A purpose is some goal or goals which we find personally meaningful to live for. When we enjoy a life free of war in a reasonably safe country where opportunities still exist or can be created, life is a lot more interesting when we find what we believe in, what is meaningful to us, and when we live in line with our beliefs or work towards such life.

For example: you might believe in living a simple life on the land whilst caring for such land as much as possible and re-building a native birdlife. But you have no money and no land. So you might go to a shearing school, and shear for many years whilst saving your money. Eventually you will buy a block of land to get yourself started, and after much work, you will have the land you need to make a simple living. You will be able to plant the missing trees and after 5 years already enjoy some tree corridors and see the native birdlife move back into your area. This is not a dream. It is possible but does require much commitment and work.

So if you believe in leaving the planet in a better state, consider minimising your travels, planting native trees each year providing natural habitats for native wildlife and watch your haven develop around you. If you believe in building strong and meaningful relationships with others, your purpose might be building and enjoying a community around family and friends. It's up to each one of us to find what we believe in and build our life around it.

Ideally such purpose will also fulfill all of our financial needs. When it comes to earning a living whilst trying to also make it meaningful to you, follow your heart, explore how you can fulfill your purpose and make an honest living, not what others want you to do.

Mechanics do not make enough money, some say.

What if you love mechanics, have tried it and still love it ? Why not follow your heart, apply yourself and become really good at it. Take pride in it.

And if you really need that money...., by being an outstanding mechanic, or having your own business, your odds of making that money are high.

... Only if you need it though. How much money do you really need ?

• Issues with credit card use: get rid of it and get a debit card. You can still use it for online purchases but you will only be able to spend what is available in the account.
  
  
• Issues with budgetting? Putting money aside? Saving prior to purchasing? You will find free advice amongst your local community services.
  
  >> access your Community Services

Never be afraid to follow your heart.

You know what you believe in. You now have to take action: find out the options for acquiring the skills to support your purpose.

Apply your skills in line with your beliefs, and you will succeed -- within yourself -- You will grow stronger within. There is no other measure of success: the opinion of others do not matter; neither do you need their approval.

If you want to change path later on, you will be able to. You will find and create other opportunities.

If your beliefs and purpose require you to learn particular skills, consider:

• Which paths will lead you there?
  
  
• What knowledge? >> see the Education section
  
  
• Talk to the career counsellor at your local high school, TAFE, or university.
  
  
• Check on the Internet, at the library.
  
  
• Talk to your friends, neighbours. Do they know anyone working in that field?
  
  
• Check the local newspaper. Listen to the locals. Find an honest professional with a good reputation.
  
  
• No one local? How far are you willing to take your dream? Come on. Australia is a vast country, full of opportunities. Take them on.
  
  
• Approach the honest, reputable professionals. Would they take you on for work experience (free of charge, of course) ?
  
  

• My husband knew from the start being born on the land that he wanted to stay on the land. He became a shearer, saved his money, bought a block, worked hard, and eventually lived the life he wanted: on the land, planting native trees, rebuilding bird corridors, and enjoying a life as self-sufficient as he wants it to be: growing his own vegetables, eating his own produce, shearing his own lambs, providing his wife with the wool needed to spin and make items from! He does have a real incline for engineering and metal fabrication and whilst he did complete a short welding course at TAFE which enables him to make his own yards and maintain the farm, he would have preferred gaining a trade and work it together with the farm. But he never took the time to work out all of his beliefs. It is one of his regrets but every day is a beautiful reminder that caring for the land he owns and re-creating a native bird life is a worthwhile purpose.
  
  
• My life is a little more fragmented. I had an incline from a young age to become a farm vet. There was a dairy farm at the back of our house and I had witnessed the calves being pulled at birth; I loved the farm life too. My dad and I went to the Vet School Open Day after I finished High School. I had the marks but I had to leave the region as my sole purpose then was to find safety. I was fleeing a situation of child abuse and I never really did spend time finding out what I believed in or not because I was not feeling safe in this world.
  
  So I acquired many skills along my little chaotic way and there was a common thread: Education. I was trained as an amateur tennis coach by the FFT (French Federation of Tennis) and I loved it. This was a great hobby. But I never thought about purpose or about what I loved so much about it. My first professional training in the Aviation provided me with the money and time to play and teach tennis, I still was not focused on purpose beyond making an honest living. When I left the Aviation and retrained into computing, I never thought purpose either but again I found myself educating people and learning a lot whilst working in different sectors of the Australian society as a computer teacher, and a data management educator and consultant for 20 years.
  
  Living on the land was still in my blood though. Although I proved to be an excellent professional, life was still difficult at a personal level. I seemed to be ever-chasing without finding peace. We did buy some land and life went on, working in computing and handling sheep, goats, and cattle on my spare time. That was nice but a little too busy as I could not really enjoy the life on the land. I knew I had to make a change to slow down: I had a good enough relationship with the client/s to work from home. I used the spare time to spend more time in the community starting a support group, organising educational workshops, and learning new skills.
  
  Then life changed: a new relationship and a readiness to address my personal problems. One day, I came across a book at a developmental workshop and read it: The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything . Ken Robinson. This reading inspired me to get back to one of my other loves: music. Now at a competent level on a Tenor sax, I can bring music to people. I enjoy it and so do they - whether in nursing homes, community markets, or festivals. I find music to open the door to many meaningful conversations or beautiful moments. And these musical moments are small gifts which can appease people or inspire them to look into their own set of beliefs or address their own issues.
  >> get Book details
  
  Nowadays I do think about purpose and what I believe in. Trust is a core driver for me as well as living with intent. On a daily basis I try and apply myself to live aligned with what I believe in. This website is a way of sharing my experiences and knowledge so that you can start defining what you believe in, and define a path to acquire the skills you need in order to live in line with your values and beliefs. If this makes your life more enjoyable, if you can find your peace within, and grow strength within, this makes it for a better world too.
  
  

• The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at doing what they enjoy most. - Malcolm Forbes
  
  
• When we are challenged to be what we can become. - Unknown author
  
  
• Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. - Marie Curie
  
  
• Courage is not the absence of fear. It is going forward with the face of fear. - Abraham Lincoln.
  
  
• The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure. - Sven Goran Erikson
  
  
• Doubt can only be removed by action. - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
  
  
• To pass through this world and never take a bold step for fear of rebuke and derision is to deprive yourself of the true vitality of life [...] A man who dies without an enemy is neither a man of passion nor a warrior, nor will they remember him. - Michael Keenan The horses too are gone (p340)
  
  
• Almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. [...] Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the traps of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. - Steve Jobs (1955-2011)
  
  
• There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly. - R. Buckminster Fuller
  
  
• We are fortunate. All this time we've been given. We must use it well. - From the movie: Shooting dogs
  
  
• The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you have lost. - George Shultz
  
  
• Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new. - O G Mandino
  
  
• Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life. It is a journey. - Burton Hills