By Karlis Vilmanis
People often speak about purpose as if it were a hidden answer waiting to be discovered. Find the right calling, the story goes, and your decisions will become clear. But purpose is rarely a single sentence that removes every doubt. It is more useful to treat purpose as a practice: a way of noticing what matters, trying something in the real world, and learning from the result.
This approach is gentler than demanding certainty. It also gives you something practical to do when a large life question feels too abstract. You do not need to decide who you will be forever. You can choose one small experiment that helps you see your next step more clearly.
Why purpose benefits from practice
Purpose usually combines several ingredients: values, interests, abilities, relationships, and the circumstances in which you live. Those ingredients can pull in different directions. You may value creativity and stability, meaningful contribution and enough income to rest, or independence and belonging. A purpose statement that ignores these tensions may sound inspiring but offer little help on an ordinary Tuesday.
Practice turns an attractive idea into observable evidence. Instead of asking, “What should I do with my life?”, ask, “What could I try this week that would teach me something about the kind of work or contribution I want more of?” The experiment should be small enough to repeat and specific enough to evaluate.
Experiment 1: Identify the quality you want more of in life
Think about one area of your life that you are hoping to improve, such as your work, relationships, creativity, or involvement in your community. Choose one quality that feels especially important in that area to help you understand what you want or need more of in your life. It might be curiosity, care, freedom, craftsmanship, stability, fairness, or connection. Do not choose the word that sounds most impressive; choose the one you would notice if it were missing.
For example, “autonomy” might mean deciding how to organise your day, choosing which problems to solve, or having room to develop an idea. These are different expressions of autonomy.
Complete these sentences:
• I experience this quality when…
• I miss or need this quality when…
• One action I could take to bring more of this quality into my life is…
For example, if the quality you chose is autonomy, you might write:
• I experience autonomy when I can create my own schedule that works for me.
• I miss autonomy when other people make decisions for me.
• One action I could take is to reserve time each week for a project I choose.
Defining the quality in ordinary, visible terms makes it easier to recognize and test in your life.
Experiment 2: Have one curiosity conversation
Find someone whose work or life includes an aspect you are curious about. Ask for a short conversation, not a job or a verdict about your future. You could ask:
1. What does an ordinary week actually involve?
2. Which part of the work is difficult to see from the outside?
3. What kind of person tends to enjoy this environment?
4. What did you misunderstand about the work before you began?
Listen for practical details rather than a perfect success story. The aim is not to copy another person’s path. It is to replace an imagined version of an option with a more realistic picture of its tasks, trade-offs, and support systems.
Experiment 3: Try a bounded version of the work
A conversation gives you someone else’s perspective. A small task gives you your own evidence. Choose an activity that resembles the work or contribution you are considering and set a clear boundary around it: one evening, two hours, or a single weekend.
You might draft a short lesson, analyse a small dataset, help a community group, shadow a process, make a prototype, or host a conversation. Keep the task close enough to reality to be useful, but small enough that you can stop without creating a major disruption.
During the experiment, notice four things: which activities hold your attention, which present a worthwhile challenge, which drain you, and which conditions help you do your best work. Enjoyment matters, but it is not the only signal. Some worthwhile tasks feel awkward at first because they require practice. Some exciting ideas lose their appeal once the ordinary details appear.
Experiment 4: Review the evidence without turning it into a label
At the end, write a short review while the details are fresh:
• What did I do, rather than merely imagine?
• What would I willingly repeat?
• What made the experience easier or harder?
• What remains unknown?
Then choose one question to explore next. You may need another conversation, a different setting, more practice, or a practical plan for navigating a constraint such as money, health, caregiving responsibilities, or location. A disappointing experiment is not a verdict on your identity. It may simply show that the task, timing, or environment needs to change.
Let purpose stay flexible
Purpose becomes heavy when it is used as a moral test: “If I really cared, I would already have changed my life.” Try replacing “I must always” with “I want more opportunities to.” This leaves room for seasons when rest, security, or caring for someone else needs to come first.
You can value contribution without helping everyone, value independence while asking for support, and value meaningful work while also caring about money. A sense of purpose that can survive real-life constraints is more useful than one that requires you to ignore them.
The four experiments form a repeatable loop: name a quality, have a curiosity conversation, try a bounded activity, and review what you learned. You do not have to discover a permanent answer before taking the next step. Purpose can become clearer through how you pay attention, act, and adjust.
About the Author
Karlis Vilmanis is the founder of Ikigain, a non-clinical self-reflection project that helps people explore their values, interests, and possible directions through practical questions and small experiments. Learn more at ikigain.org.
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