I had the good fortune of hearing life coach and Finding Your Own North Star author Martha Beck speak recently. Her framework for thinking about where our sense of purpose is derived from stayed with me and rings true so I wanted to share it here. She said you can find your purpose in one of two ways:

1. Where your gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

2. From your own life experiences: Think of the worst thing that has happened to you. Then go help people with that thing.

Beck qualified the latter by saying you can help people if you’ve “been to hell and back.” If you’ve overcome major obstacles in your life, you have something to teach. Every self-help book I’ve ever read is along these lines with the great teachers having experienced suffering they overcame, learned from, and could go on to teach others. My own work is informed by mistakes I’ve made and difficult periods I’ve come out on the other side of. It’s also informed by the joy and gladness Beck refers to above.

If you’re not sure what your larger purpose is, or if it’s vague and unclear, sometimes just asking the question is enough with the understanding and trust that the answer will come perhaps using this framework or another that makes sense for you.