Finding Your Purpose
Paul Cashmore is a Hunter on Channel 4 series Hunted, Performance Coach, NLP Therapist and Speaker
Writing this piece for the Woodhill Park Journal was part of a jigsaw puzzle in defining my purpose.
I am going to try and inspire others and explain my purpose - but writing this has also inadvertently cemented finding my purpose.
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that translates to "a reason for being." It represents the intersection of four key elements: what you love (your passion), what you are good at (your vocation), what the world needs (your mission), and what you can be paid for (your profession). Finding your ikigai is believed to lead to fulfilment and happiness in life, as it helps individuals align their personal and professional pursuits with their core values and interests.
Discovering your ikigai can be a personal and reflective journey.
**Self-Reflection**: Taking time to reflect on your passions, skills, values and what brings you joy can help clarify what matters most to you.
**Journaling**: Writing down your thoughts, experiences and aspirations can help you.
**Meditation and Mindfulness**: Practicing mindfulness can enhance self-awareness and help you connect with your inner desires and values.
I always say to people to just try. If you don’t try something how will you ever know? It is by trying that we eventually have that Eureka moment when everything in our soul feels balanced, we wake up with purpose, excited and ready to make a difference.
I have always been two people and initially found it confusing. I loved playing Rugby, taking part in combat sports, pushing myself to physical limits and on the other end of the spectrum have always been pulled towards spirituality and love nothing more than serenity and peace and Buddhism and Psychology and Philosophy. I am fiercely protective of those I care about and love and when I am at home I appreciate the simple things. Being grateful for the people in our lives, the food on our table, the chance to make an impact on someone’s day by showing kindness, or having the opportunity to tell your loved ones you love them is more powerful than you can imagine.
I do believe that my career path has taken me on a journey of learning and I have fulfilled everything I set out to do. I have had major successes, major failures and setbacks but what is a failure? I realise now that it either wasn’t the right time or it wasn’t meant to be. But it has led me to this point now where I can hopefully make an impact on some people’s lives.
When I was 16 years old I wanted to be in Television and be seen around the world. This dream took 24 years to come true and some major learning and setbacks. I also wanted to be a police officer and bodyguard when I was at college as I had no idea how to break into media and television and this was back in 1993 and social media and having a global reach wasn’t available.
How did I end up as a police officer? My parents separated when I was 2 years old. My childhood and upbringing had a major impact on my life, the environment caused me significant trauma that at the time I had no idea would affect my subconscious. But what it did do was make me realise that I had to try and save people. So I joined the Metropolitan Police straight from college, moved to London from York and became a member of the most successful Robbery Squad in London. I received numerous commendations from dedication and professionalism to duty, to disarming a gunman where shots were fired. It was this firearms incident that really opened up my journey into spirituality and the Law of Attraction. I believe in the whispers of my soul and that there is something much bigger in this world.
When I was attached to the Robbery Squad, we were plain clothes unit wearing Abercrombie T-shirts and driving unmarked police cars - where you would open the window and put the blue light on top of the roof like you see in films. This unit was fast-paced, relentlessly taking out suspects who were causing pain and misery to so many.
One day we were in the office and I was asked what would I do if someone pointed a gun at me. I said, “I’d run him over.” I had no idea that within a matter of hours, this would happen. The chances of coming across a firearms incident are extremely rare in the UK but by absolute coincidence, this was going to happen.
My team at this point was normally split into pairs but on this day we were joined by a sergeant who was in the back seat and another team member who was going home and we dropped him at Kings Cross Police station.
As we leave him at the station the three of us are in our unmarked Vauxhall Vectra when over our police radios we’re alerted to suspects being chased on foot by officers heading to Gray’s Inn Road. We’re there. Window down, blue light on the roof and let’s go. Driving against the oncoming cars as it is one-way road, I decide to hold at a T junction for further commentary, when the whole world slows down. People ducking and running and the loud noises which are the rapid fire of gunshots. There he is. I can the see the gunman trying to hijack a London taxi but doesn’t succeed. The gunman runs into the road and pulls someone from their motorbike. I hit the accelerator of our vehicle and turn around so we are face to face. I’m now stationary. The gunman is on his knees, facing us, pointing the gun at us. I hit the accelerator. Somehow I land the front wheel of my vehicle on the suspect’s chest, as I reverse off him by sheer luck of the gods he survives with no injuries.
When I see the gun on the floor the magazine had fallen out. This was a real gun but by the grace of God he had ran out of bullets. I could see bullet holes in a door and at this point I remember thinking: is there such a thing as a destiny or guardian angels? How could someone actually ask what would I do if someone points a gun at me … and then it happen?
I have literally become a sponge absorbing every bit of information I can about the mind: health and nutrition, quantum physics, synchronicity, vibration and trauma - to the point that I actively studied meditation and sound waves and their healing properties, became a level 3 personal trainer and more recently an NLP Therapist, to help as many people as I can.
Through the process of synchronicity, I also became an ambassador for the charity Baton of Hope and collaborated with the Lucy Rayner Foundation to bring awareness on suicide and mental health. I have since had calls with a number of people who believed that suicide was their only option to end the suffering and pain they were in, but thankfully with my help and working through everything they are now thriving and have renewed purpose.
Life takes us on a journey. We will be faced with highs and lows and we will constantly be learning. It is through this learning and experience that we can find our purpose. Somehow like a lightbulb and energy igniting your soul, you will be consumed by this vision when you wake up and when you go to sleep. Then you will have synchronicity and meet people who will help you on your journey.
I do however believe that if this purpose is for a business venture, you need to expect no’s and rejection, but you need to have an unshakeable belief that this will succeed. The universe or whatever you believe in will test you to see if you have the belief and determination to make it work and keep going.
This has happened to me. I genuinely believed I would make it in television but it took 23 years of rejection, figuring it out, writing, creating, shooting and building my experience level for the right time. I also had this desire to keep helping people with their health and wellbeing and to get to this point I experienced my own trauma, being told I had CPTSD. It was terrifying to be told this as I had always just got on with life, but when it caused inflammation in my body, eczema and a rapid heartbeat, I decided I would fix this without medication, become the healthiest and fittest I have ever been and then use this to pay it forward to help others.
Not only have I studied psychology and how to overcome anything, I have created my own therapy by combining NLP, exercise, nutrition and meditation. My mission is to now help as many people as I can. I genuinely believe this is my Dharma, my purpose, but to reach this point I had a journey to undertake.
The journey I am currently on is exciting and I am collaborating with some incredible people and if I can give any advice it would be this. It is never too late to reinvent yourself, find your purpose, make memories and surround yourself with great people who ignite your soul.
If you are struggling to find your purpose or need to overcome any mental or emotional blocks, contact me. We can overcome anything and set you on your path to happiness and your purpose.
