Seeking Life's Purpose: Step-By-Step Guide with Supporting Scientific Evidence Based on Research and Expert Analysis

By Kathleen Ho

Why am I here on this Mother Earth? This triggering question has bothered millions of us worldwide. You will find the answer to this soul-searching question in this book.
This book is a step-by-step guide with supporting scientific evidence based on research and expert analysis to seeking your life's purpose- the key to success and happiness. Author Kathleen Ho will walk you from overcoming fears holding you back to strategies to finding your life's meaning to steps to achieve your dream.
You create your life. You have only one life to live. So live it fully and let your dream walk you to happiness. You can do it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Mar 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781665740623

Kathleen Ho

Kathleen Ho is a Vietnamese woman who immigrated to the United States in 1994. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cal Poly Pomona and has worked in the educational field for over ten years. Besides having a passion for teaching, Kathleen loves to write. Kathleen is the author of two self-help books, including Living Forward After Loss and Seeking Life’s Purpose, and co-author of a cookbook entitled Everyday Vietnamese Cooking (with Richard Williams). Contact her at [e-mail].

Book preview

Seeking Life’s Purpose

Step-by-Step Guide with Supporting Scientific

Evidence Based on Research and Expert Analysis

KATHLEEN HO

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Copyright © 2023 Kathleen Ho.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-4063-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-4062-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023905015

Archway Publishing rev. date: 03/23/2023

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 Living versus Existing

Chapter 2 The Inner Compass

Chapter 3 Benefits of Living a Purposeful Life

Chapter 4 How to Find Purpose

Chapter 5 Big Fears That Hold Us Back

Chapter 6 Steps to Achieve Our Goals

Summary

Bibliography

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book cannot be done without my friends, Steve Laskin, Ashley Chapman, Ashley Wright, Vanessa Olea, Christine Huynh, Tara, Thanh Le, Maria, Amy, and many more; you are such great friends and support. I also thank my family for always being there for me.

I am deeply grateful for Pamela Albonni’s constant support. You took the time to read and give me helpful feedback. I greatly appreciate Richard Williams, my best friend, and co-author of my cookbook, for editing this book. I am also thankful for having the support of Jim Stanaland, my good friend and a talented artist. Jim is the one who came up with a fantastic idea for this book’s cover image. Thank you so much, Jim, Richard, and Pamela.

In addition, we appreciate the Archway Publishing Team for helping me through the process of publishing this book. I am pleased to work with you, Faye, and the editorial, design, and producing teams. You have all been super helpful. Thank you, and I wish all of you the best in your personal and professional endeavors.

Lastly, thank you for all the hardships that came into my life. They made me understand the true meaning of life and trained me to become the grateful and resilient person I am today.

FOREWORD

Knowing Kathleen Ho over these past few years has been my honor and pleasure. Our friendship, which started as a mere acquaintance, quickly blossomed into a true partnership in ministry. Her journey is one of inspiration, and her message is one of hope. As a transformational Business and Life Coach for over ten years after a decade in Behavioral Psychology, I have a strong passion for serving humanity and helping individuals overcome feelings and thoughts of lack and limitation. It is why I was ecstatic when Kathleen asked me to write the foreword for this book.

The prevailing model in our culture today is that our life experiences and happiness are created from the outside. What happens to us determines our success and, more importantly, our happiness. Often, we believe that people, circumstances, our job, or money make us happy, angry, sad, fearful, or loving. Kathleen believes it does not matter what happens to us; what matters is what we DO with what happens. We create our lives. We can learn to start from the place of courage and strength rather than fear and unworthiness.

With this belief, Kathleen has risen above her challenging circumstances, from being an immigrant with broken English to a highly successful author. She created happiness and success with her courage and actions.

When you realize how much your thoughts are hijacking your reality, and once you realize that your reality is based on your thinking and what you are experiencing, that thinking loses its hold over you. No matter what your experience in life has been, if you apply the strategies and techniques in this book with sincerity and an open mind, the benefits in your life will be immediate.

With that in mind, there is no one better than Kathleen to teach you how to go from reacting to life to being your creator. A choice we make will determine our life. Kathleen’s journey is evident in this principle: our thoughts create the world in which we live. She created opportunities and circumstances that brought lasting and sustainable fulfillment to her life. We can all reach our potential. Kathleen can show us how to do it with this book.

With Gratitude,

Pamela Albonni, M.Ed

Certified Deep Transformational Coach

www.coachpammy.com

Pamela Albonni

INTRODUCTION

We are living in a peculiar and strange period. COVID-19 has altered everyone’s life. Millions of people have lost their lives within a brief time (March 2020 to December 2020.) We must practice social distancing and cover our faces to protect ourselves from the deadly virus. We are afraid of each other; we must avoid hugging, kissing, and shaking hands. Almost all of us have to isolate ourselves.

It affects how we work, live, and have relationships with everyone around us. It raises many questions related to our lives. What will we do if we die tomorrow? It leads to whether we truly live the life we want. Then we have often asked ourselves, do we live or merely exist in the world?

I have asked myself these soul-stirring questions frequently. Why am I here on Earth? Have I truly lived? Have I used the gifts that God has given me? Have I made the most out of my remaining time on Earth?

I do not know anything about you. But you are also thinking about your life and asking yourself these questions, for you are curious enough to read my book. Let us dive in and discover what moves us in our lives.

This book will provide all the answers needed to walk out of the existing miserable life and start living, from finding your purpose, overcoming fears holding you back from success, and steps required to achieve your dream. It is a step-by-step guide with supporting scientific evidence based on research and expert analysis.

Before we go further, I have a special request for each of you. Please take time to do homework at the end of each chapter. The purpose is the inner map that leads us to happiness and success. However, finding our life direction is a challenging soul-search journey that requires us to dig deep inside ourselves.

For this reason, I have an assignment for you to learn about yourself after reading each chapter. I hope you figure out why you are here on Earth and have a clear direction to make your dream come true. Please do it for yourself. You are the owner of your life; it means you have all power to direct your life in any direction you want.

CHAPTER 1

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Living versus Existing

The soul which has no fixed purpose in life is lost;

to be everywhere, is to be nowhere.

—Michel de Montaigne¹

Do I truly live, or do I merely exist on Earth? It is a soul-stirring-up question that has bothered many of us, especially when we face a life crisis or tragedy. This question has stuck in my head many times too. Thus, I have read many books and dug deep into my soul for the answer.

Life’s purpose is the one that distinguishes living and existing. As Michel de Montaigne, author and the most significant philosopher of the French renaissance, mentioned in the above quote, we are lost when we