is this really want you want?” She realized her answer was “no”.

I asked her how that felt. She shared with me that it felt like a big sense of relief. Once she had let go of that desire that was really authentic for her to move states, she could freely work on her other goals to open a yoga studio and build an extension on her house, without the burden of thinking she should hold back from doing anything new ‘cause she might be moving soon. What a relief!

Are you desires really authentic to you? Or are they coming from unclear motives, like Megan’s sense of responsibility to look after her family. Be sure that you are clear within.

2. You have no limitations.

I can’t tell you the number of times people have told me “I don’t know what my life purpose is. I don’t know what I want.” Then five minutes later end up sharing a secret desire they have for a new career or business or hobby.

It’s probably not that you don’t know what you want. It’ s more likely that you are placing limiting beliefs on yourself so you don’t believe that you can do it. You automatically decide that can’t be right, that’s not my life purpose.

I worked with a client recently who told me she was looking for her life purpose. She said she had always wanted to be a healer but didn’t know what her life purpose was. As simple as it sounds, I confirmed for her that her life purpose is to be a healer. We worked through all the limiting beliefs she was holding. For example, that it was not practical, she would never earn any money doing that, she was too old etc etc.

The only thing stopping her from being a successful healer is the negative beliefs she is holding about it. She is creating her own reality.

When you think about what you really want, how quickly are you to dismiss it as being too scary or too impractical? Just for once, try believing that you really can do this. It’s incredible how quickly things will change. I have lived in this house for 9 years not believing I could ever afford to renovate the basement. 3 months ago during the Angelic Business Secrets class I taught, I declared that I was going to set a bold money goal to create the money to renovate my basement. Now the work is underway!

The shift can be so easy when you just believe differently, more positively about your life.

3. Set and Declare your Intentions!

My friend Cynthia reminded me of the importance of setting your intentions when I got together with her this past weekend. When she had her baby last year, she only had 6 weeks of paid leave available to her. She knew she really needed & wanted to be home with her baby for 3 months. She declared that “It’s all going to work out” and just stopped worrying about it- even though a part of her mind was thinking she was crazy!

She let it go and trusted that the solutions would appear. During the time she was on maternity leave she was able to sell her car, and got a tax refund that kept the income that she needed to support her and her son perfectly.

When it was time to go back to work she was concerned about finding a great childcare provider that she trusted. She set the intention to find a childcare provider who she would trust just like her Mom. She discovered a daycare center down the street who even has the same name as her Mom. The teachers there are like 2nd mothers to her son and she couldn’t be happier with the arrangements.

The key when you set your intention is to let go of the “How”. If you worry and fret about what is going to happen or how you are going to do it, your intellectual nature will start worrying and getting scared. You’ll do more harm than good!

Set your intention. Declare it to another person to make it even more powerful. (It helped me to declare my basement renovation intention publicly to my group of 21 participants in the Angelic Business Secrets course! It kept me accountable!)

Then, stay relaxed and open to noticing the opportunities when they come up. Do your research. Find what’s out there. Use your intuition and your inner guidance to discern when action needs to be taken. Follow through! When it feels right, do it!

4. Set clear and specific goals

Another reason that many people stay stuck wondering what they are supposed to be doing with their lives, is that they are very vague with their direction. They kind of have an idea of what they want, or don’t even think about it because their day to day life takes over.

If you want your life to change, you must take the time to be clear and specific about what your goals are. Don’t be afraid of the word goals. A goal is a signpost along the road that gives you direction. It gives you a road map and a guide for what actions to take now in order to reach that signpost.

The more clear and specific you can be; the quicker you will reach your goal. This is because your energy will be aligned with it, and your angels will move in to help you more because they are clear on your intentions too. If you are indecisive and wishy-washy you make it difficult for your angels to help you manifest. They don’t know what direction you are going in!

When Richard and I decided to renovate our basement, we had a contractor come over and give us an estimate on the cost to finish the walls and ceiling. We have our number. That became the financial goal to work towards and has given us extra motivation and drive to create the money and save it aside. It is easier to manifest money when that money has a purpose. It is more difficult to manifest money just for money’s sake. Decide what you want, get the facts on the cost, the time involved and what needs to be done. Write your plan and set to work with your magical intentions to allow it to happen creatively! Be flexible along the way.

Enjoy creating a magical year in 2013 aligned with your life purpose!