Need To Re-Energize And Connect To Your Purpose?

These five simple strategies will help you connect with gratitude, reset your perspective, and build inner peace

Dominant cultural narratives send us messages that we are not enough and that true happiness comes from external objects.

The problem with this message is that, no matter how much wealth we acquire, there is always something better. Even after you buy that new car or those new shoes, soon after your acquisition, the objects lose their appeal.

The truth is, happiness doesn’t come from the exterior.

But moments of happiness and gratitude emerge from moments that are complete, in and of themselves.

One way to create more of these moments is to get out of your own way — remove the mental obstacles that prevent you from being connected to yourself and others in a free-flowing manner.

Another is to facilitate moments of reflection — of noticing your own growth.

When you’re able to hit the pause button and reflect on the substantial changes in your life, you’re able to regain perspective and see your life in a broader context. This stepping back helps you connect with meaning and purpose rather than identify with the ongoing struggles you experience.

Practicing gratitude for your growth and the moment of peace facilitating that awareness can help re-energize your spirit.

Here are five easy ways to continue experiencing gratitude and connect with your purpose:

1. Challenge yourself to grow

Untying the emotional knots that we all possess requires dedication, persistence, and effort.

Though a substantial investment, there is no better way to increase your EQ and develop more self-awareness than connecting with a quality therapist or coach.

Meetings focused on understanding your knots — how and why they developed — often loosens them. Over many hours of talking, feeling, and understanding, you begin untying the strand and experience more room to breathe and less tightness than in the past.

Regardless of how you engage in self-development, remain open to new thoughts and ideas, stay hungry for knowledge, and practice what you preach.

You can always become a better professional and a more well-rounded person.

2. Contribute to others

Maintaining a connection to other people — especially those different than yourself — helps you notice the limitations of your perspective.

Connecting with people from all walks of life gives you a wisdom that cannot be captured through reading. It reveals our interconnection and interdependence, and it highlights that every single person is infinitely complex — they too are the subjective center of their universe.

We often get caught in a trap of reducing this complexity, especially when we disagree with others or do not share their cultural experience.

But that’s why connecting and giving back to others is so important: It helps us step outside of ourselves and into the broader fabric of society.

Doing this more often will increase your gratitude, expand your perspective, and help you feel more connected to the larger context in which we all exist.

3. Live in the present moment

Let go of your never-ending self-talk!

Take a short break without scrolling through the endless entertainment of your iPhone. Pause, and be present — yes, this message is for you.

When an old computer has too many programs running at the same time, it slows down. Same goes for our brains. When you’re inundated with constant internal stimulation, it leads to toxic feelings and behaviors.

The more that you can connect to the stillness of the here-and-now, the lower your anxiety and frustration and the greater your focus.

When you’re immersed in the present moment more often, your productivity and happiness will skyrocket.

4. End your sense of entitlement

Many people are ruled by the tyranny of the “shoulds.”

They think:

“I should have gotten that promotion.”

“I shouldn’t have been laid off during a pandemic.”

“I should have been acknowledged for my efforts.”

The list goes on and on.

We construct the small room in which we’re imprisoned.

Most people don’t recognize that this inner tyrant will dictate their entire life — of never measuring up — if it goes unchallenged.

We need to shift our focus to what is and start being grateful for what we have instead of brooding over what we don’t.

And also:

Tell that voice to shut the f*ck up.

5. Connect to something larger than yourself

It’s important to feel how small our problems really are. And nature is the best way to do that.

We often give power to our problems and make them larger than they need to be, but immersing yourself in the mountains or swimming in the vast ocean helps you realize how small and meaningless your complaints are in the long run.

What does your flat tire mean in comparison to this 10,000 year old rock?

Think about how many storms that tree has survived, how many creatures are on that 14,000 foot peak, how many waves crash upon the beach.

Take lessons from nature and release the feeling of each stubbed toe being a catastrophe.

Suffering is part of the human condition.

Looking for happiness outside of yourself contributes to unhappiness and leads to a life of checking-out, numbing, and lifelessness.

Stop expecting and start appreciating.

Stop thinking about what “should be” and start being grateful for what is. The more you can continue learning and growing, the happier you’ll become.

When you challenge yourself to grow, contribute to others, and live in the present moment, you will feel more connected to your purpose, energized, and inspired.