Discovering one's purpose (or not)

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Taking a break from the usual fare here, I was thinking about some of the things people say about discovering one's purpose after I ran across something along those lines on the internet.

It's not a bad thing to ponder, but it isn't easy either. Would you agree?

I like the idea that life and existence has its own intrinsic meaning that isn't imposed by any kind of external will, but is rather revealed and shaped, co-created if you will, by our choices. In that sense, life itself is the purpose, with everything else being secondary.

That sounds good, and it suggests that it is how we live in terms of awareness and openness to ourselves and what we encounter that matters most. Yet on a more prosaic level, we can still ask what kind of form this should take. That's what people often mean when they talk about finding a direction or purpose in life.

The advice gets really poor after that. It's the kind of stuff you probably find in the self-help industry--it sounds like it ought to work but it falls flat. Let's look at some examples.