Finding Your Purpose: A Journey Through Your Past, Present, and Future

Introduction

College is more than just picking a major or landing an internship—it’s a time to ask big questions. One of the biggest: “What’s my purpose?”

Knowing your purpose isn’t about having your whole life mapped out. It’s about getting clearer on what drives you—what matters to you—and using that insight to make better choices, build meaningful relationships, and open the right doors. In this post, we’ll show you how to begin discovering your purpose by reflecting on your past and connecting it to where you are today and where you want to go.

One of the best tools to help? An exercise called “Build Your Coat of Arms.” It’s simple, but powerful. Let’s dive in.

Understanding Purpose

Your purpose is the thread that connects what you care about, what you’re good at, and what impact you want to make. It’s what gets you up in the morning—or would, if you had more clarity.

But purpose doesn’t just show up one day. You find it through reflection: by looking at your experiences, recognizing your strengths, and naming the values that guide your decisions. That’s how you start to see patterns—and possibilities.

Connecting Purpose to Your Past

Your past holds clues about your future. Here’s how to mine those insights:

  1. Spot the Key Moments: Think back over the past 10 years. What experiences shaped you? What moments were joyful, painful, surprising, or proud?
  2. Look for Themes: Are there common threads—subjects that always excite you, causes you care about, skills you keep using? Successes and failures can both reveal where your energy naturally flows.
  3. Name Your Values: What mattered most to you in those moments? Integrity? Creativity? Helping others? Achievement? These values often point directly to your purpose.

Try This: Build Your Coat of Arms

This reflection exercise helps you look at your life through a meaningful lens—your story, your now, and your next.

  • 10 Years Ago: Where were you? What shaped your identity? How did you see the world then, and how have you grown?
  • Today: What strengths and values define you now? What do people rely on you for? What energizes or drains you?
  • 5 Years from Now: What kind of life do you want to be living? What kind of work feels meaningful? What steps could move you in that direction?

This simple exercise can clarify more than you expect. When you start sharing your story from this perspective, people listen—and often want to help.

Principle: Self-Awareness Leads to Clarity

You don’t need to have it all figured out. But the more self-aware you are, the easier it is to make confident decisions, attract support, and pursue opportunities that fit you—not someone else’s idea of success.

Reminder: Purpose is Iterative

You’re not locking in your entire future here. Purpose evolves. It deepens as you grow, stumble, and try new things. That’s a good thing. It means you don’t have to be perfect—you just have to keep learning.

These two ideas can help you keep going:

  • Growth Mindset: Believe you can grow your abilities through effort and feedback. Challenges aren’t roadblocks—they’re stepping stones.
  • Grit: Stick with your goals, even when it’s hard. Grit isn’t about never failing—it’s about not giving up when you do.

Why It Matters Now

Clarity about your purpose doesn’t just help you feel better—it helps you take action. It makes your job search more focused. Your LinkedIn profile more compelling. Your conversations more memorable.

And perhaps most importantly: when you understand what you’re about, it becomes easier for others to support you, mentor you, and open doors.

Conclusion

Finding your purpose isn’t a one-time event—it’s a practice. The more you reflect on your story, the clearer your direction becomes.

Start with the “Build Your Coat of Arms” exercise. Give yourself the gift of reflection. Then, start sharing what you’re learning—with mentors, friends, and your community. Because purpose isn’t just something you find. It’s something you build, over time, with courage and curiosity.

👉 Want to go deeper? Try the Coat of Arms exercise and post it in our LinkedIn cohort group. You might be surprised who connects with your story.