Life can be beautiful. Life can be messy.

Life can be confusing.

From a very young age, I was always interested in figuring out my life purpose. I think most of us are.

Would I be a ballerina or an architect? A meteorologist or politician?

When I finally settled into my life as a wife and homeschool mother while majoring in psychology in college, I felt happy. But there were still questions I had about my purpose in life, and how my unique gifts and talents might play into it. At the time, I was involved in a pretty strict religious system which in a lot of ways had stripped me of my identity.

Then I left that system…and I wondered how to begin looking at my life’s purpose once again. But this time, intuitively.

Intuitive living can be life changing. Following your intuition isn’t bad…no, it’s literally the best thing ever. It involves feeling through your choices, instead of just thinking them through. When you feel a deep inner knowing and peace when making a choice, then you are headed in the right direction.

But sometimes it helps to write down your thoughts on paper.

I discovered that there is so much to be learned about ourselves when doing a Life Stage Analysis.

And it’s so easy to do!

First of all, spend some time thinking about your childhood…as early as you can remember. What experiences and hobbies really stick out to you? What things brought you excitement and joy? If you wanted to be a pink princess when you grew up, that might mean that bringing beauty to the world is important to you. Wanted to drive a race car? Then freedom might be top on your list.

Write those things down.

Do the same thing for middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. The longer you’ve lived, the longer your Life Stage Analysis will be.

For example, a simple analysis of my life might include:

Early Childhood: Family, Reading, Books, Travel, Outside Play

Middle Childhood: Family, Reading, Books, Writing, Friends, Dance, Academics, Outside Play, Drawing

Adolescence: Reading, Books, Writing, Friends, God, Academics

Early Adulthood: God, Family, Reading, Books, Writing, Crafting

Middle Adulthood: God, Family, Reading, Books, Writing, Nature

My lists above are very vague. Please get as detailed as you want!

When looking through this analysis, I found a couple of patterns.

God, Family, Reading, Books, Writing, Nature (the Outdoors)

Intuitively, I believe that my love of being outdoors when I was little was tied to my spirituality and relationship with God.

With all of this in mind, I can understand that my main purpose in life somehow includes these things.

Once you’ve finished your list, sit with it for a while. When an item makes joy bubble up inside of your soul, then you can tell you’re on the right path.

When we pursue what brings us joy, we are giving the world the gifts we were created to give.

I’ve created a chart just for you to use, and I hope you find it helpful! You can download it below:

There’s much more we can analyze. For example, while it might feel uncomfortable, analyzing our struggles can give us a glimpse into what we were meant to overcome for our gifts and purpose to fully materialize. Is the same struggle showing up in your life over and over again? Then this is something that probably needs to be addressed for you to reach your full potential.

If you do this, remember to be gentle with yourself. There’s no rush.

Thinking about your life is powerful. It creates a vivid inner life, and a very special relationship with our inner selves begins to form.

While other relationships are very important and special, trusting and loving yourself is paramount. Once you feel secure in who you are and what your purpose is, then you can begin positively impacting everyone around you.

I know you can do it!