Finding a purpose in life can be essential for bringing us joy. It is what motivates us to get up in the morning and is what makes us look forward to the future. 

But what happens when you lose your sense of purpose? If you’ve dedicated everything to that purpose, how do you then move on?

The answer is to find a new purpose. But this is easier said than done. Many of us don’t know which direction to take and end up falling into depression. This post takes a look at some of the things you can do to prevent this, including how to find your new purpose in life.

How do you lose your sense of purpose?

Many events and triggers can lead us to lose our purpose in life. These include:

• Unexpected loss: The unexpected loss of a loved one, a job, money, or health can cause you to lose your sense of purpose. This could include a death, a breakup, a redundancy at work, theft, or an unexpected injury/illness that prevents us from following our goals.
• Rejection: Some of us commit our lives to trying to land a certain job or get into a certain school. But rejection may force us to reconsider this purpose.
• Change of rules: Sometimes laws, company policies, or even social expectations can change. In these cases, you lose your sense of purpose.
• New commitments: Commitments like kids or a new job can sometimes give us a sense of purpose. But they may also give us less time to dedicate to other purposes that we have previously centered our lives around. 
• Hidden ‘costs’: Sometimes a career or a partner can initially seem perfect, and we end up dedicating everything to them. But later we discover hidden ‘costs’ – we may end up having to make sacrifices that we weren’t prepared for and this may cause us to re-evaluate our purpose.
• Accomplishment: You can even lose your sense of purpose after accomplishing a life goal. This could include dedicating your life to achieving high results in studies or a sport. Once you’ve achieved these high results, what next? This loss of purpose is much rarer and reserved largely for those who are exceptionally gifted. 

How to regain a sense of purpose

There are many ways to regain a sense of purpose. It all depends on what your previous motivation was and what caused you to lose it.

Realize the value of your experience

After you lose your sense of purpose, you may feel that all the time and effort you dedicated to it is now wasted. But this is untrue. Every job relationship or hobby can teach us important lessons that we can apply elsewhere in our lives. 

Reconnect with old passions

There may be old passions that you dropped that you can pick up again. Perhaps you can no longer play football because of an injury to your leg, but you now have time to continue playing piano or get back into sports blogging. It’s often easier to pick up something you’re already familiar with than begin the daunting process of trying something completely new. 

Find ways to help other people

If you’ve dedicated much of your life to personal goals, you may find it rewarding to switch to a purpose that involves helping others. This could include supporting a cause that you are passionate about (such as a charitable cause, ethical cause, or political cause) or it could involve using your experience to teach others. When it comes to overcoming loss, you may even be able to help people by becoming a counselor or working for related charities. 

Alternatively, learn to be selfish

If you’ve dedicated your whole life to helping others, you may alternatively feel that it’s time you did something for yourself. Maybe it’s time to take on a personal challenge such as a physical challenge or artistic endeavour. If commitments have caused you to lose your sense of purpose, you may even be able to pick up this same purpose by learning to schedule time for yourself. This could include returning to partaking in a sport or playing a musical instrument after years of putting this on a standstill due to parenthood.

Talk to professionals

Professionals may be able to advise you on where to go next after lose your sense of purpose. Treatment for depression may be necessary for dealing with feelings of grief and despair. You may even be able to look into specific types of counseling like grief counseling or trauma counseling. Alternatively, you could consider hiring a career coach or a life coach to help guide you.

Surround yourself with positive people

Positive people will help point out your best attributes and may inspire you to find a new purpose in life. Try to surround yourself with these types of people. Avoid spending too much time with overly critical naysayers – these are not the types of people you want in your life right now. They will cause you to feel even more miserable when lose your sense of purpose.