Q: This is a weighty question, and it may take some time and reflection to decide, but if you can determine what you think the purpose of humanity is, you can scale that idea down and apply it to your own life. For example, you may decide that the purpose of humanity is to help each other thrive in the world. Your own personal purpose can then be to help people in your community thrive, and you can determine what steps you need to take to work towards that. Think about people whom you find truly inspiring. These can be world leaders, historical figures, or people from your own life. Think about why these people are inspirational, and determine specific actions or characteristics they have that you'd like to emulate. . You may want to keep this list in your purpose journal. Remember that you do not have to admire or emulate every aspect of an individualrather, you are using the individual to home in on specific characteristics that you would like to have too. Leaving your personal bubble, or your comfort zone, means having a broader view of the world and the people in it. We tend to be somewhat self-centered in our day-to-day lives, but leaving your bubble gives you the opportunity to view the wider world around you. With this renewed realization of the rest of the world, you can more objectively see your place in the world and evaluate your passions and purpose. Once you have a greater awareness of other people around you, decide how you want to interact with those people. Determine how you would like other people to view you in relation to themselves, and then work to be that person for them. If you are having difficulty assessing yourself, or if you'd like a second opinion, ask some close friends what they think your strengths are. They may offer some insight that you have trouble seeing yourself. For example, you may not realize that your own actions inspire your friends to want to emulate you. A friend might say, "I think you are great at putting a plan into action once it's made, rather than waiting for someone else to get started." You can tie this strength into your purpose. Many people think that their purpose (or their career, or their interests) have to revolve around one thing. But sometimes our passions are about balancing multiple interests that fulfill different aspects of our needs and wants. Realizing that your one purpose (if you choose to limit it to one) can be made up of multiple facets can offer you more flexibility in setting that purpose. For example, if your life's purpose is "to bring happiness to myself and others," you may have the sub-purposes "to feel fulfilled in my work, to be patient with my family, to make my kids laugh, and to listen well to my friends." All of these work towards your greater purpose. The advantage to having multiple facets to your life's purpose is that if one area is lagging or not going well, you won't feel like you're entirely off track. For example, if your work life is not fulfilling, but your home and social lives are, you can still feel like you're working towards happiness. After you have evaluated yourself and expanded your view outside of yourself, decide what you'd like your life's purpose to be. Remember that it's okay if it changes in the future. It's important to have a goal and direction now, even if you alter it later as you change and grow. Once you have decided your purpose, write it down. Post it somewhere that you can read it every day, reminding yourself of what you want in life. You can ask yourself each day if you've done things to work towards that purpose.
A: Determine the purpose of humanity. Find people who inspire you. Leave your bubble. Ask friends what your strengths are. Stop thinking in absolutes. Set your purpose.

Q: Asking yourself some pre-reading questions can make it easier for you to retain what you read. Before you start reading a text, determine what you need to discover from the text. Some instructors will provide students with a list of questions to help them stay focused as they read. You might ask your instructor about good questions to keep in mind as you read. You can also develop your own questions. For example, you might simply ask, what is the focus of this chapter? Give yourself plenty of time to read and take breaks as needed. It is better to go slowly when you read a text than to rush through it and have to re-read it later on. Make sure that you provide yourself with plenty of time to read and understand what you read. For example, if you have to read 40 pages of a book by Friday, start reading on Monday and just read 10 pages per night. Don't put off reading until Thursday night. Making notes in the margins whenever you encounter something important is more effective than highlighting or underlining the passage. Try reading with a pen in your hands instead of holding a highlighter. You can write key words in the margins, ask questions, or comment on something that just happened. Writing summaries of what you just read can help you to commit the information to memory as well. After you finish reading a chapter of a book or a short story, take a minute to write a brief summary of what you just read. In your summary, don't worry about including every little detail. Instead, try to provide a nice overview of the action. You also might want to include a paragraph where you discuss your ideas about the reading. For example, if something surprising happened in the chapter, you might talk about how you reacted to it and why. Summaries are also a good place to record information about symbols, themes, and characters. For example, you might note that the author uses nature symbolism to describe certain characters. There are many online guides that you can utilise in order to better comprehend the literature that you're assigned to read. Websites like SparkNotes and CliffsNotes provide summaries, character analyses, interpretations, helpful hints, essay tips and more for many different books. Read these after completing your reading assignment to feel more confident in understanding the material. Don't rely solely on reading SparkNotes or CliffsNotes. Reading only these guides will usually not give you enough information to be successful. Teaching someone else about the text that you have been reading is a great way to commit the information to memory as well. Try telling a classmate or friend about the chapter you just read. When you tell someone about the reading, try to summarize the main ideas and explain anything that might be difficult to understand if you have not read the book. Make sure that you explain the reading in your own words. Don't just repeat parts of what you read word-for-word.
A:
Ask questions before you begin. Take your time. Write in the margins. Summarize what you have read. Use online study guides after reading. Tell someone about the reading.