At one time or another we have all asked ourselves the dreaded questions, “Why am I here?” , “What is my life purpose?”

Mozart composed his first minuet when he was 5. No one taught him how to play the piano at this age. He just knew what he wanted to do.

Michael Jordan started playing basketball with his older brother Larry when he was 5 and was losing for years. But his numerous failures only encouraged him to practice more and push himself forward.

We hear about great names like Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, who devoted their lives to fulfilling their life purpose and changing the life of whole nations.

We read about the lives of these people and then ask ourselves the dreaded questions, “Why am I here?” and “What is MY life purpose?”

I have been asking myself this question for years. There were so many questions running through my head back then: “Am I allowed to have only one big life purpose or can I fulfill 10-20 smaller purposes?”, “Could my future career, my family or my long-term goals be my life purpose?”, “What if I am not sure what my gifts and talents are?” and finally, “How in the world am I supposed to figure it all out?”

Right now there are a lot of programs that offer different approaches to finding our true calling. You can try anything from “Life purpose tests” to Steve Pavlina’s 20-minute brainstorming technique. And if you are still unsure there are plenty of books and seminars dedicated specifically to seeking a sense of meaning.

I cannot claim that I can solve this problem for you and tell you what your True Calling is, but here is what I have learned from my own years of search:

1. Life purpose is not hidden in material possessions. Finding our purpose is often associated with feeling happy, alive, and powerful. The riches of the world can make you feel joy, enthusiasm, and even happiness. Only there is a significant difference between true happiness and the satisfaction that we get when we receive the “next cool thing”: the first one last a life time, the second passes in a week.

If money could bring true happiness and long-lasting satisfaction the wealthiest people in the world would be the happiest ones. But they are not! It is narrow-minded to think that your body, mind, soul, personality, abilities, talents, and experience were given you, so that you could make money, provide for your family or attract wealth into your life.  There has got to be more than this and your heart knows it.

2. Life purpose is not centered on your goals, needs and desires. This might sound outrages to some people, but true life purpose is based on serving others in some way, not on you getting everything you ever dreamed of. This is not authentic. In fact, it actually works the other way around – first you add value to the world and then you actually receive everything you need without you even having to ask for it.