The interesting thing about purpose is we often assume we need to go off on a big old gritty journey to discover it! But your sense of purpose is not lost or non-existent – and you are MORE than capable of getting your hands on it. Even if you’re not sure if you’ve EVER truly known what yours is!
I only recently discovered the term ‘purpose anxiety’, but the more I read about the signs and symptoms, the more I realised that was EXACTLY what I’d been struggling with back in 2017…
>> YES I was stuck in a job that no longer motivated or inspired me
>> YES I was navigating how to spin all the plates as a new mum of 2
>> YES I was exhausted dealing with bed hopping kids and manically trying to ‘keep up appearances’ at work
But below the surface of all that mum-juggling, there was a deeper inner conflict at play.
A heaviness bubbling in the back of my mind making me feel uneasy, discombobulated, and disconcerted.
My ‘get-up-and-go’ had fizzled, my sense of pride was waning and my excitement for the future felt numb.
It wasn’t just a bad day or week, or PMT (not every day anyway!)
It was hanging about ALLLLLL THE TIME.
And now I know, I was in the throes of ‘PURPOSE ANXIETY’
I’d lost my grasp on who I was, what I wanted for myself and most importantly WHY those things mattered to me.
Do you relate?
It’s so common to feel a disconnection, disorientation and even loss after we have kids.
Life changes – and WE change in the most profound ways.
BUT we also don’t have to accept that state as being part and parcel of parenthood either.
We deserve SO much more than that!
The interesting thing about purpose is we often assume we need to go off on a big old gritty journey to discover it!
But your sense of purpose is not lost or non-existent – and you are MORE than capable of getting your hands on it. Even if you’re not sure if you’ve EVER truly known what yours is!
It’s living and breathing inside you, always! It just may be momentarily hiding from you while you’ve had bigger fish to fry – like raising a family!
Over the last decade of being a Mum I’ve navigated the mess, the big feelings, the huge identity shifts and a particularly icky career crisis. And reconnecting with my ‘WHY’ completely re-routed the direction of my life, in a way I REALLY needed.
It reminded me of who I was and what REALLY made me tick…
And that gesture to myself subsequently brought me back to my true self, shifted me OUT of my rut and enabled me to come out on the other side feeling more ALIVE, LIBERATED and CONNECTED to myself than ever before.
And now I make it my business (literally!) to help other Mums who feel like they’re floating through life without a compass to come back to themselves again.
Reconnecting with your WHY doesn’t need to be heavy or time consuming – it also gets to be fun and easy!
So, to get the ball rolling, here’s a handful of short and sweet journal prompts to help you begin living your life ‘on purpose’ again…because YOU matter too much to coast or struggle your way through on autopilot:
>> If I had a whole day just for me – no guilt, no obligations – how would I spend it?
>> When do I feel most like myself – even if it’s just for a moment?
>> What one thing do I want my children to learn from me?
If you enjoy delving into these questions or you’d like some deeper support to shift you out of ‘purpose anxiety’ then check out my ‘Live Your Life On Purpose’ Workshop – a perspective-shifting self-paced session to help you reconnect with what truly matters to YOU, tune into what YOU want, and start moving through life with more clarity, confidence and purpose — while raising your kids.
Tamsin Williamson is Partner Coach with Careering into Motherhood. You can read more about her and her work via her profile page here.
June 2, 2025
