YOUR PURPOSE TEST RESULT
“Self-Actualisation”
You are here
#Immersed Doer
#Fruitful Manifesting
#
Actualised Joy
What Your Result Means
DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE ON THE PURPOSE TEST
Rejoice! Fireworks! Guacamole for everyone!
You are currently at the interface of “you love it”, “you are great at it” and “you are paid for it”, which is a very beautiful, joy-drenched and sustainable place to be in. Looks like you’ve really put in some sweat and wild dreams to make this happen. And, as with all accomplishments in life, from learning to spell to finally knowing how to grow an avocado plant, it’s easy to focus on what’s missing. In my case that would be keeping the plant alive and in your case that would be connecting what you do to the greater good.
You statistically scored lowest on “the world needs it”, which does not mean to imply that you’re a bad person who doesn’t do good. This test is just a snapshot of your perceived right now and does not attempt to establish any kind of typology.
Your results do suggest that you do not perceive the impact of your work at a greater scale. This happens to a lot of artists, people whose focus is the beautiful, as well as generalists or people whose focus it is to start things rather than finish them. It might also be that you’re disillusioned with the harsh realities prevalent in your industry, perhaps you just aren’t reaching the people you’d like to, or perhaps there’s a hidden desire in you to do work towards a legacy of sorts and do something that truly matters.
Whichever it is, keep reading to get a loving and playful look at what has held other people back at this stage. You’re also getting some practical advice, which I invite you to take with a pinch of salt (and perhaps a visualisation of your work affecting millions).
What’s Holding You Back
MEET YOUR BULLSHIT MONSTERS®
No matter which stage you’re at, we all have a little voice in our heads that tries to keep us safe by keeping us un-extraordinary. I lovingly call this self-deprecating chatter “bullshit” and it’s best dealt with by visualising it as coming from a little monster, a bullshit monster!
Ancient Abysma
People who find themselves in Self-Actualisation are often confronted with Bullshit Monsters® from the meanie category that call you names and come at you head on: “ungrateful”, “egoistic”, “mediocre”…you get the point. Or, you may meet Ancient Abysma, an eerie, ancient-seeming creature that seems to have seen it all. She doesn’t waste time on talking much. “You are just a speck of dust in a vast, old universe” she says with a hoarse voice, returning back to the shadows, from where, you’re sure, she is still watching to see what you’ll do with your meaningless existence…Ancient Abysma’s dramatic statement makes you feel disconnected from everyone and everything else. In this state, who cares what you do? Nothing you do matters, so you may as well listen to your ego’s suggestions. When Ancient Abysma has been hanging out around you, you might look at the impact you’ve had in your life, come to the conclusion that it hasn’t been much and wonder “why bother trying?”.
Cellulitata
In other moments, you might make an acquaintance with monsters from the scenario-painter family whose aim is to stop you from doing something truly meaningful. Meet Cellulitata for instance, who adds a tad of unattractive ordinariness to the positive imagery in your daydreams.
Cellulitata is a master projectress. She’s the bad breath in morning romance, the run in runway stockings, the stutter in your otherwise perfect elevator pitch. Cellulitata’s speciality is vision add-ons: she’ll take your dream vision of yourself on a stage and add just a tad of clumsiness, some extra weight around the belly and perhaps some eye rolling in people’s imagined reactions… By inconspicuously tweaking your most private dreams, she manages to get you to shy away from them, never taking this daring next step.
WHAT DO YOU PREFER, AFFECTING PEOPLE DEEPLY OR AFFECTING A LOT OF PEOPLE?
WHAT WOULD THAT LOOK LIKE?
WHAT STRUCTURAL CHANGES WOULD YOU NEED TO MAKE WITHIN YOUR WORK IN ORDER TO HAVE A LARGER/DEEPER IMPACT?
WHO COULD YOU ASK FOR HELP OR RECOMMENDATIONS?
What to do?
People who are in Self-Actualisation tend to be rather harsh on themselves and feel slightly resistant towards good and especially resistant to bad advice. According to them, they’ve thoroughly considered all alternatives. If, for instance, someone told them to “think and dream big”, they (and their monsters) would groan about feasibility, scarcity of resources and burnout. A proposition to “be happy with where you are” in contrast, usually triggers a foul mood, impatience and frustration.
Here’s what not to do: don’t let anyone tell you to be content, including your Bullshit Monsters®. It is absolutely productive to follow desire and you can do so while being grateful for your right now. Striving and happy at the same time. In walking this path, watch out for monsters that argue in either-or patterns, e.g. “in order to have an impact you must give something up”. Instead, ask yourself these questions.
Reflection Questions:
What do you prefer, affecting people deeply or affecting a lot of people? What would that look like? What structural changes would you need to make within your work in order to have a larger/deeper impact? Who could you ask for help or recommendations?
Finally, a laptop-free vacation could do you some real good…!
And now what?
Go and be your brilliant purpose-driven self. You are on your path even when it doesn’t feel like it!
Plus, I’ve got your back. I’ll be in your email inbox in the next few days to help you contextualise your results and put them into action.
All you have to do is give me permission to land in your inbox by confirming your subscription. If you can’t find the email, check your junk folder and whitelist me.
With ease and confidence,
Anaïs
Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll be getting
Why asking yourself “what’s my purpose?” is one of the most useless ways of going about working with purpose (even if you really want to know)
What to do instead
How to deal with Bullshit Monsters® when you meet them out in the wild (procrastination, fear of ridicule, perfectionism - I’ve got you covered!)