{"id":11469,"date":"2012-10-04T22:36:47","date_gmt":"2012-10-05T06:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=11469"},"modified":"2013-09-20T13:16:21","modified_gmt":"2013-09-20T21:16:21","slug":"7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Tips for Setting Your Purpose &#038; Defining Your Success"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><a href=\"http:\/\/wp.me\/pAjjf-2YZ\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the months before my wedding, there were more celebratory events than I can count on my body parts. (Forget just using fingers!) Bridal showers, lunches, dinners, drinks with friends, drinks with family, bachelorette parties \u2014 events galore.<\/p>\n<p>At every single one of these events, I was showered with love \u2014 and with desserts.<\/p>\n<p><em>In preparing for a wedding, desserts mean Problem City.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve ever tried to fit into a wedding dress or even an old pair of pants, you know what I&#8217;m talking about. Saying no is all it takes, but resisting a luscious piece of cake is probably the hardest thing <em>EVER<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p><em>How my taste buds miss all those cupcakes I didn&#8217;t eat. I long for them sometimes.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Know what made it worth it? I fit into that wedding dress \u2014 and I rocked it all night long.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Are goals really all that important?<\/h2>\n<p>Most of the time, I&#8217;m totally against setting lofty goals. They&#8217;re unachievable, scary, and make me totally fear failure.<\/p>\n<p><em>Talk about stopping dead in your tracks.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I scoured my brain for what could be a good replacement for this, asking myself:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li><em>What could be the answer to our striving?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>What could help us be continuously motivated to become better without getting too scared to march on?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Why is it that most of us underdeliver on our promises to ourselves?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Until it hit me. It was right in front of me the whole time! It\u2019s something I do every single day without even noticing. It\u2019s something I felt was too obvious and corny to even mention to anyone else, but it\u2019s worth analyzing and sharing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A sure-fire way to move forward without fear is to set a meaningful\u00a0<em>purpose<\/em>, not a lofty <em>goal<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To me, there is a gap the size of the Pacific between a purpose and a goal.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><strong>Goal<\/strong> = <em>what<\/em> you are striving toward, your <em>destination<\/em>.<br \/>\n<strong>Purpose<\/strong> = <em>why<\/em> you are striving, your <em>reason<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>By focusing on <em>purpose<\/em> instead of <em>goals<\/em>, the hard work we need to put in and the progress we reap from it both feel more enjoyable and meaningful. There is no numeric aim to be held against \u2014 just a genuine and significant broad future state that you move toward at a rate that feels comfortable and fulfilling.<\/p>\n<h2>Setting your purpose <em>works<\/em> \u2014 so let\u2019s find out how<\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>1. Be YOU!<\/strong>\u00a0You are a unique being, and there are skills and desires that only you bring to the table. Let\u2019s call this your <em>onlyness<\/em>. If you leverage your <em>onlyness<\/em>, you\u2019ll be on the honest and true fast-track to finding your success.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>2. Hone in on your emotions.<\/strong> Becoming aware of our emotions is a practice that is both difficult and incredibly rewarding. Recognizing your reactions and desires for what they are in any given moment will give you a powerful insight that has lied untapped for far too long.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>3. Ask yourself <em>why<\/em> \u2014 over and over again.<\/strong> Each emotion and desire that we bring to the table is there for a reason. The same applies to our goals. If you scrutinize the reason behind each of these, you will arrive much more quickly at your ultimate <em>purpose<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>4. Take note of what makes you curious.<\/strong> There is amazing power behind our natural inclinations to explore certain topics and concepts. The things that make you curious will also give you immense energies in learning, discovering, and finding meaning.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>5. Recall when you felt the most fulfilled.<\/strong> Every single day is jam-packed with activities \u2014 some fulfilling and some not. Identifying which parts of your day or week are most fulfilling will help you replicate similar experiences more often. Incorporating those into your journey to success will ensure that you can keep chugging along when the work feels longer and harder.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>6. Analyze what makes you feel most engaged.<\/strong> There is nothing like feeling challenged and activated without feeling overwhelmed. Activities that make us feel engaged in a positive way are like fuel, driving away feelings of insecurity and doubt. Seek out experiences that spark feelings of engagement and activation to incorporate a superhero-like excitement into your journey.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>7. Paint a picture of your future self.<\/strong> Where do you want to be in a few weeks, months or years? Identifying how you want to look and feel at the end of your journey will keep you motivated when the going gets tough. Focusing on the <em>experience<\/em> at the end of the journey will give you boosts of energy when you most need refueling.<\/p>\n<p>Remember: <em>goals<\/em> are about numbers and achievements, while <em>purpose<\/em> is about experiences and intentions.<\/p>\n<p>How can you leverage your purpose in your life?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Goals are about numbers and achievements, while purpose is about experiences and intentions. How can you leverage your purpose in life? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":11551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[205,45,32,9],"tags":[4653,63,91,4641,318,46,4639,2015,2086],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>7 Tips for Setting Your Purpose &amp; Defining Your Success - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By focusing on purpose instead of goals, the hard work we need to put in and the progress we reap from it both feel more enjoyable and meaningful. There is no numeric aim to be held against \u2014 just a genuine and significant broad future state that you move toward at a rate that feels comfortable and fulfilling.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Tips for Setting Your Purpose &amp; Defining Your Success - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By focusing on purpose instead of goals, the hard work we need to put in and the progress we reap from it both feel more enjoyable and meaningful. There is no numeric aim to be held against \u2014 just a genuine and significant broad future state that you move toward at a rate that feels comfortable and fulfilling.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-05T06:36:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-20T21:16:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Screen-shot-2012-10-04-at-11.40.17-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"499\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"304\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Screen-shot-2012-10-04-at-11.40.17-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Screen-shot-2012-10-04-at-11.40.17-PM.png\",\"width\":\"499\",\"height\":\"304\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/\",\"name\":\"7 Tips for Setting Your Purpose & Defining Your Success - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-05T06:36:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-20T21:16:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"By focusing on purpose instead of goals, the hard work we need to put in and the progress we reap from it both feel more enjoyable and meaningful. There is no numeric aim to be held against \u2014 just a genuine and significant broad future state that you move toward at a rate that feels comfortable and fulfilling.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"7 Tips for Setting Your Purpose &#038; Defining Your Success\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"7 Tips for Setting Your Purpose & Defining Your Success - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"By focusing on purpose instead of goals, the hard work we need to put in and the progress we reap from it both feel more enjoyable and meaningful. There is no numeric aim to be held against \u2014 just a genuine and significant broad future state that you move toward at a rate that feels comfortable and fulfilling.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"7 Tips for Setting Your Purpose & Defining Your Success - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","og_description":"By focusing on purpose instead of goals, the hard work we need to put in and the progress we reap from it both feel more enjoyable and meaningful. There is no numeric aim to be held against \u2014 just a genuine and significant broad future state that you move toward at a rate that feels comfortable and fulfilling.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2012-10-05T06:36:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-09-20T21:16:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"499","height":"304","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Screen-shot-2012-10-04-at-11.40.17-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Screen-shot-2012-10-04-at-11.40.17-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Screen-shot-2012-10-04-at-11.40.17-PM.png","width":"499","height":"304"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/","name":"7 Tips for Setting Your Purpose & Defining Your Success - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2012-10-05T06:36:47+00:00","dateModified":"2013-09-20T21:16:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"By focusing on purpose instead of goals, the hard work we need to put in and the progress we reap from it both feel more enjoyable and meaningful. There is no numeric aim to be held against \u2014 just a genuine and significant broad future state that you move toward at a rate that feels comfortable and fulfilling.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-tips-for-setting-your-purpose-defining-your-success\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"7 Tips for Setting Your Purpose &#038; Defining Your Success"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}