Imagine a business built on what matters most to you. One inspired by creativity and connection. Where purpose leads to profit and wealth as measured not just by your bottom line, but by your higher self. Welcome to the Work Your Inner Wisdom Podcast where we connect the spiritual with the practical to create a holistic approach to entrepreneurship. Leave the hustle behind and let your intuition lead the way as you grow a successful, fulfilling business and a joyful, radiant life. 

Hello, my wise ones, and welcome to the Work Your Inner Wisdom Podcast. My name is Lee Chaix McDonough and I am so happy that you are joining me today. For those of you for whom this is the first time you've ever listened to the podcast, I want to issue you a special welcome. You have chosen a fantastic episode to get to know me and to get to know the podcast. I am so excited to talk to you today about finding your purpose. So this concept of purpose comes up quite a bit actually, when I'm working with my clients. Many of whom have this deep knowing that they're meant for more, meant for more than what they're doing now. But they don't know what that looks like. They don't know how to go about it. And there's this general sense that they don't know their purpose. So I sat down today, initially, I thought to myself, “Okay, finding your purpose, finding your purpose.” And it felt like such a huge topic, I didn't even know where to begin. So I stopped. I paused, did a little meditation, and asked my inner wisdom to come through and to guide our conversation today about finding your purpose. And then I sat down at my laptop and I started to jot down some notes and notes became an outline, which became three pages of things that I want to talk about today. So this very podcast episode is an example of what happens when you tune into your inner wisdom. When you clear out the mind clutter. When you quiet the voices that are telling you, “You don't have anything to say.” When you focus on what matters most to you and the message that you want to share. And then you give yourself space to play and explore to see what comes out on the page or in the podcast episode. It's amazing how your intuition can guide the way. And that's really what happened for me today. Which is why I'm so excited to share my thoughts with you about finding your purpose. 

So I want to start by talking about what purpose is, and maybe even what it's not. Because a lot of times people think about their purpose as something they do, the actions that they take. And I think that's part of it, but it's certainly not all of it. And so I think if there's one thing that you take away from this episode today, it's that your purpose is not simply what you do, it's who you are. You know, as human beings, it's very easy for us to get caught up in the roles that we play, the things that we do. I talk about this a lot in my book ACT On Your Business, and this is one of the shadow processes. It's called role playing. And it's where we define ourselves by what we do. So maybe the roles I'm playing right now are that of wife, mother, business owner, daughter, volunteer, I mean, et cetera, it's really easy for me to list off all the things that I do, and allow those things to define who I am, or to define my purpose in the world. But our purpose is much, much greater than the things that we do. Certainly our actions can play into our purpose, but it's just one part. So as we continue this discussion today, I want you to remember that your purpose is so much greater than the roles that you play. And I'm going to talk about five elements that play into your purpose. And those five elements are your values, your passions, your strengths, your principles, and your perspective. 

So I'm going to break each one of those five down and talk about how they can play into helping you define and find your purpose. And you'll notice that I just said that they play into your purpose. I really want to emphasize the word play here. I want us to bring a sense of fun and joy, even humor to this process. I mean, sometimes when we think about “your life's purpose,” it feels so serious and so heavy and so profound. But I would really encourage you to approach this with a sense of lightness, with a sense of fun. Let's play with this. Let's have a good time exploring who we are, and how we want to show up in the world. Because if it's not fun, then why bother, right? So let's really play with this a bit as we explore what goes into finding our purpose. I also want to propose that finding your purpose is not a one and done event. Okay, it's not like you find your purpose once, and then you've got it for the rest of your life. I mean, if only it were that easy. But the fact is, we as humans evolve over the course of our lives. You know, I, at age 40, am not exactly the same person, I was at age 30, or at age 20, or at age 10. I'm not even the same person, I was at age 39. Even over the last year, I've grown, I've learned new things, my perspective has changed. And so I think it's important to remember that as we evolve over time, our purpose can as well. And that makes sense. Because as we grow, and as we experience new things, what we think about the world and how we think about the world changes. We relate to the world differently and so this changes our perspective. And a change in perspective can lead to a change in purpose. Perspective is one of the five things I'm going to talk about today. 

So I think it's really important to remember that as we experience change, or shifts in our lives, it may lead to a shift in our purpose. And yes, sometimes those shifts can be painful. When we talk a lot in our society, about midlife crises, we've talked about quarter life crises as well. We tend to go through these periods in our life, where there's a transition, there's a state of flux. And that can sometimes result in us feeling out of touch, disconnected, uncertain about where we want to go with our lives. And that's actually linked to another one of the shadow processes, I talk about in ACT On Your Business. It's the shadow process of losing focus, where we feel disconnected with who we are and with what matters most to us. And so when we go down the path of losing focus, then we start to lose our sense of purpose and meaning. And so I would propose that if you're in that place, right now, if you're experiencing a shift, or a transition in your life, and you're feeling unmoored, and uncertain about what's next for you, then let's turn towards that. Let's really lean into that shift that you're experiencing, and view it more as a sign that it's simply a time to re-evaluate your purpose, to think in a different way about what you want your life to be about. And so if you're there right now, then this episode is perfect timing for you. And I'm really excited to lead you through this process. But before we begin, let's just remember that we are viewing this as your purpose for this stage of your life, I really want you to give yourself permission to approach this idea of finding your purpose with flexibility, that we're really talking about your purpose now, understanding that it may look different than what it was before. And it may look different than what it will be. But we're talking about your purpose right now. I really believe that when we get too rigid about our purpose, then we simply confine ourselves to a single view of how we should be, and we fall right back into that shadow process of role playing. So let's approach this with fun. Let's approach this with flexibility. And with a sense of curiosity, and wonder, let's see where we land after this discussion. 

Okay, so let's kick this off by talking about the first component of purpose, which is your values. So I've talked about values a lot on the podcast in previous episodes, and it's an entire section of my book ACT On Your Business. But when I'm talking about your values, I'm really getting at how you want to live your life. And let's break that phrase down, “how you want to live your life.” So the “how” piece really addresses the qualities that you want to embody. And the “want” piece suggests that there's a drive and motivation to embody them. And then finally, when we're talking about “living your life” it implies that there's action required. So it's not simply a matter of knowing your values, and then just kind of going through your day to day life. No, you are taking action to live out those values every day. So you're getting really clear on what matters most to you and you're allowing that to inform how you want to live your life. 

I want to spend just a minute or two talking about what values are and what they are not, because it can get a little confusing, and the word values has been thrown around a lot in different contexts. So I want to talk about how I am viewing values. So there's three main things that values are, they are personal, they are without judgment, and they are in the here and now. So when I talk about values being personal, it really means that my values are just that; they're mine. They're how I want to live my life and what matters most to me. My values may look different than your values and that's okay. And the reason that's okay is because of that second component. There's no judgment associated with values, values are not good or bad, they are neutral. Now, the behaviors, the actions that we take that are informed by our values, we could maybe bring some judgment in there and talk about whether an action is good or bad or right or wrong. But the value itself, the value that underlies it, is neutral. And finally, values are about today, they are about the here and now. Now, I do think that some values can be fairly constant over time, and maybe the way we express them changes, but it's also okay to understand that our values may shift based on the experiences we have, the relationships we cultivate, and how we see the world. So in general, values are personal. They're without judgment. And they're about the here and now. So if you're still like, okay, but I'm not exactly sure what values look like, well, I'll share mine with you as an example. So my values are service, connection, joy, and love. And so when I'm taking action in my life, whether it's in my business, or in my relationships with my family, with my relationship with myself, whatever it is – I'm always asking myself, “Are the actions that I'm taking consistent with my values of service, connection, joy, and love? Am I showing up and serving other people or serving myself in a way that promotes love? In a way that promotes connection? In a way that fosters joy?” So for me, these four values are very much intertwined. But if I am not coming from a place of love, if I'm not finding the joy in the work that I'm doing, or the relationships that I'm engaging in, then that tells me that there's something off kilter, that I'm not living consistently with my values. But yes, service, connection, joy and love are my four values. And your values may look different. One of my best friends in the world, I adore her, I can't imagine not having her in my life, her values are very different. Her values are around freedom, and autonomy, about independence, travel, I mean, all of this is really important to her, it looks very different than service, connection, joy and love. But the way that she's able to live those values out in her life, is what makes her so unique. And one of the things that I love so much about her. So when we look at values as being kind of these guidelines, that shape our worldview, and how we want to live our lives, then we can understand that they're not inherently good or bad.

Now, let me talk a little bit about what values are not. Values are not goals. They are not feelings, they are not morals. So when we think about a goal, like I have a goal of writing a book, or running a marathon, or getting an A in that class. Those are specific events that we can achieve, or not. When we are looking at goals, when we can say yes or no, I've done it or I haven't then that's not a value. Now, our values can certainly inform our goals, and I think they should, but they're separate from our goals. Okay, they're broader than that. Values are also not feelings. Now our values can influence our emotions, our emotional response, how we interpret our emotions, but feelings of happiness, of anger, of sadness, those themselves are not values. And then finally, values are not morals, morals are about what is considered acceptable behavior. And actually, we're going to talk about that in a little bit when we talk about principles. But for our conversation around values, I want you to remember that values are not morals, values are not about right or wrong, or good or bad. Okay, so we've talked about what values are and why they're so critical to understanding our purpose. Because when we know how we want to live our life, and when we know the qualities that we want to embody, then it links very much with our purpose and how we want to show up in the world. So if you are super clear on what your values are fantastic, but if you're not, if you need a little help determining exactly what your values are, there's some great resources for you. 

First and foremost, I would guide you to my book ACT On Your Business. I have several exercises that can help you clarify your values. In fact, I've shared one of them in previous episodes of the podcast. If you think about what you would want your favorite person in the world to say about you, the stories they tell and the way they describe you can tell you a lot about what you hold important, about what you value. Another idea I talk about in the book is to identify a strong emotion and let that guide you. So if you think about a time that you have experienced great joy, think about what you were doing, think about who you were with, think about everything that went into that moment and see what that tells you about your values, you can also do that with an unwanted emotion like rage. A lot of times when we get really, really angry about something, it's because a value has been threatened. Something that we hold important, has come into conflict with whatever's happening in the world. And so when we get really angry, that can tell us a lot about what we value as well. So those are just a couple ideas of how to get you thinking about what matters most to you. And again, for more ideas, you can check out my book ACT On Your Business. Alright, so that was a mini exploration into the world of values, which is one of the things it's important to be clear on, when it comes to finding your purpose. 

The next thing I want to talk about are your passions. Okay? So when I am talking about your passions, I'm talking about the things that light you up, the things that bring you the greatest joy. That can be actions that you take, or things that you do, it can also be people in your life or places that you go to. I want you to really think about the things in your life that bring you joy. Another way that I like to connect with what my passion is, is to think about when I get in that flow state, what am I doing? So you know, that flow state where you're so concentrated on something, it's like the rest of the world just disappears. And something that takes three hours, it feels like it's gone by in five minutes, right? You're just so in the zone? Well, for me, that flow state is very much connected to the things that I'm passionate about. So when I am in a deep coaching session with a client, our 90 minute session goes by in like two minutes, because I am in a state of flow, and I am engaging in my passion of serving other people. So I would ask you, “When you achieve that flow state, what are you doing?” And can that tell you something about what you're passionate about? Another question you might want to ask yourself is, “When do you feel most like yourself? What actions are you taking? Who are you spending time with? Where are you when you feel like you?” Because I think that's another clue into what we feel passionate about. Because honestly, I believe that when we are living in alignment, when our actions are consistent with who we are, then we are probably living out our passion. So that's another question I would ask is, “When do you feel most like yourself?” And then finally, when it comes to getting clear on your passions, I'm curious, what allows you to easily tap into your creativity? What helps you connect with your spirit, with the divine? Because those things can also tell us a lot about what we're passionate about. So again, think about the things that you're doing, the people you're with, where you are, that really light you up, make you feel connected, allow you to tap into your creativity and connect with spirit, and get you into that state of flow. Alright, so we've got values, we've got passions. Now let's take a look at strengths. 

When I'm talking about strengths, it can certainly include your talents, the things that you're naturally very good at doing. But I also want to move past our actions, the things that we do as defining our strengths and really looking at more of a state of being. Who you are, and how you are and the strengths that you embody, naturally. So there's a couple of resources that I have found both free resources and paid resources, that can really help you tap into your strengths. So one of my favorite free resources out there is called the VIA Strengths Survey. And I will link to this in the show notes. So the VIA Strengths Survey is a really quick assessment that you can fill out online, it'll take you 5 or 10 minutes. And all it is is a series of statements and you are rating the extent to which you agree with that statement. And at the end, it ranks 24 strengths based on what you display the most and what you display the least. So it's a great tool to help you see what you are naturally strong in. And so for example, of the 24 strengths, I'll share my top five with you. And it's funny because I first took this VIA Strength Survey in 2014.

 

I've taken it maybe one or two times since then. I just took it this morning, right before I recorded this podcast because I wanted to see what my strengths were today. And they were love, perspective, social intelligence, spirituality and hope. And it's really interesting because over the last five years, those strengths have maybe shifted in order. I remember the first time I took the test in 2014, my number one strength was social intelligence. And now it's showing up as my number three strength. Makes sense, because I've grown and changed over the last five years. But in essence, our top strengths, they may kind of shift in order, but they're not going to change too too much, because it's, it's who we are, it's what comes naturally to us. So the VIA Strengths Survey is a really fun survey to take to help you uncover some of your natural abilities. And after you take the assessment, there will be a brief description of each of the 24 strengths. If you want a deeper dive, a deeper analysis into your strengths, there certainly is a paid offering that you can take advantage of. But again, I think the free VIA Strengths Survey is a really good start for helping you uncover what you are naturally strong in. Another assessment tool that I love is the Clifton StrengthsFinder. And so if you purchase the book, StrengthsFinder, and I'll have a link to that in the show notes, a lot of times it comes with the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment. So you can take that assessment, I believe there's 34 strengths, with the StrengthsFinder. And again, it will show you which strengths come most naturally to you. And it's really kind of cool. I have found it really interesting to look at my VIA Strengths Survey and compare it with my Clifton StrengthsFinder. So again, the Clifton StrengthsFinder is a paid resource. But I will share with you that I have found it invaluable, both for understanding myself, but also for understanding the other people in my life, even if they don't take the StrengthsFinder survey. As I read about all 34 strengths and how they show up in the world and how people who embody a particular strength tend to act. All of a sudden, I started seeing “Oh, that's what my husband does, I bet he's really high on this strength,” or “Oh, that's what my best friend does. I bet she's got that.” And I have found it so helpful. Because when I can see that someone in my life holds a particular strength that perhaps I don't, it really helps me better understand how they view the world, and how they show up or why they show up the way they do. To be quite honest with you, since taking the Clifton StrengthsFinder, I feel like there's less conflict in my marriage because I have a much better understanding of my husband's strengths, and why he shows up the way he does. So it's really helped me deepen my understanding and an appreciation and love for him. And in so doing, it reduces conflict because it helps me make sense of his behaviors. So just throwing that out there. 

The last assessment that I want to share with you with regard to finding your strengths is the Kolbe. And I'm new to this assessment. But it was one of those things where I was seeing it everywhere. And then I was connecting with a friend of mine, Natalie Gingrich, who, by the way, has a brand new podcast called The Ops Authority, it's all about operations and systems in your business. It's so good. So check it out. I'll have a link in the show notes. But anyway, I was talking to Natalie and she is really an expert in the Kolbe. And so after speaking with her, I was like, I need to take this. I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm kind of an assessment junkie anyway. So when I heard there was an assessment out there that I had not taken, I was like, “Yeah, I need to get on that.” So I took the Kolbe, and again, this is a paid assessment, it was about $55. So a bit of an investment. But I really appreciated it because it complements so many other assessments, instead of being a personality assessment, like Myers–Briggs, or even the Enneagram. And instead of being an attitudinal assessment, like the Energy Leadership Index, which is an assessment that I provide for my clients, the Kolbe is really more about action, it looks at your instinctive way of doing things. And then the results that come tell you about your preferred method of operation. And so it measures four different elements. Those elements are fact finder, follow through, quickstart and implementer. And it's so interesting to me, because at the end of the assessment, it shows you kind of where you fall on the spectrum for each of those four, and how that influences the way you like to take action, whether in your business or in your life, I found it spot on for me. And so if that's something that interests you, I highly recommend the Kolbe and I'll have a link to that in the show notes as well. So I've just talked about all sorts of resources to help you identify your strengths. And again, it's great to start with what you're naturally good at. So the things that you do that I'm going to encourage you to expand that into more of a being state than a doing state. So really looking at who you are, how you show up in the world and what those strengths are. 

All right. We've talked about values, we've talked about passions, we've talked about strengths. Now I want to talk about principles. So when I was preparing this podcast, I had to ask myself how would I differentiate between values and principles, like what's the difference there. So to clarify it for myself, and hopefully for you, too, I decided to start with defining principles. And there's two definitions I want to share with you. So the first is just kind of your basic dictionary.com definition that says “a principle is a fundamental truth that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.” So I thought that was interesting. So a principle is something that you believe or something that informs your system of belief, and it can influence your behavior or how you reason and see the world. But it's the second definition that I found that I think kind of gets to what I was sensing about the difference between values and principles. So this second definition is from businessdictionary.com. And it defines principles as “fundamental norms, rules or values that represent what is desirable and positive for a person or community.” And they help in determining the rightfulness or wrongfulness of the actions. Okay, so here's what I found so interesting about this definition, when we're talking about right or wrong, when we're talking about things that are desirable. All of a sudden, we start seeing judgment creeping in. And before I talked about how judgments are value neutral, they're not good. They're not bad. With principles, I do think that there's an element of judgment in there, because we're talking about what we believe to be right or wrong.

So let me just clarify that I don't think judgment itself is a good thing or bad thing. In fact, there are times where we absolutely need judgment. You know, we developed the ability to judge situations and circumstances, because that's what kept us safe. So judgment and having the ability to make judgments serves a very important purpose. Judgment can be really helpful in terms of guiding our behaviors, and it helps us see when something is unsafe versus safe. It helps us evaluate when something works or when it doesn't work. And in this case, with regard to finding our purpose, I think judgment can help us see or understand when we are acting in alignment with our purpose or when we're not. So when we look at the businessdictionary.com definition, and it's talking about rightfulness and wrongfulness of actions, I am viewing that as how well an action serves our purpose, the extent to which we're able to really show up and live out who we are based on the norms and the rules and the values that we're bringing into it. Principles are also very much about belief. What do you believe? What do you believe about yourself, about the world around you, perhaps what your spiritual beliefs are. So when we're talking about beliefs, I think it's really important to remember that beliefs will vary from person to person. And that's okay, at least on this show, it's okay. Because when we start to impose our beliefs or principles on other people, then it becomes dogmatic, and it becomes really problematic. So because principles are about individual belief, and collective belief, as well, we need to understand that there will be some variance, and that's okay. So in terms of getting clear on your principles, I think it's really helpful to think about your faith statement, what you believe, what are the guiding principles around which you want to build your life. And one way to get some clarity around what you believe is simply to start journaling about it. So if you take the prompt, “I know” and then just write, write all the things that you know. And if you take, “I believe” and start writing out all of the things that you believe, you're going to start seeing the guiding principles in your life, show up through the things that you know, to be true and the things that you believe, deeply. 

Okay, friends, we've made it through four of the five we've talked about values, passions, strengths and principles. So the last one I want to talk about today is perspective. So I define perspective as essentially being your point of view. It's the frame of reference that you have that influences the way you see the world. And I think perspective can be shaped by many different factors. Actually, it can be shaped by the four things that we've already discussed today: values, passions, strengths and principles. Those elements certainly inform how we view the world. But I think our perspective can also be influenced by the people in our lives, by the things that we've learned, the experiences that we've had, perspective really helps us take a broad view of our life. And I think it can take into account situational factors as well. I know that my perspective has shifted based on literally where I've been living. So when I was living in Germany for four years as an American, my perspective was very different than now living back in the States, and even living in the state of North Carolina is different than when I lived in Florida, when I lived in DC, and when I lived in Texas. So I think situational factors can certainly influence our perspective as well. Certainly the roles that we play in our life can also inform our perspective. And that gets back to that shadow process of role playing that I mentioned before. When we define ourselves solely by the things that we do, then not only are we limiting our own self concept, but we're limiting our perspective on the world as well. And so when we're able to step outside of the roles that we play, it automatically broadens our perspective of ourselves and of the world around us. So perspective really gives us a broad view of life and our role in it. And when we consider perspective in the context of finding our purpose, well perspective gives us context, and it allows us to narrow or broaden our scope accordingly. 

All right, friends, we've talked about values, passions, strengths, principles, and perspective and how those five elements work together to help us find our purpose. And so now I think it's time to move into the Make It Work Moment.

So this week's episode of the Make It Work Moment is brought to you by the Clarity Summit. So I am so excited to share with you that I will be hosting my first ever virtual summit called the Clarity Summit from September 30t through October 4th, and it is designed for intuitive coaches and service based entrepreneurs who want to live their purpose through their business. So the Clarity Summit is devoted to helping intuitive coaches and entrepreneurs build their businesses by providing solid strategies and resources. So from business growth to audience building from social media strategy to mindset mastery, the Clarity Summit will cover the basics of creating and growing a profitable and fulfilling business. So if this sounds like something that interests you, you are going to want to get on the waitlist for the Clarity Summit. And you can do that by heading over to claritysummit.com That will get you on the list. So as more information about speakers and scheduling comes out, you will be the first to know so head over to claritysummit.com and sign up for the Summit today. Oh, and here's the best part, it is absolutely free. I'm serious, there is zero cost to attend the Summit. So you may as well head over to claritysummit.com and sign up today, I cannot wait to see you there. 

So as with every Make It Work Moment, today's is about getting you to take action on everything we've talked about on today's episode. So I'm inviting you to carve out some time in your day, maybe about 30 minutes or so. And I want you to journal on each of these five elements that contribute to your purpose. And to make it easier for you to do so I've created a worksheet that you can download, just head to the show notes at workyourinnerwisdom.com/nineteen. And you can download a worksheet with some journaling prompts to guide you through your personal exploration of your values, your passions, your strengths, your principles and your perspective. So after you've journaled on these, I want you to go back and underline any key words or phrases that jumped out at you. Anything that really summarizes who you are, what you believe, what's important to you. And then I want you to use these keywords as the basis of creating your purpose statement. Now I know that sounds really like, serious and “Oh my gosh, a purpose statement.” Nope. Remember, we're coming to this with some fun and some flexibility. So I want you to sit with it, I want you to play with it, change some of the words around just kind of allow your intuition to guide you on this one. And it's okay to give yourself some time too to let your purpose reveal itself to you. So if you need to journal for a bit and then take a break and come back to it, or if you want to kind of underline those key words and phrases, and let that sit with you a bit before you use them to create a purpose statement. That's totally fine. I want you to take this Make It Work moment and make it work for you. But once you've done that, once you've had some time to kind of explore and create a purpose statement that I want you to come share it over at the Work Your Inner Wisdom Facebook community. So if you go to workyourinnerwisdom.com and click on the Community tab, it's going to bring you straight to our Facebook community. You're going to see an episode thread all for this episode, episode 19. And that's where I want you to share your purpose statement. I want to know what your purpose is and how you plan to live it out in your life. So we've covered a ton of information in today's episode, so you can find detailed show notes and links to everything we've talked about at the show notes page, which is workyourinnerwisdom.com/nineteen. 

 

I so hope that you have enjoyed today's episode and that you have found it valuable. And if you have, I wonder if I could ask you a favor? Would you share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it, either send them the link, or literally take their phone and subscribe them to Work Your Inner Wisdom, but let them know that this episode is out there for them too. Because I think there are a lot of people in the world who get overwhelmed by this idea of finding their purpose. It feels so big and so broad. And today was really about narrowing our focus and giving you some specific tools to help you identify your purpose. So if you know someone who would benefit from that kind of direction as well, please share today's episode with them. 

As always, I want to thank you for spending your time with me today on the Work Your Inner Wisdom Podcast. You know in many ways this podcast is an example of how I am finding my purpose and living my purpose out in my life. So I want to thank you for being on the journey with me. Again, my name is Lee Chaix McDonough and until we speak again remember to let your inner wisdom lead the way.