Today––and every day thereafter––can be as amazing as you want it to be. You have to truly believe that in order to live a life of intensity and purpose.

The thing is and regardless of what you believe in, your fate isn’t actually set. You have the power to decide just how much of “you” you’ll pour into each and every day.

Rather than getting up in the morning and letting life happen to you, don’t you want to grab life by the horns and make the day your b*tch? I think we all want that kind of power over our day and lives. But most of us fall short.

Unfortunately, the majority of people simply sleepwalk through life. They don’t live life with intention and purpose, let alone intensity. Instead, they simply exist until their time is up. They are pulled and influenced by their environment and circumstances like work, school, family, and all the little things that society tells them they should tend to.

If you feel like you fall into this category of people, then you likely feel powerless. And if you feel out-of-balance or powerless over your life, chances are you’re avoiding the very thing(s) that you should be doing instead.

We are all put on this earth for a purpose. What stands between us and our purpose is an external influence, fear, and/or resistance. In many cases, however, we are first disconnected from our purpose as a result of resistance.

What do I mean by resistance? Well, according to the Oxford dictionary, the definition of resistance is the refusal to accept or comply with something or to prevent something by argument or action.

The thing is, our purpose in life is not something that we should look outward to find and it is rarely something that we have yet to realize.

Look back on your life for a moment. Chances are, there have been times when you felt truly inspired or content. There have been times where you’ve felt an inexplicable pull toward something, whether it be a sport, playing guitar, taking pictures, helping a stranger, or working on code for a website.

Whenever we’re doing something that is in alignment with our spirit and our true life purpose, we simply feel alive and passionate at that moment. It’s inexplicable and scary even, but it’s a sign that you should pour more of yourself and your time into that thing.

Far too often, we approach life with our minds. This is good in many ways because it helps us to avoid harm and death. Logic, for example, will tell you that jumping into shallow water is a dumb idea.

But navigating life with only our minds and not our hearts is the best way to live an unfulfilling and dull life within the constraints of your comfort zone. The mind tells us to play it safe; the heart tells us to dream bigger.

It sounds cliche and corny even, but the best way to discover your life’s purpose is to listen to what your heart is telling you. Go with your heart sometimes and follow what feels powerful and impactful in your life.

These things, these feelings, may very well be callings for you to discover your purpose and what will excite you to wake up every morning. We gotta get out of our heads sometimes and navigate with our hearts. After all, this is what makes us human, and the human experience of purpose and success is all driven by feeling. Don’t give up on the passions and feelings that God places in your heart. Listen to them.

Trust me, I know how it feels to not be in alignment with purpose. Hell, I still struggle with honing in on my purpose till this day. But I figured that I would share with you all something that has truly been working for me.

Much like most people, I have lived a majority of my adult life thinking logically and pressing the mute button on my heart. Somewhere along the way, I lost the spark that we all have as children, where we look at life as a wondrous thing, full of excitement, adventure, and experiences.

For most of my adult life, I have spent my time trying to become who I thought the world wanted me to be. I have spent too much time pretending. Ultimately, that means running away from who I actually am and want to be.

It wasn’t until recently that I started to realize that I was living this way. It wasn’t until recently that I started listening to my heart. As an analytical person who thrives on logic and sound reasoning, it has actually been one of the hardest things for me to do.

But let me tell you, it has truly made a difference in how I approach my life and every single day. I wake up feeling inspired, connected, authentic, and alive. Most importantly, I wake up feeling more and more connected with my life’s purpose.

In a world influenced by material and cookie-cutter existence, that’s priceless.