A Newfound Life Purpose

I have always been someone who was "into everything" and "all over the place". My endless curiosity drives me in so many different directions that as a result my life has never felt like it had a single direction or purpose.

Recognizing that my lack of focus was inhibiting my ability to help others and improve the world around me, I have spent considerable amounts of time over the past few years attempting to discover which of my many passions might be "the one" that I should focus on.

After three weeks of living a new lifestyle, two weeks of living on a remote farm in India, and several days of introspection, I believe I've found it.

I came to the realization that my life purpose and ultimate passion in life could be discovered by uncovering my core values; the things in life that I have always aspired to achieve and which have been the motivating factor behind all my decisions and choices throughout life.

Looking back at every single choice and decision that I've made throughout my life, I traced each one back to one of these three principals:

• Live simply
• Balance life
• Cultivate curiosity

How do these principles reflect on my life? Let's see.

Living simply. Whether it was growing up with no furniture and eating on the floor, living in the unfinished basement of one of my three investment properties during the six years that I was a landlord, or selling all my possessions to travel the world with all my belongings in a single backpack, simplicity and minimalism have always been part of my life. Not only do I apply this principle to my daily life, I also apply it to my mental thought processes and even my computing habits.

Balancing life. Much of my life has been about adjustment and adaptation: a home schooled child who had to teach himself through high-school; an overweight teenager who became an in-shape health and fitness advisor; a shy boy who got a job working in customer service (tech support); a lover of nature with a talent for computers; a successful landlord who was forced to file bankruptcy; a man who had everything but gave it up to travel the world in simplicity; everything I've done in my life has been about finding balance.

Cultivating curiosity. As a child, I was endlessly curious with a strong thirst for knowledge. As an adult, that curiosity and thirst didn't go away; it was only stifled. Exploring, asking questions, and maintaining an open-minded, childlike curiosity for everything around us is vital to our growth as human beings. To cultivate curiosity means to develop and nurture a healthy relationship with our inner child -- to never stop being curious, never stop exploring, and never stop learning.

These principles have helped me recognize my unlimited potential and fostered a curious and open-mind. They have allowed me to continue growing in life and given me a calm and peaceful demeanor even during difficult or challenging situations. But most of all, they have helped me live a happy, fulfilling, and grateful existence for the past twenty-eight years of my life.

But I have a lot to learn and a long way to go.

As I move the focus of this blog towards these three principles, I will continue discovering new ways to live simply, balance life, and cultivate curiosity. With your support, we can build a community that will become a way station of inspiration on the journey through life.

This planet Earth we call home is an incredible place that I feel so fortunate to be apart of -- so many others have inspired, motivated, shared, and helped me in more ways than I can count. Expressing my thanks and appreciation just isn't enough.

By giving back some part of the value that I have been so lucky to receive, I hope to play a small role in making this world a better place through helping others live simply, balance life, and cultivate curiosity.

As I continue traveling the world as a nomadic explorer (to cultivate curiosity and live simply), I will write with a focus on these three principles.

I welcome and encourage you to participate through the comments in each post, through Twitter and Facebook, and through following updates by subscribing (via RSS or E-Mail).

Thank you for all the wonderful support.