I have learnt that we keep discovering our higher purpose as we live life once we discover the notion of purpose and is conscious of its existence. This had got me in to the habit of reflecting, reviewing, refreshing and re-writing my purpose every month.
The first part of my current purpose statement is;

Inspire others to live a purposeful life based on their own evolving beliefs, values and methods.

This is based on my discovery of how my beliefs, values and methods evolved during my first-person inquiry and my discovery of how different people have different beliefs, values and methods that evolve as they attempt to live purposefully, during my second-person inquiry. First- and second-person inquiry are methods of action research that I adopt in my doctoral research into the notion of ‘purposeful living’.

I would like to focus on the aspect of ‘evolving methods’ in this article. I have personally experienced methods such as prayer, meditation, mental tools from NLP & TA, community building, Yoga, and Releasing that has helped me to live a purposeful life. The methods we choose are guided by our beliefs and values. I have discovered that attempting to live a purposeful life leaves me open to inspiration and I keep finding new values, beliefs and methods (or do these methods find me?), which I sometimes adopt. I also realise that my beliefs, values and methods keep evolving and each of these aspects impact the other aspects during the journey of life and these aspects are an evolving fusion of my experiences.

A new method I discovered last month was the JUMP movement and I was fortunate to learn this directly from the founder Ineke Hurkmans thanks to the CKH Network who made it possible for her to visit Bangladesh. I found that the JUMP movement is also a useful method in living a purposeful life. It is a simple seven step process that makes a movement in your consciousness, energy, beliefs, values, success and happiness within you. It is a simple conversation method that can be done between two people or a small group and could be also considered a coaching technique.

The first step is to promise three things to the members of the group; to own express opinions to others, support each other and confidentiality. These are important human values and since noble values are a part of a purpose statement, this step help participants practice these important values and perhaps adopt them for their own life purpose.

The second step is to celebrate personal success by sharing success in the group and receiving applause. The process of finding purpose begins with reflecting on what makes us joyous to discover inner resources that we must develop for the service of the world. Similarly, this second step in the JUMP movement helps in discovering, valuing and celebrating our inner resources.

The third step is to share where you are right now using an anecdote or key words and receive a compliment (without hidden advise) from the other group members. The process of finding purpose requires accepting who we are, including the struggles we are grappling with, with the intention of using the experience to be of service to the world. Therefore, practicing the third step regularly helps make sense of some aspects of our life purpose.

The fourth step is to state, ‘where do you want to go’, loud and clear without any comments, feedback and advise from the group. In the process of finding purpose we encourage you to let your heart guide you without any limitations because the conscious mind may be thinking with limitation, doubts, prejudices etc. Therefore, this step helps silence the negative and allow real potential to be articulated.

The fifth step is to give yourself tips and advice using a creative technique. This step could feed ideas about the daily steps to be taken to build ourselves in the nine aspects of lifewith the intention of being purposeful. These nine aspects are; spiritual, mental, emotional, relational, physical, financial, ecological, societal and temporal. Those who practice the JUMP process would be regularly reflecting on improving themselves in some of these areas to be fit for purpose.

The sixth step is to decide on the next step you will take and is applauded by the team. The decision can be something you will start doing or stop doing. Living purposefully requires deciding every morning at least three baby steps you would take in any of the nine aspects of life that was discussed in the earlier paragraph and celebrating successes end of each day. Those who practice the JUMP process regularly would be fertile with ideas and courageous to implement those ideas.

The seventh step is gratitude; to say to the larger group what you are grateful for. Continuing this practice helps develop an attitude of gratitude. This helps purposeful living, which is about being grateful for what we have, informing the universe how we would like to serve and saying ‘yes’ to opportunities that are presented.

The lessons I take from this exploration is that there are varied methods available to help people live a better life. All these approaches have some value and if we are open to possibilities we will find the approach or a fusion of methods that best suits each of us. And such methods are bound to evolve with our ongoing experiences. Therefore it is important to be open to change so that we can be in sync with the evolution of the universe.

My blog posts of the last 11 months addressed the impact of violence, religion, politics, sports, professions, stress, releasing, the subconscious, love and family on the lives of people and how to respond from the frame of purposefulness. We continue to explore purposefulness, this time in relation to new methods and approaches that we encounter.
I hope this short blog post inspires you to find ways of making sense and dealing with experiences and struggles you encounter trying to live purposefully.

I wish you purposeful living!