Finding and Understanding Your Purpose

The role your body and mind play in connection and purpose

Ever wonder how your mind and body impact not only your wellbeing but your purpose?

It might have more impact than you think, with the health of your body and mind having a direct connection to the future you desire.

What better time to reflect on this and better understand how wellbeing impacts our WHY than October — Mental Health Month! 

Here are two approaches that can help you create mind and body alignment, helping you reclaim your health and purpose.

The Top Down Approach: Auditing Your Mindset

Like anything, beliefs and thoughts can become outdated. Just like auditing a fridge for expired products, we need to routinely inspect our beliefs. Are they still serving us? Or have they gone past their "use by" date? Many of us walk through life operating on stories of fear, inadequacy, or perceived limitations without realising how much they impact our future.

In many ways, our mindset and beliefs lay the foundation for how we navigate life. The thoughts we think and the stories we tell ourselves shape our decisions, actions, and ultimately, our reality. This is the top-down approach to self-leadership—a mindset-driven process where our internal world influences the outcomes in our external world.

By deliberately choosing to live by our values—not by outdated, reactive beliefs—we take ownership of our narrative. This choice is critical because life is filled with moments where we must decide between being a victor or victim. Victors embrace discomfort and challenge as opportunities for growth. Victims, on the other hand, allow their circumstances and limiting beliefs to dictate their trajectory.

This is not about toxic positivity but about understanding that while pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Through a mindset audit, you’re no longer held back by automatic stories—you’re curating your future.

The Bottom-Up Approach: The Body's Intelligence

While mindset is key, it’s only one part of the equation. The bottom-up approach recognizes the intelligence of the body and how our physical state influences our mental and emotional health.

Here, our body can trigger or amplify anxious feelings. Reverse anxiety - a concept I discovered through my years of clinical work - proves it is not always “all in your head”. By tuning into interoception— the body’s sense of its internal state — you can learn to decode these signals and prevent them from hijacking your emotional state.

Your body craves movement. From a genetic standpoint, the human genome evolved with physical activity. When we move, we activate what Dr. Kelly McGonigal calls the "hope molecule"—a neurotransmitter response that boosts serotonin, builds resilience, and fosters a sense of well-being. In short, movement isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a need-to-have for optimal brain function and emotional health.

Understanding the body’s signals is critical for making better decisions. For example, when your nervous system is in fight or flight, your ability to make choices aligned with your values diminishes. That’s why state awareness –being aware of how your physical state influences your mind –can change the game in decision-making, especially in high-stress environments.

Why Mind and Body Are Inseparable in Your Purpose

Ultimately, your WHY –the core reason you do what you do –cannot exist in isolation from your mind and body. Purpose isn’t something you think your way into; it’s something you feel and experience on a visceral level.

When your mindset (top-down) and your physical state (bottom-up) is connected, you create alignment. This alignment gives you the energy, resilience, and clarity to step boldly into your purpose, regardless of the challenges.

So this Mental Health Month, consider how you’re connecting to both your mind and body.

Are you auditing your thoughts and beliefs, ensuring they’re in line with your values?

Are you listening to your body’s signals and using movement as a tool for clarity and well-being?

The answers to these questions will not only impact your mental health but will guide you toward living a life of deeper meaning, purpose, and fulfilment.