Many people struggle to find happiness or contentment in life. At the same time, many of us look around at the world and feel a sense of despair at what we see.

What if the point of life was not to find happiness, but to find our purpose? What if we find our purpose through discovering who we are the deepest levels? And what if our core values indicate our purpose and create meaning in our lives?

Through nearly twenty years working in the civic/charitable sector and thirty years of personal development and research, I have come to share the concept that we are fundamentally responsible for our lives… and more importantly we do ourselves and the world a great disservice, when we don’t realise this and instead feel a victim of external forces.

Every religious and spiritual tradition, as well as most thought leaders and other people of influence advise that we need to empower ourselves, rather than expecting the world to be responsible for our well-being. They all speak of how the world is not a fair place and that our journey through life is to develop the skills and resilience to deal with that. 

We are the only ones who can create a better world, through our own awakening, our own self-awareness. We all have a Warrior energy inside of us, a Warrior that wants to have an impact, on ourselves, our loved ones and even the community we live in.

The only way to develop true self-awareness and therefore purpose, is through courageous vulnerability… is through awakening that Vulnerable Warrior that has courage, strength and gentleness at the same time.

And why do we need to do this?

Because too many are not thriving, indeed too many of us are wasting our potential and going to our death beds with regret, rather than a sense of accomplishments. It also means our world; our communities are also missing out on so many incredible talents of many people.

Too many people are feeling disempowered rather than empowered, and worse, too many people are feeling like victims and blaming the world, blaming each other for their pain, struggles and lack of achievement. And this of course, also means our social and political worlds are becoming more and more divisive.

Injustice exists, but too often we continue to perpetuate that injustice on ourselves, rather than awakening that Vulnerable Warrior aspect of ourselves that can learn and grow from our struggles. Grit, resilience, wisdom mostly comes from turning our pain into muscle, strength and capacity.

So, what should we do instead…

Develop and awaken our Vulnerable Warrior. That means we take responsibility again and again and again. It means that we develop true self-awareness, at the deepest, deepest level, so we can take responsibility for the choices we make and the results we achieve in the world.

With our Vulnerable Warrior awake, we know who we are, and we develop the self-belief, confidence and sense of purpose that will allow all of us to live meaningful lives… which ultimately means a more purposeful, meaningful world.

I will be teaching you exactly how to do this at my Opportunity International Australia Women4Women presentation in Perth on 13 June 2018. I will provide much more detail on the need for this and the ways to achieve it. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/women-for-women-speaker-series-tickets-40087672307

Karyn Lisignoli, Leadership Mentor, Writer; Speaker