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Last week I talked about my experience with GPS Life Journey and how central it has been in helping me discover what to do in this stage of my life. I really didn’t know what my purpose was before taking GPS – at all, but especially in this season.
GPS isn’t the only tool that’s helped me, though. Over the past several years, I’ve read some great books that have also helped me clarify just what I’m supposed to be doing with my life and why.
Here are nine of my all-time favorite books on purpose:
9. You’re Already Amazing: Embracing Who You Are, Becoming All God Created You to Be by Holley Gerth. This book, designed more for women, asks all the important questions to get you thinking about what you love and how you’re made. As she writes, “God doesn’t have a ‘plan B’ for you.” Get a pen or pencil ready for this one!
8. How to Reach Your Full Potential for God: Never Settle for Less Than His Best by Charles Stanley. You were created for a unique purpose, and this book helps you see just what God made you for, outlining seven steps to get there. The best is yet to come!
7. Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Marcus Buckingham’s original Now, Discover Your Strengths is also a good read, but the Strengthsfinder 2.0 books are the most updated. Both books come with a unique code that you can use to take the Strengthsfinder assessment online and discover what your top 5 strengths are. We all have them; we just don’t always know what they are! This tool has been huge for me, as most of my top strengths came as a complete surprise!
6. Simplify by Bill Hybels. This book is designed to help you clear out the clutter in your life – the tasks, people, busy work, and commitments that suck up your time but really don’t fit with your purpose – so you can then focus on your actual purpose. Hybels challenges: “If you don’t fulfill the mission God assigned to you, who will?”
5. 101 Questions You Need to Ask in Your Twenties (And Let’s Be Honest, Your Thirties Too) by Paul Angone. I read this as a 30-year-old (as its title suggests, it’s not just for 20-somethings!) and resonated with so much of it. I’ve already reread it because it’s been so instrumental in giving me the needed push to do what I already knew I needed to do. Be sure to check out the author’s blog, All Groan Up, too!
4. Restless: Because You Were Made for More by Jennie Allen. If you feel restless in any way right now, that’s your cue that there’s something more out there for you. The author takes you through different areas of your life to help you connect all the “threads” and chart out what’s next. (As of right now, the eBook is only $1.99!)
3. Intentional Living by John Maxwell. My heart kept beating faster as I read this book because so much of it convicted and struck a chord with me. Your life matters. What kind of legacy do you want to leave?
2. One Big Thing by Phil Cooke. This book is all about “discovering what you were born to do” and it is a great resource for just that. It is simply written and easy to understand, yet thought-provoking as you consider what one thing in your life may be more important than all the other things that are competing for your time and attention.
1. Your Beautiful Purpose by Susie Larson. One of the best books I’ve ever read! It didn’t look like my typical read at first glance, but from chapter one I was hooked. The author outlines four seasons we find ourselves in – Run, Rest, Stand, and Active Waiting – and wisdom for each one. She says, “If we take God at his word, He’ll take us places and work through us in ways that will cause others who knew us when, to step back, shake their heads, and say, ‘There has to be a God in heaven; no way could she have accomplished those things or become that person on her own.’”
Each of these books has been influential for me in discovering what to do with my life, and I highly recommend any of these if you’re struggling to find your own purpose. I’ve been there (more times than I’ve cared to be)!
What books have been helpful to you in figuring out your purpose in life? Tell the rest of us below!
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Hey! I'm Brianna and I'm a millennial. I'm also a reader, writer, God-lover, introvert, and recovering perfectionist. ☺️ I want to inspire millennials to retain their morality, hope, and faith as they transition into adulthood and full-fledged "adult."
[…] or fourth time. I love it so much, it inspired a whole blog post! In fact, I’ve mentioned it more than once. 🙂 Read this book if you’re wondering even a little bit what your purpose might […]