Has finding a purpose become a cliché?

Purpose carries a strong definition that often gets watered down. Everyone wants to know their purpose and ways to find it. Being a sophomore in college, I was curious if purpose is something you can really find by taking an assessment or quiz online. I know my purpose and how I live that purpose, but many struggle in finding a way to find their own purpose. I started by googling “purpose quiz” to see what came up. This is what I found; everyone is using purpose without giving a purpose. Mind you, I took all of these quizzes seriously…

Jan L Bowen, The Life Purpose Quiz

This was the first result that came up from “purpose quiz”. The quiz claimed it wasn’t meant to reveal my purpose, even though it was a purpose quiz. The first question asked “I wake up knowing what I want to accomplish” with the following answers,

“The only thing I wake up wanting coffee, sometimes, depending on how exciting or important is- or how much I’m dreading it, and absolutely”. Based upon this, I would conclude that due to the spelling errors, no scientific evidence, and whether or not I want coffee in the morning, is not a valid quiz to determine my purpose, next.

Quizony, What Is Your Purpose in Life?

When first reading about this quiz, there is a statement that says that this quiz is “not based on any scientific study…it is intended for fun only so do not treat the result too seriously”. At least they were upfront about this quiz not being relevant to one’s true purpose.

However, if I were an individual who was truly looking for my purpose and took this quiz, it may lead me to the wrong path or wrong ideas about myself. After taking this quiz of about 30 questions my purpose was “to have a good time”. Although I do like to have a good time, it is not my purpose. So yet again, using purpose without giving an actual purpose.

Higher Awareness, Life purpose test – What is your higher self-asking you?

This quiz stated that this test will help clarify my higher spiritual and soul purpose. My understanding of this test is that it is not science based but rather spiritually based. After answering only seven questions, my result was leadership. It then prompted me to “pick and choose different words [under my results] and create my own purpose”. My questions based upon this test are then, what if I’m not spiritual, how can only seven questions determine my purpose, and how can a list of words that I chose from create my purpose? This test actually doesn’t even give you a purpose! The irony.

Intellectual Takeout, What’s Your Purpose in Life?

I decided that this test would be a promising one. The website is called Intellectual Takeout and it has a .org leading me to believe that it appreciates facts and true knowledge. This test was a series of photos with philosophical quotes that had questions prompting what my response was to the photo. After answering only seven questions, my purpose was career. After reading the comments section, 4/9 people received the same purpose, travel. Again, I am not sure how I can discover my purpose from looking at inspirational quotes from Pinterest, but as all the rest, it was on the first page when I googled purpose quiz.

PathwayU

Now, I know that PathwayU has 10+ years of science backed evidence with patented predictive outcomes that align individuals to their purpose, BUT, many don’t. When an individual is seeking help and googles Purpose Quiz, the first four quizzes/ tests I presented represent what those individuals take. None of them are backed by science, they all had less than 30 questions, gave cliché results and they did not help me discover my purpose. 

PathwayU takes about 30 minutes to complete with four different assessments. They tell you about your Interests, Values, Personality, and Workplace Preferences as well as what those results mean, reflection questions, how to interpret your results and ways to live them through with connections to real job boards and career matches that align with your purpose.

If you are trying to discover your true purpose, find it with PathwayU, or at least somewhere that has real support, real science, real evidence and real results to help you succeed.