How To Find Your Life Purpose With Your Magnum Opus

And why it’s essential to get your dream job

Are you dreading going to work everyday and do you instantly get depressed by the sound of your alarm in the morning? You are not alone. Most people are not happy in their jobs, but yet can’t find the courage or motivation to quit. You may have financial commitments, think you are not good enough for something else, or you are simply just stuck in your comfort zone. But wouldn’t it be great to make money while doing something you love as well?

This may sound like a distant dream and only accessible to priviliged people. But finding your dream job is possible for everyone! You just have to find your Magnum Opus.

What is Magnum Opus?

Magnum Opus is somebody’s greatest life achievement. It’s the perfect combination of passion, talent and hard work. It needs a bit of destiny too: your Magnum Opus may not come to you until you are at the right time and the right place in your life. But you reading this article may just do the trick to find your Magnum Opus. Your Magnum Opus is your legacy. The thing people talk about after you’re long gone. It is your life’s work that you are most proud of.

Hating your current job or career might be exactly what you need to start thinking about your life purpose. Surely there must be more to life than this endless dreadful work you’re doing? Why do you stay stuck in it? Are you too focused on money? Since we are children we are being taught that we should be able to provide for ourselves and our families. We are drilled and trained by society to find a job that can give us financial security. Or maybe our families put a lot of pressure on you to choose a certain study, instead of following your dreams.

What is your life purpose?

Perhaps you are afraid that you lack the skills and experience to change your path around. You’ve spend so much time and energy in this current job, you simply don’t want to start all over again. Or maybe you just don’t have a clue what you actually want to do with your life. Does a life purpose even exist?

Whatever the reason is that you feel stuck, it is based on fear. Fear that you’re lacking the skills. Fear that you end up broke. Fear that people laugh at you. Fear to be different. Fear to get out of your comfort zone. Fear to fail.

And this fear is ultimately fueled by doubt. And this doubt is what keeps you from not changing direction. Of course it’s much easier to stay where you’re at. But does that make you happy? Can you imagine yourself doing this the rest of your life?

Start by believing in yourself. Belief is a powerful tool that your mind is very sensitive too. If you don’t believe you can do it, how is your mind supposed to think something else?

You are your thoughts.

Three questions to ask yourself to find your Magnum Opus

Okay, so let’s pretend you believe in yourself for a moment. How do you find your Magnum Opus and with that your dream job? You need to figure out these three things:

1. What are things you love to do?

What activity makes you happy? At which moment do you feel most alive? What makes you forget about the time because you are so immersed in it? What gives you energy? What is your hobby? What are you passionate about?

If you struggle to answer these questions, think about what you would do with your life if you know you are going to die within three months, and money isn’t an issue. Would you travel the world? Spend your time reading/gaming/painting/doing sports/cooking/walking your dog? Try to save the world/humanity/climate/animals?

How do you spend your free time and do you feel fulfilled afterwards? What did you use to love doing as a child? If you really don’t know what kind of things you love, think about who inspires you with the way they live their life. Can you try some of the things that they do?

2. What are things you’re good at?

After you figure out what you love to do, what is it that you’re actually good at? Maybe you love scrolling on Instagram, but is this a skill you could apply to a job? Perhaps you love creating social media posts and inspiring people with your view on life — that would be something you’re good at. Maybe you love singing in the shower, but you’re not particurlarly the next Mariah Carey — then this is not something you should try to pursue.

Everybody has a certain talent or skill, try to find yours. Are you good at talking to people and networking? Making them feel comfortable? Are you a great organiser? A natural-born leader? Can you write very well? Or maybe you’re very handy and can fix random things all the time? Are you very good at sports? Do people come to you for advice? Are you an artist in some sort of way? Can you make businesses grow with your point of view and skills? Can you create amazing sculptures/houses/paintings/jewelry/recipes? Can you make people laugh? Are you amazing animal caretaker? Do plants and gardens thrive under your care?

Figure out what you’re good at and how the world can benefit from your skill.

3. What are things people pay for?

So maybe you are very good at beating your personal record in Mario Karts, but is this something people would pay for? To find your Magnum Opus, it needs to be beneficial in some sort of way for other people as well. It doesn’t have to be a service or a product. Maybe you want to start a charity to rescue abandoned animals. Or inspire people with tips and tricks on how to make the world a better place. There are a lot of things people or businesses pay for, don’t assume too quickly that your skill is not valuable!

Whatever you are passionate about and also good at still needs to bring in some sort of income. Try to find a way to combine all these three things together and that’s going to lead you to your Magnum Opus!

How to pursue your Magnum Opus?

If you’re lucky enough to find your life purpose at some point, how do you pursue it? In my case, I loved traveling, I was good at creating inspirational content, and marketing was a skill that I had that people would pay for.

Because of my love for travel and the amount of time I spent doing that, I also figured out what was lacking in the travel world: supporting local businesses and travelling more sustainably. So I had a dream to make it easier for travellers to travel more responsible, while also making the world a better place. I knew I could write articles and use marketing to reach people. So my Magnum Opus was born: a travel platform that combines what I love, what I am good at and what people (or in my case: advertisements & businesses) pay for.

But even though the idea was there and it fitted perfectly with my passions and values, it still didn’t mean it was going to work.

The key here is to surround yourself with people who believe in you and your plan. Don’t let doubt or fear take over. Don’t let people tell you that it’s a stupid idea. Allow yourself to make mistakes and fail.

Because if you never try, you will never know whether it’s going to work or not.

And if you really did find your Magnum Opus, the Universe will make it happen. You just add in the hard work. And it won’t even feel like work, because this is what you were born to do!

Stop following fear and start following your passion. You’ve got this.

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