Check out these Myths that people may or may not have, about designing a more purposeful life

Once you have designed your purposeful life, you are done

The most obvious response to this is…

The process of designing your life, will change as circumstances in your life change. What was super important to you as a teenager, mid-career or later in your career, let alone if partnering or children become part of your life. Understandably your priorities and focus will change and where or how your purpose manifests will change.

As you start to explore more of your Strategic Life Map Dreams, you might find hidden talents or the thing you thought you would love to spend the rest of your life doing will change, is not at all what you want to do. An example is as a teenager I was keen to become a Forensic Scientist (Quincy MD or Bones). I am not good with bodily fluids and horrid smells they can emit – so ew! Also, despite the TV programs showing otherwise, it is primarily a lab role, working by yourself. Boo to that!

As you age, you get to know more about yourself and what makes you unique and how you leverage your uniqueness.

All this means that your purpose is likely to evolve and change over time – requiring a refinement and adjustment.

It is only about your career

You are not a one-dimensional humanoid!

You are fully formed human with responsibilities and everything, and whatever you want to design your Strategic Life Map, needs to consider those things.

The best quote I have every received from a pathfinder* was the following:

“You cannot decide your career direction, until you decide your life direction”

It sums it up brilliantly, there are many aspects of your life that you will want to focus your attention on. The program gives you're the tools and templates to help you evaluate the areas you want to focus on.

It is called a Strategic LIFE map – because we are focusing on your life, not just your career. Your career is a super important part of your life and research tells us it gives us significant meaning. It is a clear focus, just not the only focus.

*Pathfinder is a collective term for people designing their life

You only need this when life goes to s@#t

It is better if your life has not gone to shit, as it is hard to imagine a future life, when you are in a state of fear to catatonia. Can you imagine trying to dream of a happy future when that is happening?

I therefore recommend this approach, depending on your circumstances:

If this is the place you are in, reflect gently and kindly on a small thing you can change, that might generate a more positive outcome for you. The simplest thing will work, like having a bath or going to bed earlier, or getting into the sunshine. It will give you space to be and then later, when the trouble has subsided and little and hope returns you can look to the future

Start now, if you are getting inklings that the future trajectory is not exactly where you want to head. Even if there are fleeting thoughts of, “is this it”, these are signs that you have a different future ahead of you.

Start now, if you wish to take charge or what your future could be.

You need to leave your employer

This one is for both managers as well as individuals.

There is no rule that says you need to give up everything, about today that you do, to pursue a purposeful life. Stories where people have left their employer are compelling, therefore used frequently.

You might find though that you want different experiences, that you can get with your existing employer, but hadn’t articulated it, because you had not unearthed it yet.

Or you could want a portfolio or as the kids these days are calling it a ‘fractional’ career, so you can pursue other things.

Pursuing a side hustle is great way the thing you think you might like, or it could stay a private hobby, not everything needs to be monetised!

You need to do it alone

This one is a ‘yes and’. Because the work does need to be done, by you. You will not work out of the quest and go – yay all sorted!

You will have more clarity and direction that ever before, but there might be things you need to investigate or experiment with, to determine if they are what you really want.

Design Your Life on Purpose Quest have been designed to support you beyond the initial flurry and you also have access to all materials forever (at least as long as I am running the program – 5 years and counting!) That means you can go back to the templates and processes that will help you reclarify where you want your life to head.

More details about each of the 5 myths you may or may not know about DYLOP are contained over here 👉

https://www.incahoots.com.au/bloghq/what-is-a-strategic-life-map-amp-why-would-i-need-one