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“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:5

Too often, we all hear people say resignedly, “I don’t know what my purpose is” or “How do I know what my purpose is?”. Usually, when people say this, they are thinking about something they ought to be ‘doing’ to give meaning to their lives or achieve some sense of fulfillment.

However, your purpose is not something out there that you should be doing. Your purpose is not a career, it is not being a chef, doctor, business-person, scientist, driver, reverend, or any of the untold number of professions out there.

Imagine for a second that you have an uncle with whom you share a close bond and he was quite fond of you. Your uncle, who happens to be powerful and influential, has precious little time for entertaining people in his office. One couldn’t as much as get an appointment with a man like that. Now, imagine that one afternoon, you were in the vicinity and remembered that you had something important you could discuss with him in his office.

Upon reaching your uncle’s office, his secretary gives you the usual spiel everybody gets, basically letting them know it will not be possible to meet with him today, especially without an appointment. Instead however, you say “Tell him his niece is here to see him!”. After what seems like a little lifetime, you are admitted and escorted into your uncle’s office.

Now, why do you think you got to come in? It certainly isn’t because of what you were coming to do, the important matter you needed to discuss. Most people would dare not waste the time of a man like that, everybody is likely to have something important to discuss with him. However, you got admitted whereas others would probably have not for this simple reason, because it was you and your uncle knew you!

According to this verse, YOU are the purpose for being here, YOU are the reason you exist. Before God formed YOU and appointed YOU to the nations of the Earth, YOU existed and God knew you!

So, instead of asking yourself “What is my purpose?” Try asking these types of questions instead: “Why do people like having me around?” How can my being here serve others? How do I make people feel? What things do I help people with? Thinking along these lines will help you determine the impact you already make in the world; and expanding that impact is your goal.

“I knew you before I formed you!”. So, before you can decipher what you should be doing, a journey of self-discovery through the lense of others is crucial. What do others love, appreciate and respect about you? What do people say you do well or that they cannot do without you? Why do they say that?

It is because of who you are that your form exists and that the service you render to humanity may be assigned. Your service may be manifested through any number of channels or professions. For example, this could be someone’s discovery of themself: “People just find it easy to talk to me about their problems. I always seem to find a way to make them feel better. I love seeing people transformed, having a renewed sense of hope wash over their face after an encounter with me!”. Such a person would do well to embark on being a physician or minister or any number of channels that will allow them to do more of that.

If you work for a company, then your company probably has a mission statement. The job that you do within your company is not the mission, but what you do and how you do it should cohere with the company’s mission. The mission statement forms the company’s identity and purpose.

The message is clear: You are on Earth because of who you are!