What is your Purpose? How to Align Your Finances with Purpose

What's your purpose?

Every day we get up we have a calendar of things to do from soccer, to work, walk the dog, fix lunches, drive, workout, make dinner, entertain and ensure homework is done or just in general we fill our schedules up to the top of the brim. With all this being said it sounds like a hustle culture of go and go. Some self-help people rave about it and say that is the best thing possible to do and you wonder why you are headed for a breakdown or physical get sick. Our bodies are actually made to rest to recover. We should use the energy we have to do life with purpose on purpose.

I believe that we have to align our priorities with our purpose first before doing anything else. This takes time to literally write out our priorities so we can lead a more fulfilling and purpose driven life. Let’s explore the importance of assessing priorities and provide steps, supported by relevant Bible verses, to help guide this journey from an introspective perspective.

Assessing your priorities:

Self-Examination: We don’t like setting with ourselves in silence for longer than two minutes to hear our own thoughts. We have to be doing something at all times. There was even a study out that people would rather inflict self-hurt through shocks than to sit in their own thoughts. We are afraid to self-examine ourselves in the fear that if we do, we will be forced to see some inconvenience within ourselves and have no one to blame but ourselves. So, let’s not fall into the victim self-blaming but rather lift ourselves up. We often avoid sitting in silence, fearing self-reflection. However, self-examination is crucial for personal growth. 'A self-examined person is the architect of their own growth, crafting the blueprints of wisdom through introspection and action.'

Well, if God wanted us to do it shouldn’t we do what He ask? Let us examine our ways and test them and let us return to the Lord (Lamentations 3:40) We should consider our daily routines, habits, and things that first to occupy our time. Do they align with our faith and values? (II Corinthians 13:5, James 1:23-25) This the first and most important step besides defining our values but we need to do that based on our current state now.

Seek Guidance: To go hand and hand with self-examination we must allow God to help us like a GPS to our destination. We must trust in the Lord and lean not unto our own understanding. This means submitting our ways to God (Proverbs 3:5-6) This is quoted by many people because it’s so important in our daily lives. Inviting our God into our lives and realizing that it is and will always be about him is worth it. How do you feel if you are parent and your child ask you for guidance and does it on their own because they look up to you.

Write Your Priority Statement:

It makes us feel great and what appreciated to be asked about something and for the acknowledgment of trust between you and your child. That wonderful feeling is the same God gets when we have the faith of child to a parent. We believe in them because we know they have more wisdom and application in life and want to see us succeed. Our prayer life is a good strong signal of how we are spending time. It’s easy to prayer to God in difficult times when things are not as we wished versus having gratitude in our hearts because of simply who God really is to us. Pray for guidance is discerning His will for your life and understanding the priorities that truly matter in His eyes.

Homework:

Priorities are at the root of everything in life and sometimes it takes our lives being upside down or things to go different before we realize what truly matters. I believe that’s why COVID was such a major shock to a lot of people because the priorities we lived were mixed up and needed to be reevaluated. Identify your core values helps you ensure that your priorities are lined up. Here is a list of 50 values as an example for you to think on:

Integrity | Compassion | Honesty | Respect | Responsibility | Courage | Gratitude | Perseverance | Kindness | Empathy | Generosity | Accountability | Authenticity | Loyalty | Humility | Patience | Fairness | Wisdom | Joy | Creativity | Innovation | Sustainability | Family | Teamwork | Balance | Freedom | Adventure | Independence | Faith | Trust | Simplicity | Open-Mindedness | Continuous Learning | Harmony | Tolerance | Respect for Nature | Health | Equality | Justice | Self-discipline | Flexibility | Authentic Relationships | Excellence | Curiosity | Optimism | Spirituality | Resilience | Community | Innovation

Your homework is to write your priority statement for your life for 63 days straight in a row. This is not just written once and look at it 63 times but write it 63 times until you have memorized it truly. If you are serious about aligning your priorities with life you will see a difference. I believe you have to want to see the difference and not just be about the talk or want to be the victim of your own self-inflicted tragedy but the main character that takes action that turns everything into a catalyst.

Examples of Priority Statements:

1. Led by loyalty to meaningful connections and a quest for freedom, my journey unfolds like a mindful dance, gracefully balancing simplicity and endless possibilities liberated from the unnecessary.

2. With loyalty as my anchor and freedom as my compass, I embrace minimalism as a conscious decision to eliminate distractions, inviting clarity and a liberating sense of purpose into my daily existence.

3. Aspire to a purposeful and uncluttered life through minimalism—a dedication to loyalty in cherishing relationships and freedom in letting go of material excess. By simplifying, we craft a canvas for intentional living and meaningful pursuits.

4. In the pursuit of minimalism, loyalty ties me to purpose, and freedom frees me from the unnecessary weight of possessions, establishing room for what genuinely matters.