Lesson 6: Who You Were Meant to Be - Everybody Has a Calling

Every single person who is born has a purpose, Oprah says in tonight's episode. Here's how to discover what moves you most. These workbook questions were curated by Martha Beck. The goal is to continue the conversation and go deeper into the lesson. Your answers are private, no one else can see them.

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What activity makes you forget what time it is?

What held your attention when you were a child and no one was structuring your time? What did you do for fun, and for hours?

What have you persisted in doing, year after year? Something that you make time for or think about often, no matter how busy life gets?

Oprah says that if you listen to the “still, quiet place” inside yourself, then you will hear what you are meant to do. How can you get to that place?

A sense of purpose, of being needed by those in the larger world who have no advocate, can point you toward your calling. Whose pain do you long to ease?

Confining yourself to the expectations of others can stand in the way of your calling. How can you celebrate the things about yourself that make you different? List 3 ways these differences may be pointing to what you should be doing with your life.

When most people hear the question "Who are you meant to be?" they imagine the answer has to be something huge. But what if you started smaller, by asking: "What would feel better?" Not perfect—not even different, necessarily—just a little bet

Life is always teaching you. Knowing what you don’t want frees and guides you to choose things you do want. What are you doing out of obligation, or because you “have to”?

Jeff Bezos says that he makes choices within a “regret minimization framework.” What choices can you make now that will allow you to look back on your life and have no regrets about decisions you’re facing today?

Do you have regrets about some things you've done? Is there anything you can do now to improve those situations? If not, how can you forgive yourself and move into peace?

Are you limiting yourself by thinking of your calling as only something that involves making money? If you had infinite money, what would you do? How can you do that anyway, even if only during post-work hours?

Published on October 17, 2011

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