Wrestling with life purpose statements and the large questions behind them - "Who am I? What am I here to do? What's my purpose?" - can be a difficult exercise. For many people, it's uncomfortable to navigate this ambiguous terrain full of existential challenges.

Yet, looking inward in order to discern your life purpose can bring incredible clarity and energy to your life. Clear direction can guide both your overall life planning and your day-to-day decisions.

When investigating life purpose, people rarely experience an epiphany where the clouds part and they have their life's purpose magically revealed. That does happen, but more frequently people begin to hear their intuition and instincts whispering louder and louder until it becomes unmistakable.

To navigate this terrain and help yourself hear your intuition, I recommend a few tips. First, ask yourself several questions:

• When in my life - past and present - have I been happiest?

• When in my life - past and present - did I feel like I was making the biggest contribution?

Finding the times in your life when you felt happiest and most fulfilled (through contribution to others) are clear clues on the path to discovering your purpose. As Mother Teresa said, "Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life."

In addition to looking at the past and present, think about the future. What do you want to contribute in your life? What's your gift to give? When you are an old man or old woman, what do you want to be able to say you did with your life? What do you want people to say about you when you are dead and gone?

Spend some time with each of these questions. I recommend keeping a journal to record your thoughts. As you work through these questions, go through several drafts of life purpose statements. Once you have several drafts, seek to refine it to a core idea or central theme. Then, come back to it over time to further shape it.

As you craft the statement of your life purpose, know that the common theme of your purpose will likely remain throughout your life, but the way you express it will change. For example, if your life purpose is to teach, you may find yourself in many different situations - trainer, teacher, coach, consultant, mentor, etc - that allow you to express your purpose of teaching others.

Once you have a clear (or at least more clear) idea of your life purpose, take some action. Even if you can't quite pinpoint your purpose, start looking for ways - starting today - to live your purpose more fully.