Hi friendsss, welcome back to the fifth episode of ✨ Finding your Casual Magic ✨ (five episodes already ahhh) Today in this solo episode we’re talking about purpose dun dun dun!!! I feel like purpose is the source of so much existentialism, so much fear, scariness but we're going to try and make it a little less scary. Why do we feel motivated to get out of bed every morning? Why is it we might feel compelled to change jobs? Why is it we feel we need to make changes to our life? Or why do we feel content living the way that we are? One could argue that all of these things come down to a sense of purpose, guiding all of our decisions is that North Star of our purpose in the world but the sad thing is, it can sometimes feel quite elusive. Many of us don't know what our purpose is and some of us would rather not think about that because it can be a dramatic and scary topic. But the thing is, all of our decisions, day to day, big and small, are driven by our sense of purpose. So what if, rather than waiting to discover our purpose, we could create it? Before we get into today's topic about finding and creating our purpose I start the episode with a guided meditation where we really just take a moment to be, to ground ourselves, to come back to our breath. I then look at three main routes that one can use to find their purpose in this world. I'll be looking at how culture can affect our sense of purpose, how our society and the people around us affect our purpose. I'm also going to share some of my own personal journeys with discovering what my purpose is in this world. Sources for this ep! How to find your Core Values Core Values Questionnaire pdf I close the episode with ‘Casual Magic of the Week’ followed by intention setting for the week ahead. Join me as we ask ourselves… What went well this week? What am I proud of this week? What is a little joy that I can celebrate? What is something that challenged me this week? Based on these reflections, choose a one word intention for your coming week. I am so grateful that you’re here and I hope you love this episode, and if no one has told you today, you are enough. 💛   Timestamps: 00:00: Introduction 00:40: Introducing today's topic: Purpose 01:41: How culture shapes our sense of purpose 02:02: Creating a safe and intentional space 02:38: Guided meditation 05:04: Research on the importance of purpose 07:25: How to define purpose 08:16: Small tasks as meaningful purpose 09:59: Finding purpose through values and passions 10:16: Route 1: The spiritual way 15:14: Route 2: The strategic way 19:42: Route 3: The ikigai way 20:48: Questions to find your ikigai 21:55: Personal reflections on planning and control 22:12: Introduction to goal setting 22:24: Discovering ikigai and the desire to be a vet 22:52: Childhood love for animals and going vegetarian 24:26: Realising veterinary work isn't suitable 25:11: Struggling with purposelessness after letting go of the vet goal 26:07: Redefining purpose beyond veterinary ambitions 26:40: Starting a YouTube channel as a creative outlet 27:45: Finding purpose through YouTube and core values 29:38: Crisis of purpose after leaving education 31:07: New mission centred around mindfulness and gratitude 32:17: Exploration of spiritual and cultural purpose 34:38: Advice for finding purpose 40:45: Casual Magic of the week 41:49: Weekly reflection and setting intentions 43:15: Conclusion and words of encouragement If you’d like to be featured as the Casual Magic of the week: 💌 Notice a moment of casual magic in your week. What was something beautiful in your daily life? A special moment or reflection? 💌  DM us a ~60 second voice message or video to @casualmagicpodcast⁠ on instagram or email it to [email protected] — feel free to include any pictures of your casual magic!! 💌  Start the voicenote by introducing yourself and where you’re from!! 💌  Tell us in your DM / email if y