There are many moments in life when we may ask ourselves, What is my purpose? We could find ourselves coming off a traumatic event, such as the end of a relationship or the loss of a loved one, and begin to question, Why did this happen? Where do I go with my life next? Or maybe everything is going great, and we wonder, Is this what I’m supposed to be doing? Is this my purpose? Even in instances when life just feels kind of stagnant, we may ask, Is there something more I am supposed to be doing? It’s normal to question our purpose in life, and it’s normal to wonder if and when we’re going to find it. If you’re in a situation where you are wondering how to find your true calling, or if you already have, these purpose-filled books may provide you with the insight you are looking for.
The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life
by Chris Guillebeau
At 35, Chris Guillebeau sets out on a quest to visit every country in the world. While the original goal of his trip was to travel, his mindset quickly changes as he begins to interact with people from many different backgrounds. He realizes almost instantly that many of these people are similar to him and that while they may not be embarking on a global journey, they all have quests of their own.
From a woman working tirelessly on her culinary skills to a young widower looking to complete a bucket list left by his wife, Guillebeau encounters people with quests of all kinds. Despite everyone’s focus on what it is they are working on at the moment — traveling, cooking or wish-granting — it is not the actual goals they are striving for, but rather to find their purpose.
As Guillebeau has more conversations with these people, he begins to notice the direct link between questing and long-term happiness. And that it is not necessarily the quest that is making these individuals happy, but rather the sense of self they are discovering along the way. Such passion projects are an avenue for each individual to discover their internal purpose more than anything else.
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The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
by Charlie Mackesy
Full of life lessons, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is meant to connect with readers of all ages, whether it be a child encountering their first struggle or an older adult looking for insight and an opportunity for reflection. This graphic novel includes four main characters — each of whom is outlined in the title — and encompasses the idea that valuing oneself completely is the key to finding your purpose.
Each of the four characters is meant to represent a different aspect of a person. The mole represents what many may consider to be flaws, such as timidness or weakness. The horse is representative of stereotypical strengths, such as confidence and resilience. These characters are gradually introduced as the book goes on and allow the reader to slowly build the image of a complete person once all four of them come together.
While we all may be tempted to embrace “the horse” inside of us and shy away from “the mole,” Mackesy reiterates the importance of embracing all aspects of ourselves. In order to reach our full potential — and in turn find our true purpose in life — we must be accepting of each characteristic we embody, both the flaws and the strengths. Rather than ignoring our mole-like traits, we can acknowledge them, and over time, turn them into horses.
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Purpose and Possibilities: How to Transform Your Life
by Henry and Elaine Brzycki
For positive psychology experts and married couple Elaine Brzycki Ed.M. and Henry Brzycki Ph.D., the key to finding your purpose in life is increased self-knowledge. This self-help book takes a much more scientific approach in terms of helping readers unlock their full potential and includes a series of 15 “Reflections” to undertake.
These reflections are based on the authors’ research into eight dimensions of well-being, seven factors of psychological well-being and 30 attributes of the authors’ Integrated Self Model and the 10 purpose-guiding categories in a model they have coined as The Success Predictor. Along the way, you are invited to examine the many factors affecting your quality of life, what has personal meaning to you, your sense of self, your regrets and resentments, and much, much more.
Based on 40 years of counseling expertise and course and program development, this self-help book is perfect for anyone looking for a more calculated, step-by-step approach. The Brzyckis’ work is methodical in helping readers discover their unique potentials while also aiding in the recovery from past traumas and helping to establish a clearer, more positive mindset. Read our review here.
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Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live
by Martha Beck
For many people, the journey to uncovering one’s life purpose is a spiritual one, Beck argues in her book, Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming The Life You Were Meant to Live. She helps readers begin their journeys by introducing the idea of an internal compass, and describes how it is already built into our brain and body. It is this compass that reveals our deepest desires, along with any unconscious beliefs and unhealed emotional wounds.
By identifying our desires and other subliminal thoughts, emotions and affinities within ourselves, we are able to create a deeper understanding of who we are as a unique individual. This in turn helps us discover our life’s purpose.
While Beck’s approach is abstract and based on spiritual well-being, she also includes a series of case studies, questionnaires and exercises to help readers uncover their core desires. This data-driven section of her book is based on work Beck completed as a Harvard-trained sociologist, a research associate at Harvard Business School and through experiences with her personal clients.
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Man’s Search for Meaning
by Viktor E. Frankl
Viktor E. Frankl is one of the few individuals lucky enough to survive the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. After three years in various camps, Frankl was liberated and returned to his birthplace of Vienna. There, he spent the rest of his life teaching people the major lesson he learned during the war: people must find their true meaning in life, even if all they have experienced thus far is tremendous suffering. His work, Man’s Search for Meaning, is a culmination of his teachings that have been broken down into three main points.
The first point is quite startling, stating that sometimes surrendering to death is the only way to survive. While this may sound morbid, the point that Frankl is trying to convey that focusing too much on the future will not help you in the present, which is where most of your attention should be placed. His second point is that everyone’s life has meaning, but it is up to you personally to find that meaning in any given moment. The meaning of our life will not simply be handed to us by someone else, nor will it likely be discovered in a cohesive, single moment. Frankl concludes with the idea that eliminating as much fear as possible will help us discover our purpose.
Having lived through the horrors of the Holocaust, Frankl experienced a lot of fear and suffering, yet found a way to channel it into discovering his purpose rather than forcing him to give up on life.
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Your Destiny Is Inside You
by Ana Pat
Another book that takes a spiritual approach to finding one’s life purpose is Your Destiny Is Inside You by Ana Pat. Through the idea that everything in the world has an inherent energy, Pat opens readers up to the possibility that harnessing these positive energies will have massive benefits on one’s personal life.
He uses the metaphor of a bird, and describes how one of the bird’s wings is representative of the energy in the world around us while the other wing represents our internal energy. In order for the bird to successfully fly, the wings have to be of the same strength, which means that our internal positive energy must match that of the external world. Once our energy is matched — or our bird is in the sky, so to speak — we are on our way to discovering our true purpose.
Pat also places a large emphasis on the importance of self-discovery, and how eliminating obsessions based on self-limiting beliefs is essential to fulfilling one’s potential. For a more in-depth outline of Pat’s practices and how beneficial they can be to improving one’s life and finding your true purpose, check out our review here.
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Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World
by Bob Goff
Here we’ve covered everything from scientific to spiritual to “overcoming struggles” based approaches for self-improvement and finding your true purpose. Goff’s approach is a little more … simple. In his New York Times bestseller, Love Does, Goff states that an amazing life comes from one key element: love.
By shamelessly showing love to those around us — whether it is our closest friends or a neighbor we barely know — we are well on our way to living a more peaceful life, which will in turn help us discover our true purpose. Complete with a collection of stories about small displays of love, Goff emphasizes that our mindset and willingness to accept positivity have much more to do with our overall desires than we may think.
From a story about five men spending 16 days stranded in the Pacific Ocean to college students taking a road trip, Love Does provides countless examples of how kindness and compassion are nothing short of essential when it comes to finding one’s true purpose in life.
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The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
If methodological or spiritual self-help books are not appealing to you, opting for a fictional classic can still provide you with the same benefits. Similar to Guillebeau’s The Happiness of Pursuit, The Alchemist centers around a man’s journey around the world. But rather than including personal anecdotes to relay the importance of finding one’s true purpose, Coelho relies on a combination of magic, mysticism and wisdom in his fictional world.
Coelho’s tale follows a boy’s quest to travel the world looking for an assortment of material riches. However, the more time he spends traveling and the more people he meets, the quicker he learns that “riches” are not always gold and trading goods.
Instead, the people he encounters help him discover that life is meant to have more purpose outside of objects consisting of monetary value. His mind is also opened to the idea that following one’s path, rather than someone else’s, is essential in finding your unique purpose. When we solely focus on someone else’s journey, we tend to lose sight of our own aspirations and dreams and replace them with those of the person we are emulating.
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