There has to be more to life than this?! 

Have you ever caught yourself saying that? If I am being completely honest, I did not just catch myself saying, this was a phrase ringing in my head constantly. You see, a little over 4 years ago, I felt like a complete and total failure. Why? Because I was stuck and not making any progress. To me, it felt like I was on a stationary bike — doing a lot of movement, but not getting anywhere.  Talk about frustrating! But as frustrating as it was, I had no clue what to do about it so I stayed stuck. 

I know, you have probably seen the headlines on social media that millennials are a driven generation.  On the surface, this sounds amazing. But, what I quickly found out from speaking to millennials and realized in my own life, was that few millennials know what is driving them. For me, I was on this quest to “become somebody”, but I had no idea what it was I was supposed to be becoming. Sound familiar? Interestingly enough, we are all driven by something. Whether it is fear, anger, abuse, low self-esteem, the desire for prominence or validation — we are all driven by something.

What is driving you? 

For me, it was definitely the fear of failure. On the outside, many people would see me as an overachiever. This sounds and might even look to others as an admirable quality. Although it can have its benefits, what many could not see was the deep-seated fear and anxiety I would experience because of it. I could not fail. EVER. Why? Because my personal self worth and sense of control was tied to the things that I “achieved” (hello high functioning anxiety). I desperately feared that I was not going to be good enough. In order to reach this unrealistic goal I had for myself, I would just push myself harder. And then harder. Unfortunately, this tactic landed me in the hospital three different times. After the third time, I knew something had to change. I had to stop just existing but needed to start living. 

Maybe it is not the fear of failure that is driving you. But you do see that the thing that is driving you is keeping you stuck and just existing. What if I told you the key to shifting from existing to living is purpose? You see I was tired of going through the motions and I was tired of the same ‘ol same ‘ol. If you are reading this post, you are probably tired of just existing too! I quickly realized the more that I was looking for was PURPOSE. Purpose is the original intent for a thing or the reason it was created. Thus, I felt like I was existing because I was not aligned with the reason for being created. I was not aligned with my purpose.  Friends, purpose was the game changer for me! 

I found that the first step to me aligning with purpose was recognizing the lie that was holding me back. My fear of failure was driving me because I believed the lie that I was not good enough. What lie is holding you back? When we recognize the mental limitations hindering us, we are able to take the first step to choosing living over existing. 

I would love to hear from you because insight without action is WORTHLESS. So in the comments answer the questions below.

1. What drives you? Is it fear? Validation? etc.
2. In what areas of your life do you feel like you are just existing and not living?
3. What lie is keeping you from your purpose?