Unlock Your Purpose: The Secret of Living with Intention Starts with This 3-Step Life Audit
Do you feel like you’re drifting through life, caught up in the daily grind with no clear direction, no real purpose, and no true meaning?
Maybe you’re feeling stuck, questioning whether this is the life you truly want. You might even find yourself asking, What am I doing? Why am I doing this? Where am I going?
Such was the case with a friend of mine. A highly successful business owner, she seemed to have it all, but when she reached out to me for coffee, I knew something must be wrong.
When she arrived, I barely recognized her. She looked exhausted, depleted, and overwhelmed. She mentioned that she had been watching my videos on living a simpler, more intentional life and wanted to know how to declutter her own life.
Her business was thriving, but she had no personal life beyond the office. Having just turned 60, she realized life was quickly passing her by. She was overwhelmed, stressed, unhappy, and desperate for work-life balance.
In her own words, her priorities were cluttered. She spent many years focused solely on growing her business, leaving little room for living her life.
In a moment of levity, I reminded her of a famous line from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!”
My friend was lucky. She had a wake-up call. She realized she had a choice to intentionally create new priorities that would result in meaningful and lasting change… a new life filled with meaning, purpose, joy, and fun!
The Power of a Life Audit
Whether it’s a milestone birthday like my friend’s, the beginning of a new year, a sudden “life quake,” or a moment of quiet realization, we all face a time when we question if we’re truly living the life we want.
If this resonates with you, a life audit could be the answer. It’s not just about identifying what’s wrong in your life, but also about acknowledging that you have the power to choose and the power to change.
A life audit helps you:
- Reflect on where you are and where you want to go.
- Reevaluate your priorities, goals, and habits.
- Refocus on what matters and take action to align your life with your values, passions, and purpose.
What Is a Life Audit and Why Does It Matter?
A life audit is about you – who you are, what you want, and what you need to live life to the fullest. It will help you uncover the hidden clutter that’s preventing you from living the life you really want.
- It is a deep dive into your dreams, aspirations, goals, priorities, and habits.
- It helps you discover your passion and purpose so you can move forward with clarity, focus, and intention.
- It explores all areas of your life: career, relationships, finances, health, personal growth, spirituality, and fun.
- It is like a GPS because it shows you where you are, where you want to go, and what’s holding you back.
Each step of the life audit works together like pieces of a puzzle. If you skip one, the picture remains incomplete. By taking time to complete all three essential steps, you’ll gain clarity and confidence to design a life filled with purpose, meaning, balance, and joy.
The 3 Steps of a Life Audit
A life audit consists of three essential steps:
- Vision Board: Where do you want to go?
- Life Wheel: Where are you now?
- Self-Reflection: What matters most?
Each step builds on the others. Skipping one is like trying to navigate without a map – you’ll never reach your desired destination.
Step 1: Vision Board
See the future you want.
A vision board isn’t just any old art project. It’s a tool that helps you bring your goals to life. By visually presenting what you aspire to, you create a reminder of the life you want to build. A vision board should excite you because it helps you dream boldly while clarifying your passion and purpose and setting goals that truly matter to you.
Whether it’s images of a peaceful home, a fulfilling career, or creating special moments with your loved ones, your vision board acts as a guiding light to help you stay focused on what matters most to you.
How to Create a Vision Board
- Gather magazines, clip photos, sketches, and words or phrases that represent your dreams and goals.
- Create a collage that inspires you and reflects the life you want to build.
- Place it somewhere visible to keep you motivated.
My Reflection on My Own Vision Board
When I created my first vision board, I realized how much energy I was wasting on things that didn’t matter. Seeing my dreams visually represented gave me the clarity to focus on what truly matters.
Step 2: Life Wheel
Assess your present life.
Before you can map a route to your destination, you need to know your starting point.
The life wheel is a simple yet powerful tool that helps you evaluate key areas of your life: career, relationships, health, finances, spirituality, and more.
By ranking these areas, you can pinpoint where you feel fulfilled and where you need to grow. This clarity helps you prioritize your time, energy, and resources more effectively.
How to Create a Life Wheel
- Draw a circle or download a life wheel divided into sections representing different areas of your life.
- Color in each section to identify different areas.
- Rank each area on a scale from 1 to 10.
- Use the results to pinpoint where you’re thriving and where you need to grow.
My Reflection on My Life Wheel
When I used the life wheel, I quickly identified areas where I was out of balance and could more effectively focus my time and energy.
Step 3: Self-Reflection
Uncover what truly matters.
This is like your personal GPS. It helps uncover what drives you – your core values, your passions, and your purpose.
By reflecting on and clearly articulating what lights you up, fills you up, and makes you truly happy and satisfied, life gets so much easier!
Reflection Questions:
- What do you truly want from life, and are you moving in a direction that aligns with your passions and purpose?
- What brings you the most joy and fulfillment, and how much time do you currently devote to it?
- What are you most proud of, and what lessons have you learned from both successes and failures?
- Who are the most important people in your life, and how do they contribute to your happiness and success?
- What do you excel at and love doing? Are you incorporating these into your daily life?
- What’s missing from your life that would bring you greater fulfillment and align with your values?
- What obstacles, internal or external, are holding you back?
My Reflections on Self-Reflection
One of my biggest breakthroughs was realizing how cluttered my priorities had been. By saying no to things that didn’t align with my values, I created space for what truly mattered.
Why All 3 Steps Matter
Each step of the life audit builds on the other:
- Without a vision board, you lack a clear destination.
- Without a life wheel, you can’t assess the gaps between your dreams and reality.
- Without self-reflection, you won’t discover the deeper “why that makes you cry” behind meaningful goals.
Together, these steps provide clarity, focus, and motivation to create lasting change.
My Personal Insights
Living Simply, Intentionally, and Authentically
Perhaps the most significant insight I gained is the importance of living simply, intentionally, and authentically.
For many years, I tried to fit into someone else’s dream of a good life. I wasted time, money, and energy on trying to be something I wasn’t… The big house, fancy cars, designer wardrobe.
When I began saying no to things that didn’t align with my values and yes to only the people and things that brought me joy, meaning, and fulfillment, I discovered the real me that had been hiding beneath all those cluttered priorities.
I felt lighter, freer, and more peaceful. By following my personal GPS, I was finally in control of my own life. I discovered the real me.
The Power of Supportive Relationships
Another powerful insight I gained from my life audit is the importance of surrounding myself with people who truly care about me, support my goals, and encourage my aspirations.
Equally important is making sure they know that I will support them on their journeys as well.
By prioritizing simplicity, and living with less, my life has become richer, more abundant, and truly fulfilling.
It made me realize how much more life I have to live and how much more I have to give!
Surrounding myself with supportive people enriched my life and allowed me to focus on what truly matters.
Your Life Matters
I do hope you will take time for your own life audit so you can start living the life you truly want … and deserve.
A life audit is life-changing.
I invite you to invest your time and energy into completing your own life audit.
And if you will, please share your story, your wakeup call moments, your goals, and your insights.
Your story will make a difference to others.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Have you done a life audit? What did you discover? Which areas do you want to improve on? How are you planning to do so?
Tags Downsizing Your Life
I think your life audit is a great idea and reading. The article is very stimulating. Unfortunately my situation is different because I am challenged financially. I’m doing OK, but don’t have extra money for extra things right now. I’d love to hear from ladies who might be financially challenged and how their building a vision board, knowing there may not be dollars to fulfill those needs or those desires