The new academic year is a time of new beginnings and new goals! It's a good time to take a personal inventory and think about our purpose and if we are living out that purpose.

We all have a unique gift and were put on this earth to share it. Do you know your purpose?

According to Richard Leider, founder of Inventure–The Purpose Company, the first step toward unlocking your purpose is to mine your life story for major threads and themes that reveal your lifelong gifts, passions, and values. Next, create a clear purpose statement that energizes you to get up each morning with intention and joy. The words in your purpose statement must be yours. They must capture your essence. And they must call you to action every day. You must envision the impact you’ll have on your world as a result of living your purpose. Your actions—not your words—are, ultimately, what truly matters.

To do this, let’s begin with a Purpose Checkup. Many of us accept the wisdom of regular physical checkups. We’re also generally willing to review our financial situation with some regularity. So, if money and medical checkups are essential, we might be wise to take guidance from the financial and medical worlds and adopt the practice of a regular checkup on that third dimension to ensure that our spirit—our sense of purpose—remains healthy.

You can download a simple purpose checkup to calculate your Purpose Checkup score.  

After you’ve completed your purpose checkup, use Richard Leider’s Guide to Unlocking Your Purpose to write your purpose statement!

Richard Leider, founder of Inventure–The Purpose Company, was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Top 5” most respected executive coaches, and by the Conference Board as a “legend in coaching.” Richard has written ten books, including three bestsellers, which have been translated into 20 languages. Repacking Your Bags and The Power of Purpose are classics in the personal development field, and his PBS Special, The Power of Purpose, was viewed by millions.

Leider is a Blue Zones consultant and speaker, and he also co-chairs the Linkage/Global Institute for Leadership Development in both the US and Asia in the pursuit of purpose-led leadership development