How to Find Your Purpose in Your 20s

Three years ago, I was 18 and completely lost.

I'd scroll Instagram at 3am watching people my age build companies, travel the world, live these seemingly perfect lives.

Meanwhile, I was sitting in my room wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with mine.

Everyone around me seemed to have a plan. College. Career path. Five-year roadmap.

Me? I had nothing.

Just this restless feeling that I was supposed to be doing something, but I had no idea what.

Then a person I loved got more and more sick.

And suddenly, all that time I thought I had to "figure it out" felt like an illusion.

Life isn't this long, guaranteed thing where you get to waste years wandering around.

It's short. It's fragile.

And every day you spend ignoring that voice inside you is a day you don't get back.

That's when I stopped asking "What should I do?" and started asking "What have I always been drawn to?"

The Clue You've Had Since You Were 6

When you were a kid, before anyone told you what mattered, what did you obsess over?

Not what got you praise. Not what your parents wanted.

What made hours feel like minutes?

For me, it was two things: connecting and talking to people about deep ideas & philosophies.

I'd spend entire afternoons asking my mum about the “meaning of life”, drawing random pictures, organizing ideas in my head.

I'd get lost in thoughts about life, purpose, what it all means. And I felt this pull to share those thoughts with my people, I wanted to create something that would make people feel something.

I ignored that for years because it didn't fit into any conventional path. It wasn't medicine, engineering, finance. It felt too vague, too risky, too uncertain.

But after the person I loved got really sick, I realized something: playing it safe is the biggest risk of all.

So I started Elevenstoic in my bedroom at 19. No experience. No connections. No backup plan.

Just that childhood pull toward creating and connecting, finally given permission to exist.

Two years later, over a million people follow the page. Tens of thousands read this newsletter. I've built multiple products that actually help people change their lives.

Not because I had it all figured out.

Because I finally listened to what I'd been ignoring since I was a kid.

Why Your 20s Are Your Window

If you're 18 to 24 right now, you're in the most valuable position you'll ever be in.

No mortgage. No kids. No major obligations locking you into a path you hate.

You can take risks that will be exponentially harder in five years. You can experiment, fail, pivot, try again without catastrophic consequences.

But most people waste this window. They follow the conventional path because it feels safe. They ignore their internal signals because they don't seem "practical."

Then they hit 30 and realize they've built someone else's life.

I'm not saying drop out of school or quit your job tomorrow. I'm saying stop ignoring what's trying to get your attention.

That thing you keep thinking about? That direction that keeps pulling you?

That's not random. That's information.

The Exact Process That Changed Everything

This isn't motivational fluff. This is the actual system I used to go from completely lost to building something real and find my “purpose”.

Step 1: Go Back to Your First Obsessions

Grab your phone. Set a timer for 15 minutes right now.

Write down every memory you can recall where you completely lost track of time as a kid. Before anyone told you what you should care about.

Were you building things? Creating content? Solving problems? Organizing? Performing? Teaching? Being outside? Working with your hands?

Write it all down. Don't filter. Don't judge. Just remember.

Look for the pattern. Not the specific activity, the underlying theme.

For me: talking about deep things in life, sharing ideas, making people feel something. That pattern showed up in everything from childhood to now.

Step 2: Track Your Energy for 7 Days

Purpose isn't intellectual. It's physical.

Your body knows what's right before your mind does.

For the next week, keep a simple note on your phone. Every night, write down:

What gave me energy today? (Even small moments)

What drained me completely?

Be specific. "That conversation where I helped my friend see things differently" or "editing that video" or "solving that technical problem" or "being in nature for an hour."

After seven days, you'll see exactly where your purpose lives. It's in the activities that make you feel alive, not the ones that make you check the clock.

Step 3: Find Your Intersection

Draw three overlapping circles.

Circle 1: What comes naturally to me? (Skills that feel easier for you than for most people)

Circle 2: What do I actually care about? (Not what sounds impressive. What genuinely matters to you.)

Circle 3: What problem can I solve? (What value can you create that people actually need?)

Your purpose exists where all three overlap.

For me: naturally good at visualizing ideas + structuring projects and I care about helping people live their dreams + people need inspiration and practical systems = Elevenstoic.

Take 20 minutes and map this out. It won't be perfect, but it gives you a direction to test.

Step 4: Run a 30-Day Experiment

Stop waiting for perfect clarity. Clarity comes from action, not thinking.

Pick one direction from your intersection. Commit 30 days to testing it.

If you think your purpose involves creating, create something every single day for 30 days. Content, art, music, writing, doesn't matter. Just create.

If it involves building, spend 30 minutes daily learning to build something real.

If it involves helping people, find a way to help one person per day and track how it feels.

The goal isn't to find your exact career in 30 days. The goal is to gather data about what feels right in your body.

When I started posting inspirational content about living fully, I had no idea it would become my entire life. I just knew it felt right. So I kept going.

Step 5: Move Before You're Ready

The biggest trap in your 20s is waiting until you feel "ready."

You'll never feel ready. Perfect clarity doesn't exist.

What exists is: direction, momentum, and the willingness to adjust as you learn.

I didn't feel ready to start Elevenstoic.

I had no followers, no experience, no credibility.

But I started anyway because waiting another year for readiness meant wasting a year I'd never get back.

Start messy. Start small. Start now.

Every single person you admire started before they were ready.

What Nobody Tells You

Finding your purpose in your 20s doesn't mean you've locked in your path forever.

It means you're moving in a direction that feels true right now, instead of drifting through someone else's plan.

You'll evolve. Your purpose will deepen. New layers will reveal themselves.

But none of that happens if you're standing still, waiting for some magical moment of clarity that never comes.

The people who find their purpose early don't have some special gift. They just listen to their internal signals instead of drowning them out with noise.

They pay attention to what childhood version of themselves was obsessed with.

They notice what gives them energy versus what drains them.

They run experiments instead of endless planning.

They move before they're ready.

That's it. That's the entire system.

The Real Question

You already know what direction you're supposed to move in.

Not the exact destination. Not every step of the path. But the general direction.

It's that thing you keep thinking about but dismissing as impractical.

It's that skill you had as a kid that you buried because it didn't fit the conventional path.

It's that topic you can talk about for hours without getting bored.

It's that feeling in your chest when you imagine doing certain things with your life.

You already know.

The question isn't "What's my purpose?"

The question is "Why am I ignoring what I already know?"

What to Do in the Next 24 Hours

Stop reading. Start moving.

Tonight: 15 minutes writing down childhood obsessions. Find the pattern.

Tomorrow: Start your 7-day energy log. What gives energy? What drains it?

This week: Map your intersection. Natural skills + what you care about + problem you can solve.

Next 30 days: Pick one direction and run an experiment. Do something small but consistent.

No overthinking. No perfect plans. Just movement toward what feels alive.

Because here's the truth that changed my life: you don't have unlimited time to figure this out.

Every day you spend building someone else's dream is a day you're not building yours.

Every year you spend ignoring your internal compass is a year you'll never get back.

You're in your 20s. You have a window right now that's closing faster than you think.

Stop waiting for permission. Stop waiting for clarity. Stop waiting for the "right time."

Listen to what childhood you was trying to tell you. Pay attention to what your body already knows. Move in that direction.

Just one life. Make it count.

TAKEAWAYS:

• Your childhood obsessions aren't nostalgia, they're clues to your direction

• Energy tracking reveals your purpose faster than any career test

• Purpose lives where your natural skills, deep interests, and real value creation overlap

• 30-day experiments beat years of planning

• Your 20s are your window, time you waste now compounds into regret later

• You already know your direction, you're just ignoring it

P.S. What were you obsessed with as a kid before anyone told you what mattered? Reply to this email. Sometimes saying it out loud makes it real. I read every response.

Just one life,

Richard Founder of Elevenstoic