What were you born to do?

In my ongoing bid to help more creatives discover their dharma and soul calling, here are two tips to help you enjoy that “I was born to do this!” feeling…

You were born for this.

I recently woke up with this line playing on repeat in my mind;

You were born for this.

It’s a lyric from the song Wake Up by one of my mentors, Regan Hillyer, from an album I sometimes play when I’m out walking.

And I LOVE this line!

There’s something inspiring about believing that we have a special mission on this planet.

There’s something about enjoying a higher sense of meaning that is soothing to the soul.

Because this human experience can be confusing!

And it’s nice to catch glimpses of the meaning of life – or at least, the meaning of our individual lives.

So, in the interests of soothed souls and inspired minds, today’s question for you is this;

What were you born to do? 

I believe there are two parts to answering this question…

Step 1: Believe you were born to do something uniquely valuable

The first step to answering this question is to believe that you were born for something valuable and unique, and that your unique blend of gifts, challenges, quirky desires and preferences is perfect for some much-needed purpose.

If you have any doubt about this, I highly recommend this short ebook; The Joy of Dharma – it’s available for free and designed specifically to help lovely purpose-seeking creatives like you. 

Step 2: Discovering what you were born to do

The second part of this process is the game of discovering what that ‘special something’ is.

And this can be a lifelong game.

It’s a game I’ve been playing for decades and I’m delighted (and relieved!) to report that I finally feel as though I understand the rules of the game, and I’m even seeing some lovely victories and encouraging progress.

It’s also a game I feel a particular calling to help others to play, enjoy – and win.

Your Creative Dharma is my first work in guiding others towards their unique sweet spot of success and happiness, but I envisage many more programmes, courses, blog posts and books that will share more of what I’ve learned and how I can help.

Because this work is, I believe, what I was born to do.

Knowing this, living this, and seeing how things just fall into place in this ‘dharma zone’ is such a joy, I feel honour bound to share it with other creatives who are also seeking their own sweet spot of joyful service.

To that end, I invite you to give some quality time and attention to the question for yourself.

Because it’s not an easy question to answer!

If you find you come up blank, here are two tips for teasing out just a few more insights about it.

(Because that’s all we ever need to get to the next step.)

Tip #1:  Adopt one of these affirmations:

I love the idea of knowing my purpose.

I am excited about living and loving my dharma.

I like the idea of knowing what I was born to do.

I like knowing that I was born for something special – I’m excited to know what that is.

(If you’d like more inspiration for this strategy, I have a whole collection of Your Creative Dharma-inspired affirmations here.

{ Help yourself to the collection of affirmations from Your Creative Dharma }

Tip #2:  What would you like it to be?!

Why not pretend you can choose your life purpose?

Pretend you were on the committee before you came here, and you got the deciding vote on precisely the meaning and purpose of your human experiences.

From unlimited possibilities, you chose a unique mission, something close to your heart and uniquely perfect for you.

And don’t forget – your purpose can be a joy!

(I’m increasingly convinced that our purpose should be a joy – what better incentive?!)

So, if you could design the most joyful purpose for your life – what would that be?

Here’s another little trick for tuning into what you would LOVE…

Imagine that you’re standing in line, waiting to be assigned your life mission, and the person in front of you in the queue is given the most fabulous purpose you can think of. 

They’re granted what would be your idea of a Dream Mission, something that you feel you would be perfect for!

You’re silently screaming;

“That should be my mission!”

“I would LOVE to do that work!”

“I want that purpose!!”

“It sounds amazing and brilliant and beautiful and I would be fantastic at it!!”

There’s your answer.

(BTW, in our fantasy scenario, the Purpose Director soon realises her mistake and sees that actually yes, that was meant to be for you. 🙂 )

{ Discover the definition of dharma }

Dharma: What you were born to do

If knowing what you were born to do is something that matters to you, or at least piques your curiosity, you now have a few ways to begin playing with this soul-soothing concept more deeply.

I hope these insights from my dharma journey are helpful for you in finding your own sweet spot of contribution and joy.

Because, I truly believe with all my heart; that way – magic lies…

Or if you already know what you were born to do, I would LOVE to hear about it!

To finding, living and loving our dharma, 

PS If you’d like to know more about my calling to this work that I love so much, I wrote a short story about the Art School epiphany that set me on this path.

(Complete with photos from my student days!)

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born…

and the day you find out why.”

MARK TWAIN

Dive deeper…

If you’re feeling ready for a deeper commitment to your creative calling, I designed Your Creative Dharma to guide you in discovering your unique sweet spot of joyful expression, purpose and success.

More details below if this idea of knowing what you were born to do strikes a chord with you…

What-the-fabulous is Dharma Wealth?!

Quotes, samples & affirmations
from Your Creative Dharma