What years of storytelling, travelling across Africa, and searching for meaning taught me about finding my purpose in life — and why I was asking the wrong question all along.
For years, I thought I was searching for my purpose.
Looking back, I wasn’t.
I was searching for peace.
I just didn’t know it.
I believed that once I found the right career, the right mission, the right reason for being here, life would finally make sense.
I would finally feel like I had arrived.
Maybe you’ve been searching for that feeling too.
For the longest time, I believed my purpose was to change the world.
It sounds a little naïve now.
But I genuinely believed it.
And the journey that followed — through journalism, storytelling, personal healing, and years of living and travelling across Africa — changed everything I thought I knew about finding meaning in life.
How Do You Find Your Purpose in Life?
When I was younger, I never wanted just one thing.
One day, I wanted to become a veterinarian.
The next, I was fascinated by the mounted police.
Then crime psychology.
And then there was Africa.
Its wildlife. Its freedom. Its people.
Journalism seemed like the perfect home for all my interests.
I wouldn’t have to choose one passion.
I could follow my curiosity wherever life took me.
Eventually, I thought I’d found my calling.
I wanted to become a war correspondent.
I believed that if people could only see what was really happening in the world, something inside them would change.
They would wake up.
They would care.
And perhaps the world would become a little kinder.
But becoming a journalist taught me something I hadn’t expected.
Just because a story is told doesn’t mean the world changes.
Sometimes the only thing that changes is the number of people watching.
Even the most heartbreaking stories can become yesterday’s news.
People feel fear, shock, or guilt.
But very little necessarily changes.
That realization stayed with me.
And slowly, I began asking a different question.
What Actually Changes a Human Being?
If information alone doesn’t change people, what does?
What makes someone more compassionate?
More conscious?
More willing to take responsibility for their own life and the world around them?
And if we don’t change something inside ourselves, can the world around us ever really heal?
That question began changing my work.
But before it changed my work, it changed me.
Because I realized something deeply uncomfortable.
I wanted to heal the world while feeling completely disconnected from myself.
I wanted to help others while quietly hoping that helping them might somehow fill something inside me, too.
That realization hurt.
I had built so much of my identity around making a difference.
Around having a mission.
Around doing something meaningful.
But what if I was asking my work to give me something it couldn’t?
So I stopped for a while.
I stopped watching the news.
I stopped looking outside for answers.
And I began my own healing journey.
My understanding of purpose started falling apart.
And perhaps that was exactly what needed to happen.
How Living Across Africa Changed My Understanding of Purpose
I never stopped loving storytelling.
But something about the stories I was searching for changed.
I was no longer only interested in stories that explained the world.
I became interested in stories that helped me understand myself.
Today, my life takes me across West Africa.
Every journey brings encounters I couldn’t have planned.
People I might never have met.
Conversations I didn’t know I needed.
Situations that challenge my assumptions.
Ordinary days that turn out to be anything but ordinary.
And the more I experience, the less interested I become in having all the answers.
I don’t think life is asking us to understand everything.
Perhaps it’s asking us to remain open.
To trust.
To participate.
And to notice what happens when we stop trying to squeeze our lives into someone else’s definition of success.
When I began doing that, something surprising happened.
Purpose started finding me.
Not as one enormous mission.
But through the life I was actually living.
Together with friends, we created a travel documentary.
Together with our audience, we raised more than €50,000, which went back to people featured in the film to support their own initiatives.
My books continued finding readers.
Unexpected opportunities appeared.
Beautiful things happened.
And I felt deeply grateful.
But there was still something I didn’t understand.
Why Finding Your Purpose Doesn’t Always Make You Feel Fulfilled
I remember standing in front of thousands of people after a cinema talk.
People were hugging me.
Sharing their stories.
Telling me how much the film had meant to them.
It was beautiful.
It was meaningful.
And yet, the woman standing there felt fundamentally the same as the woman who had once sat on her couch in Hamburg, dreaming of a kinder world.
Full of ideas.
Full of energy.
Full of hope.
Still believing there had to be something more.
Different circumstances.
The same me.
That confused me.
Hadn’t I found my purpose?
Wasn’t I doing meaningful work?
Why didn’t I feel as though I’d finally arrived?
For a long time, I assumed the answer was that I simply hadn’t found my real purpose yet.
Perhaps there was another mountain to climb.
Another achievement.
Another version of myself waiting somewhere in the future.
Maybe you know that feeling.
Like your real life is always about to begin.
But somehow, it never quite does.
I had confused finding my purpose with finding myself.
And I was beginning to understand that they weren’t the same thing.
Inner Purpose vs. Outer Purpose: The Idea That Changed Everything
Then I discovered the work of Eckhart Tolle.
One of his teachings explores the difference between our outer purpose and our inner purpose.
And suddenly, something clicked.
Not because he’d given me a new mission.
But because I finally understood why my old missions had never made me feel complete.
My outer purpose was everything I wanted to create, contribute, experience, and accomplish.
My films.
My books.
My storytelling.
My work with other people.
My dreams for a kinder world.
These things mattered to me.
They still do.
But I’d been asking them to give me something else.
I wanted my achievements to tell me:
You’ve made it.
You’re enough now.
You can finally be at peace.
And no outer purpose could do that.
Not because creating or contributing is unimportant.
I believe we all have something to offer.
Something to create.
Something to share.
Ways to love and contribute.
But our outer purpose cannot replace our inner one.
For me, that inner purpose is learning to be at peace with life as it unfolds.
Not someday.
Not after the next achievement.
Here.
Now.
Who Are You Without Your Achievements?
Everything we build will eventually change or disappear.
The films.
The books.
This YouTube channel.
My work.
My body.
Even the identities I’ve spent years creating.
There was a time when that thought would have frightened me.
Today, I find something strangely freeing about it.
Because if all those things can disappear, perhaps they were never the whole of who I am.
So I started asking myself a different question.
If I let go of my work…
My achievements…
My possessions…
My appearance…
My past…
My opinions…
What remains?
Not another title.
Not another role.
Not another accomplishment.
Something much quieter.
A deep feeling of simply being.
And for a moment, there’s nothing I need to become.
Nothing I need to prove.
Everything is already okay.
Finding Inner Peace in a World That Never Stops Moving
I often picture inner peace like the bottom of the ocean.
On the surface, there are waves.
Storms.
Currents.
Sometimes complete chaos.
But deep below, the water can be quiet.
Steady.
Held.
That’s what this place inside me feels like.
The world around me doesn’t have to become perfectly calm.
I don’t have to solve every problem.
I don’t have to know what happens next.
For a moment, I can simply be here.
Of course, I don’t stay there.
I forget.
Every single day.
My mind starts planning again.
Comparing.
Remembering.
Worrying.
Wanting to be somewhere else.
And perhaps that’s why I find the idea of inner peace as a practice so helpful.
It’s not somewhere we arrive once and remain forever.
It’s somewhere we keep returning.
Again and again.
Why We Often Confuse Purpose With Success
I think one reason finding our purpose can become so exhausting is that we turn it into another achievement.
We imagine there’s one perfect career.
One great mission.
One thing we’re meant to do with our lives.
And if we haven’t found it, we must be falling behind.
But what if purpose isn’t something we have to discover before we can begin living?
What if our lives don’t need to make complete sense before they can be meaningful?
Looking back, I can see how much pressure I placed on myself.
I didn’t just want to do meaningful work.
I wanted meaningful work to make me feel whole.
I didn’t just want to contribute.
I wanted my contribution to prove that my life mattered.
And whenever an achievement failed to give me that permanent feeling of arrival, I assumed I needed a bigger achievement.
But the problem wasn’t that my purpose was too small.
It was that I was asking it to do something it couldn’t.
How to Find Purpose and Direction in Life Without Chasing the Next Achievement
I don’t believe there’s one universal formula for finding purpose.
And I certainly don’t believe I’ve mastered it.
But my own journey has changed the way I approach the question.
1. Notice What You’re Asking Your Purpose to Give You
Are you looking for meaningful work?
Or are you hoping that meaningful work will finally make you feel worthy?
Are you looking for a direction?
Or are you hoping a clear direction will remove all uncertainty from your life?
These are different needs.
And understanding the difference can change the way we search.
2. Make Peace With Not Knowing
For years, I wanted to know exactly where my life was heading.
Today, I’m learning that uncertainty doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong.
Sometimes not knowing creates room for possibilities we couldn’t have imagined.
My life across West Africa has taught me that again and again.
3. Pay Attention to What’s Already Asking for Your Attention
Purpose doesn’t always arrive as a grand revelation.
Sometimes it appears through a conversation.
A person who needs help.
A story that wants to be told.
An idea that won’t leave us alone.
An opportunity to create something together.
Not every meaningful contribution has to become a lifelong mission.
4. Practice Returning to the Present
I notice how often stress comes with the feeling that this moment shouldn’t be happening.
That I should already be somewhere else.
Further ahead.
More successful.
More certain.
More complete.
But when I stop fighting the present moment, even briefly, something changes.
Life becomes a little quieter.
A little lighter.
And often, the next step becomes clearer.
5. Let Your Outer Purpose Grow From Your Inner Life
I still want to create.
I still want to tell stories.
I still want to contribute to a kinder world.
But I’m learning not to make my peace dependent on the outcome.
I can care deeply about my work without making it responsible for my entire sense of self.
And strangely, the less desperately I search for purpose, the more naturally meaningful opportunities seem to appear.
Maybe Peace Is My Deepest Purpose
👉 Discover the Free Your Soul Retreats: www.lena-wendt.com
For years, I asked:
What do I want from life?
Today, I’m learning to ask:
Life, what do you want from me?
I still don’t know where life will take me next.
I don’t know what stories I’ll tell.
What projects I’ll create.
Who I’ll meet.
What will succeed.
What will fail.
And I’m learning to be okay with that.
Because for years, I thought finding my purpose would finally bring me peace.
Today, I’m beginning to believe something very different.
Practicing peace is my deepest purpose.
Not because I’ve mastered it.
But because every time I return to that quiet place inside myself, even for a few seconds, I stop needing life to be different before I can fully participate in it.
And from there, I can create.
Love.
Contribute.
Listen.
Take the next step.
Maybe my outer purpose will continue changing throughout my life.
Maybe it will take me to places I could never have planned.
But I no longer need it to tell me who I am.
And perhaps, if I keep returning to that inner peace…
Again and again…
My outer purpose will quietly keep finding me, too.
Watch the Full Film: I Spent Years Looking for My Purpose
This article is based on my personal reflections in the cinematic Afrimind film I Spent Years Looking for My Purpose. Living Across Africa Turned My Life Upside Down.
In the film, I share how my dream of changing the world led me through journalism, storytelling, personal healing, and years of experiences across Africa — and why my understanding of purpose changed along the way.
🎬 Watch the full film on YouTube
Through Afrimind, I share stories about living intentionally, reconnecting with ourselves, and exploring what it means to be human.
Peace & love from West Africa, Lena | Afrimind
Frequently Asked Questions About Finding Your Purpose
How do I find my purpose in life?
Finding your purpose can begin by noticing what matters to you, what you’re curious about, and how you want to contribute. It doesn’t necessarily require discovering one perfect career or mission. Purpose can also emerge through relationships, creativity, everyday choices, and experiences.
What is the difference between inner purpose and outer purpose?
In Eckhart Tolle’s teachings, outer purpose relates to what we do and seek to accomplish in the world. Inner purpose relates to our state of consciousness and presence. The distinction suggests that meaningful achievements and inner peace are connected but not interchangeable.
Why do I feel lost even when I’m successful?
External success doesn’t automatically create inner fulfillment. Achievements can be meaningful without resolving deeper questions about identity, belonging, or self-worth. Sometimes feeling lost is an invitation to examine what we’re expecting success to provide.
Can your purpose in life change?
Yes. Our interests, circumstances, relationships, and ways of contributing can change throughout life. A meaningful direction at one stage doesn’t have to remain the same forever.
Do I need to know my purpose to live a meaningful life?
No. Meaning can be found in everyday experiences, relationships, acts of kindness, creativity, and being present. You don’t need a perfectly defined mission before you can begin participating in your life.
How can I find inner peace while pursuing ambitious goals?
One approach is to separate your sense of worth from the outcome of your goals. You can work toward meaningful achievements while practicing presence, accepting uncertainty, and allowing yourself to feel enough before reaching the next milestone.