Our society tells us that success is about external measures: money, power, fame, or followers on social media. But what so many of us discover is that, even when we achieve these external forms of success, we still feel directionless or unfulfilled.
What’s missing? In many ways, this is among life’s greatest questions. But here’s one possible answer: purpose.
When you’re living with purpose, you find a deeper satisfaction than external forms of success ever offer.
But how do you find your purpose in life? After all, purpose isn’t something you just stumble upon—it’s something you develop.
The FUSE Pathway offers a method for helping you start to develop your life’s purpose, using a process of self-discovery, curiosity, and, most importantly, a fusion of your passions into a glorious vision for your life.
In this article, we’ll use concepts from The FUSE Pathway to explore a practical, realistic approach to finding a life of greater passion, excitement, and purpose.
Why Finding Purpose Feels So Difficult
To start our exploration of building a meaningful life grounded in purpose, let’s address why finding your purpose feels so difficult.
We all experience a variety of cultural and social pressures that tell us to prioritize achievement over fulfillment.
Some of these pressures originate from good intentions: our parents want to see us thrive, so they encourage us to pursue high-paying jobs, even if those jobs are in a field we don’t enjoy.
Other pressures originate from the way our society is structured, such as our education system focusing on grades, assessments, and academic achievements instead of the inherent joy of learning.
As an antidote to this focus on external achievements, the traditional advice is to “just follow your passion.” If you follow your passions, the thinking goes, then a life of fulfillment and purpose will naturally emerge.
In reality, finding your purpose is rarely this simple. Some of this difficulty stems from the challenge of identifying your passions in the first place. It’s often easy, for instance, to mistake what you’re good at for what you’re passionate about, even when they’re not at all the same. Furthermore, what does it actually mean to “follow” your passions? Without more specific guidance, you’re likely to wander aimlessly.
To truly find your purpose, you need to discover the alignment between what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for. Find the place where these four areas overlap, and you’ll be living your ikigai, a Japanese word that translates to “reason for being.”
So how do you find your ikigai? Let’s examine how Paul Kirby approached it.
Purpose Doesn’t Arrive All at Once. It Evolves.
Paul Kirby, the author of The FUSE Pathway, never set out to “find his purpose”. Instead, he had a vision for fusing art, science, technology, and robotics. As he pursued this vision over decades, his life’s purpose became clearer to him, but it didn’t happen all at once. His journey was composed of many “aha” moments as his life’s vision evolved and changed.
To start finding your purpose, then, we paradoxically advise you to forget about “purpose” for the moment. Focus instead on exploration and self-reflection.
This starts with paying attention to the recurring themes in your interests, relationships, or creative pursuits. These repeated themes often point towards a source of deeper meaning, as we’ll explore in more detail later on.
The key thing to know for now is that observing recurring themes can point you towards your passions. And you can then intentionally fuse your passions into a vision for a meaningful life of self-actualization. Contrast this with the traditional “follow your passions” advice, in which you hope to find fulfillment through chance instead of intentional exploration.
The Core Principles of a Purpose-Driven Life
Breaking down how to live a purpose-driven life into steps isn’t helpful or practical, as everyone’s journey is different and each person derives meaning from different sources. So instead of presenting a step-by-step approach, here are some guiding ideas to keep in mind as you find your purpose in life.
Self-Awareness and Curiosity
Pay attention to what energizes you. What activities make you feel most alive?
Noticing what gives you energy takes practice and attention. We recommend journaling, quiet reflection, and getting feedback from others to increase your self-awareness and reveal consistent patterns.
Connection Between Passion and Capability
Purpose becomes powerful when passion meets skill. Investing the time to build competence in what matters to you helps turn fleeting inspiration into sustainable fulfillment.
Meaning Through Contribution
When your work or creativity serves others, your sense of purpose deepens. Even small acts of impact, like mentoring, creating, or solving, expand your sense of direction.
Continuous Evolution
Purpose isn’t static; it grows as you do if you give it the space. Staying open to change keeps your life aligned with your values and discoveries as your vision evolves.
Recognizing Your “Aha” Moments
An “aha” moment is a sudden burst of insight where you recognize the connections between interests or passions that previously seemed unrelated.
These moments act as internal signals that something aligns deeply with who you are. As you search for your reason for being, it’s useful to keep track of these “aha” moments and look for connections among them. You may find that the deeper sense of meaning you’ve been searching for is waiting within the fusion of passions you’ve had your whole life.
This doesn’t mean that you should just sit around waiting for a moment of epiphany; quite the opposite, in fact. You must actively contemplate, explore, and learn to recognize the activities that fill you with energy and excitement before you can experience the “aha” moments that reveal how they all connect.
Here are some other questions to keep in mind as you learn to recognize your passions:
- When do I lose track of time?
- What am I naturally drawn to learn or improve?
- When do I feel useful or proud of my contribution?
- What do I find myself doing while procrastinating on what I’m “supposed” to be doing?
Common Myths About Purpose
As you embark on your journey to find a greater sense of meaning and purpose in life, it’s important to be aware of some common myths you may come across so that you don’t get discouraged before you even begin.
Myth 1: You discover your purpose once, and then it never changes.
Truth: Your purpose develops and expands with experience.
It’s easy to think that once you find your purpose, everything else in your life will fall into place. But the reality is less straightforward.
As we mentioned earlier, Paul Kirby didn’t begin with the goal of finding his purpose. Instead, he focused on fusing his passions for art, science, technology, and robotics. Paul’s deeper reason for being emerged and evolved over time as he translated his vision into action.
So don’t be concerned if your own purpose isn’t immediately clear, or if you find that it changes as you explore your passions.
Myth 2: Purpose only comes from your career.
Truth: It can appear in hobbies, family, or community.
Since you spend a significant portion of your time working, it’s natural to look to your career as a source of your reason for being. While this can work for some people, it isn’t always practical or realistic—and that’s completely okay.
You can find other ways to combine your passions into a source of joy and fulfillment. In fact, taking money out of the equation can actually free you up to focus on where you find passion, enjoyment, and purpose, even if it’s in your spare time. With time, you may even find your passion-fueled hobby or side project evolves into a supplementary or primary source of income.
Myth 3: You have to have it all figured out.
Truth: Uncertainty is part of the process—progress happens through exploration.
Don’t let the pressure to have all the answers prevent you from starting your journey to find and fuse your passions into a unique vision. The FUSE Pathway invites you to embrace uncertainty and discover unexpected connections between your passions. Your reason for being will emerge out of this process if you dare to get started.
How to Start Building a More Purposeful Life
We’ve talked a lot about mindset and the challenges of finding purpose in life, so let’s shift to some practical entry points for creating a life of meaning and joy. View these ideas as inspirational beginnings, not strict rules.
Use experiments or small projects to follow your curiosity
When Paul Kirby set out to create what would become Dulcinea, he knew it would be a long, iterative process. So he didn’t concern himself with the monumental task of building a robot that paints.
Instead, he started small and developed his skills over years of experimentation and prototyping, which culminated in the collaborative robotic painting partner that now lives in his studio.
We encourage you to take the same approach as you explore how to fuse your passions. Use small, low-risk projects to find out what you enjoy, then iterate and refine your ideas based on what you learn.
Learn something new
The more skilled you are at something, the more you tend to enjoy it. This idea applies even to your passions. Indeed, you may develop a passion for an activity through the process of getting good at it.
In Paul Kirby’s case, this activity was art. Paul knew he had an aptitude for creative work based on an assessment he took in business school, but he didn’t begin to develop this passion until he took his first painting classes.
As you search for your purpose, then, we advise you to learn a new skill. It could be something you’ve never tried before but has always interested you. Or, it could mean “leveling up” an existing skill through more advanced study. In the process, you may find your passion growing for an existing skill, or discover a new passion altogether.
Reflect regularly
We’ve said it already, but it bears repeating: stay thoughtful and self-aware as you explore and fuse your passions. In particular, ensure your activities align with your values and fill you with energy.
To maintain this self-awareness, reflect regularly. Journaling or speaking with a trusted friend or mentor will help you document your discoveries and recognize how your sense of purpose is evolving. And, more importantly, it will help you course-correct if you begin to stray from your passions.
Need some more help finding your passions? Take our free quiz.
The Payoff of Living with Purpose
When you live in alignment with your reason for being, the benefits are numerous.
Inwardly, you experience increased motivation, focus, and resilience. Outwardly, your impact on your community and the world grows.
Just look at Paul’s journey. By fusing his passions and living a life of purpose, he created Dulcinea. The journey to build Dulcinea provided Paul with endless “kilowatt hours” that helped him persevere through challenges and setbacks. And that journey continues with every painting he and Dulcinea create together, each work offering new opportunities for learning and creative problem-solving.
The impact goes beyond personal satisfaction, however. The enthusiasm Paul witnessed when a group of students visited his studio and saw Dulcinea inspired him to create The Kirby Foundation. Now, his purpose has evolved into educating students, teachers, and professionals on the transformative power of fusing passions to create a unique vision for living.
With this story in mind, where will your pursuit of passions and purpose take you? Your journey will be different, but the potential to experience a deep sense of meaning and create a lasting impact is the same.
Purpose Is Something You Build
You don’t find your purpose by accident. Instead, you construct it through curiosity, learning, and meaningful action.
Indeed, the best thing you can do to find your purpose is to stop worrying about finding it. Focus on discovering your passions and combining them into a unique vision. Through this process, your purpose will gradually appear.
In closing, we invite you to take a small, intentional step this week towards finding the passions that point to your purpose. Start a little experiment, begin learning a new skill, or take five minutes to reflect on what energizes you.
And remember: Your purpose isn’t waiting for you—it’s waiting to be built by you.
