Living Life on Purpose: The Beauty of Congruence

Congruent. It’s my new favorite word. Have you ever thought about your life, your business, your blog, and then asked yourself if it is congruent with who you are?

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Have you ever met someone who exuded confidence, passion for living, or unstoppable energy for a task? The kind of person that what they say, they mean. Action is taken swiftly. No grass grows under their feet.

How did that make you feel?

Chances are you were encountering the power of congruency in someone who is living life on purpose.

Let’s look at the other side: Have you ever met someone that didn’t look congruent to what they were promoting?

Something like a doctor smoking a cigarette.

That is the kind of thing that makes you pause and think “hmm . . . there is something the matter with this picture.”

That happened to me. I was at an event where there were health professionals in attendance. I met a naturopathic doctor and we engaged in conversation about our passions. I was surprised at the condition of her skin – it was leathery and unnaturally dark. It looked dry – like it needed a good moisturizer and skin brushing.

Then it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps she was  frequenting a tanning salon! Now I don’t know this for a fact – I’m just surmising here – but my point is her appearance was not congruent with what she was promoting. She was preaching one thing and doing another.

When you live life on purpose, you are characterized by a beautiful harmony – your life all fits together beautifully – it’s congruent.

Congruence means “identical in form, in agreement or harmony.”

When you are around someone who is living in a congruent way, you seem to inherently trust him or her. You are attracted to a person who is congruent without even realizing it.

In order to be living a congruent life, running a congruent business, or hosting a congruent blog, you must have a handle on two things:

First of all, you must have a crystal clear picture of what you stand for and what you are passionate about accomplishing during your life.

You must spend time understanding yourself and discovering your strengths and bents.

You need to create a mission statement as is taught in Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effectual People [affiliate link]. Determine what values are most important to you and then live by those.

Making decisions will come easy to you as you formulate this clear picture of what you stand for.

Second of all, you must apply your purpose to everyday life.

It is not enough to have that crystal clear picture for the big overview of your life. You must now make a conscious effort to bring your very essence, your mission, your strengths and passions into your daily life.

Go through every day empowered by your purpose and passion.

Keep your eyes wide open to notice what makes your heart race with excitement, what inspires you and motivates you.

The more you actively align your emotions and responses to life experiences with who you innately are, the more you will be living a congruent life.

For example, when I am writing, I am transported to the experience I’m reliving. I delight in uncovering the lesson within – like panning for that one nugget of gold.

I love massaging the words and making them bring images to my readers’ minds. My expression in writing is part of who I am created to be.

Also, I delight in teaching others how to be healthier – both physcially and spiritually. It is who I am at my core. It is what I was created for.

What about you? What were you created for?

Another question to ask yourself to help you identify your passion is “what breaks your heart?” It is often through those emotions that you realize what you want to do to make this world a better place.

Living a congruent life is portrayed in Romans 12:3-8 which in essence means to know yourself and be true to yourself.  Paul speaks here of each person having different gifts such as serving, teaching, encouraging, and leadership.

Knowing who you were created to be helps you to live your life with passion – doing things with cheerfulness, as Paul says in verse 8, because you are loving doing it.

You were created to do it.

It’s who you are at your core.

Are you portraying a congruent persona in who are with what you want to accomplish in your life both online and offline?

Share in the comments your thoughts about living congruent to your passion.

first published: November 2012

updated: September 2018