In Live in your purpose -episode 1, we understood why we should find our purpose. Now let’s see how. In a way, defining your purpose is a process very similar to differentiating all the things that matter to you from all the unimportant stuff that keeps you busy. And I admit it takes a lot of effort to try and prioritize your activities when everything seems to be #1. A great method to use in this case is Death Consciousness. Yes, it’s very counterintuitive to think about death when we have to deal with matters of happiness, but it’s a very powerful way to realize our goal here.

#1: List all activities that you do, that don’t make you happy

First things first, I like to identify all the things I do that can’t be considered as part of my purpose. This proves to be efficient because, on average, we feel forced to do more than 80% of the activities we do. And often, only less than 20% of our activities could be considered part of our passion. Obviously, there is a disconnect here between our happiness and the way we drive our life. In your ideal world, these statistics should be the other way around.

And it’s not that difficult to take away from the table all these unimportant tasks that consume more than 80% of our time. The best way to do some good housekeeping here is to use the principle of death consciousness. Most people today are so caught up in so many things that ultimately do not make a difference in their lives. If you were to die in a month from now, would earning more money be your main objective? Or would you still be spending your time with the same people you socialize with today? Would you still be fighting with your brother if you knew he would die one week from now? Death consciousness is a formidable tool that can help you see with clarity which goals don’t match with your long-term life path.

#2: Put things in perspective

There is something very positive about staying in touch with your mortality. It helps you put things in perspective as we are not staying here forever. As far as am concerned, I like to practice death consciousness when I find myself at the intersection of two different roads. It helps me cut through all the BS and get right to the things that matter.

Since I started using this principle, I succeeded in cutting away a lot of fat because I realized that the vast majority of the goals that I had been working toward were pointless in the grand scheme of things. On average, we only have circa 33,000 days between the day we are born and the day we die. So, we must make every moment count.

#3: Decide to be happy Now

If you decide to be happy only once you have finalized some specific but not truly meaningful things, you are basically condemning yourself to not rise above that current level of happiness. And the future is a place you never live in. Remember that your home is the present. The biggest mistake we do is that we tend to believe we are somehow immortal by not making death part of our equation. It’s a bit funny in a way, because death is the only certainty in life. At the end of the day, none of us will survive life forever. So, death consciousness is extremely important because it reminds you to be happy now. Enjoy every step of the life’s ride because you don’t even know if you will be here tomorrow.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

— Steve Jobs

We tend to think: “I will be happy when I get married”, or “When I buy my Porsche 911, I will realize my dream”, or “I will be happy once I find a new job”. Death consciousness helps you figure out that all these beliefs are lies that are here to deceive you. Humans don’t realize that while they are trying to kill time, it is time that is killing them softly and quietly. In reality, there is often one heartbeat separating us from the hereafter.

So be selective on how you allocate your time and energy, and don’t spend too much time on things or people you don’t like. Money and material stuff are tools for comfort, but they can’t serve as a purpose.

Your true purpose is the only thing that can ignite the fire of your soul…