The Secret to Being Happy: Learn How to be Unhappy
We are being taught by countless articles, that being unhappy is not normal. Here is the secret to being happy… Learn how to be unhappy.
We are all here for a reason. We were all born unique, an original. No one has ever come anywhere close to being you. And no one ever will. You have a unique soul, made up of your very own skills, ideas, and dreams.
Somewhere within that soul of yours, there lays something altogether more significant; something that is awaiting your call. It is your life purpose.
In this article, I want to explore how you go about finding your purpose, and the importance of finding it.
It doesn’t always come easy, finding your life purpose; it can take quite a journey. To some, it is a lot clearer than to others, but one thing we can be sure of – we all have one. The thing is, most of us do not know how or where to look for it, even though throughout our lives our life purpose continually shows glimpses of itself to us.
The way to find your life purpose is to see all the elements from your past and to connect them. Your life purpose is a combination of several aspects and elements, and only by looking all the way back into your past, all the way to when you were a little kid, can you hope to find them.
Let me give you two examples from my past to show you what one of these elements could look like. Afterwards, I’ll explain just how to find your life purpose from those elements you have recognized from your past.
This is a story my mom used to tell me, which I vaguely remember. I was in school, about six years old and the teacher asked us “children what do you think would be something good to get taught in school?” I raised my hand and said, “First aid skills, I think it would be handy to learn how to save someone’s life.”
My teacher was amazed to hear that from a 6-year-old and even told my parents. This was a clear glimpse, looking back, of one of the aspects of my purpose in life. This is an element – helping others.
Another element of mine is creativity. When I was young I was always drawing, writing, filming, building – I was always creating. And growing up, I kept on doing it, I kept on creating. That’s another element – creativity.
All of our elements are right in front of us, but you can only truly connect the dots of your life purpose by looking backward. Once you do, once you pick up one of your elements, you will start to see them appearing everywhere in your past life.
A life purpose is not just made up of one element but is the combination of all of those inside of you, usually between 2 and 4. I already told you two elements of my life purpose, let me tell you my last one to show you then how to find your own through the elements that make up yours.
The last solid and clear element that constantly appeared throughout my life was adventure. As a small kid, I always ventured out into the forests, running, climbing, getting dirty. I was ever going on little adventures, and growing up, I kept doing it, and now I travel around the world continuously.
These three elements: helping others, creativity and adventure, appear all the time throughout my life.
By finding your own personal elements, you will be able to give an answer to the question “what is your life purpose?” as it is made out of all those individual factors.
Ask your parents to tell you about what you were like when you were a little kid, or talk to someone else from your family or anyone who knew you when you were growing up. Let them help you remind you of who you are. Ask them what you used to do and loved doing all the time when you were a kid.
The way to indeed being who you are, to being truly happy and feeling satisfied in life and the way to genuinely feel you are living your life with purpose, is to do something where all those elements appear.
You’ve got to find a job that has those elements in it. And if you can’t find one, create your own job, like I did. The internet has given us more possibilities than ever to do just that.
I am a photographer & writer, as well as the founder of The IPS Project. My photography and writing allow me to express my creativity and go on adventures in search of stunning shots and stories. And as the founder of this educational platform, I have created a place where I can be of service to and help others entirely to the extent that I want to take it.
To many, connecting those elements together to find a suitable job could be the hardest part. But in today’s world, there is an endless ocean of possibilities and opportunities to find the perfect one for you, where they will all come together. You just have to look.
Find something in life where all your elements appear, because if just one of them is missing, you will feel it in your soul. You will feel that you are not quite living up to the purpose your soul has been created for.
Don’t settle until you have found your purpose in life: it’s the meaning of everything.
Working on yourself can be scary, overwhelming, confusing, messy, challenging, and lonely. On this podcast, hosted by Jellis Vaes, an aspiring clinical psychologist who once battled severe emotional struggles, you’ll gain valuable insights from experts in psychology, neuroscience, and relationships, as well as people like you and me, to support you on your mental health journey, help you feel less alone, and untangle some of the complexity of mental health.
For more support, visit Inner Path Seekers.
Show notes can be found here:https://theipsproject.com/2026/04/reason-we-stay-addicted-kevin-cornelius/
Addiction is complex, deeply human, and often misunderstood.
In this episode, we take a grounded and practical look at what addiction really is and how it can be treated effectively.
I’m joined by Kevin Cornelius, a licensed marriage and family therapist and clinical director at the Feeling Good Institute Silicon Valley.
Kevin specializes in TEAM-CBT, a powerful and evolving therapeutic approach developed by psychiatrist David Burns.
What I am hoping you get out of this episode, besides learning some of the reasons why people stay addicted, is that you will learn some practical techniques to start taking a small step toward freeing yourself from whichever addiction you might be struggling with.
If, after this episode, you’d like to learn more about the effects addiction has on the brain, do have a listen to the episode I did with Dr. Grisel, titled The Brain on Addiction.
📚The IPS Academy📚
If you feel that you’ve gained some insights and lessons from this video, and you are curious to see what else we offer at The IPS Project, check out The IPS Academy, where we offer online courses taught by guests here on the podcast.
Simply go to https://theipsproject.com/academy. Each course has a few lessons to try for free, so you get a taste of what the course is like. We have countless reviews from other students so you can see what others think, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you end up not liking the course.
Again, check them out at https://theipsproject.com/academy
We are being taught by countless articles, that being unhappy is not normal. Here is the secret to being happy… Learn how to be unhappy.
In this episode, Dr. Melissa Lem, a doctor who prescribes nature, talks in-depth about all the mental and physical benefits of nature.
Anything takes time to get done and see accomplished. Patience, fused and balanced together with hard work, they are the key.