Unlock Your Life Purpose: A Childhood Memory Holds the Key

This week, I benefited greatly from a podcast featuring Robert Greene, a master in writing and human psychology.

Robert spoke passionately about the importance of knowing our life purpose and how to find it.

He believes that every single one of us on Earth is unique. No other person has gone through exactly the same life experiences as you. And if we can discover our life purpose, it can help us fulfill our unique potential here on Earth, making this journey more enriching and fulfilling.

The way to find our life purpose is to take a trip down memory lane to our youth. What fascinated us when we were 5-8 years old? In Robert’s case, it was “words.” In Albert Einstein’s case, it was a compass gift from his father and the idea that there are invisible physical forces in the universe.

What were you obsessed with when you were 5-8 years old? What made you lose track of time? This could give you a hint about where you are meant to direct your life's energy.

In my case, I had always been a good learner. I picked up new concepts quickly. I liked to model myself after what others were good at. I was really good at Chinese calligraphy and painting, both of which required a lot of modeling from the masters at the early stage. I was also very good at my schoolwork, not necessarily because I was exceptionally smart, but because I was really good at identifying who excelled in each subject and making a conscious effort to learn from them.

This gave me a lot of confidence that if someone else had achieved something, it meant that it was possible, and all I needed was to learn the right skills from the right people.

At a later stage in my teens, I also started teaching others what I had learned, sharing my learning methods broadly with my juniors.

So, from this exercise, I have a sudden sense of alignment and empowerment. I received the hint that my life purpose is probably related to being an “educator.”

The exact form is not crucial. It doesn’t mean that I have to become a teacher or teach a specific subject. But the mere act of “learning” and “teaching,” passing on knowledge and wisdom from others to the world, makes me come alive. I just need to follow that, lean into it more.

Knowing this is both empowering and liberating. It gave me a lot of clarity about the direction ahead, while not being overly restrictive.

So, if you have read all the way here, I encourage you to take a pause and do this exercise yourself. You may find some hints to your own life purpose too.

Have fun!