What are Life Path Numbers in Numerology?

Your day of birth holds a lot of information about you. If you’re willing to tap into it, you can receive insights about many different aspects of your life. Following this idea, few numbers are as important as your life path number.

What are Life Path Numbers?

Your life path number is an approximation of your truest self. It’s more or less numerology’s equivalent to the sun sign in astrology — an overview of your personality, priorities, how you respond to situations, and the inner challenges you need to overcome.

Just like astrological signs, every life path number has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, and no number is “better” or “more special” than another.

Think of it like a route marker on the path of your life. If you’re willing to read it, it can give you very valuable, helpful information to guide you on your way.

Calculating Your Life Path Number

Calculating your life path number is surprisingly easy — all you need to know is the day, month, and year of your birth, expressed numerically. To get your life path number, you add these together in a specific way:

  • First, add the digits of the day together. If you were born on the 1st through the 9th, you can skip this step. If the result is a double-digit number other than a Master Number (11, 22, or 33), further reduce the number by adding both digits together. You should end up with a single-digit result.
  • Next, do the same with the month. If you were born in a single-digit months (January through September), you can also skip this step.
  • After that, add the four digits of the year of your birth together. As with the day and month, if you end up with a double-digit result other than 11, 22, or 33, add the digits together until you get a single-digit answer.
  • Last, add these three results together. If you get a double-digit answer other than 11, 22, or 33, further reduce them to a single digit.

The answer is your life path number!

Let’s look at an example. Say someone was born on January 29th, 1990, or 1/29/1980. First, we look at the day. The 29th is a double-digit number, and 2+9=11. This is a Master Number, so we don’t need to reduce it further.

Next, we look at the month. January is a single-digit month, so we can leave it as 1.

Then, we look at the year. Adding up the digits of the year is 1+9+8+0, which comes out to 18. This isn’t a Master Number, so we can further reduce it with 1+8. This equals 9.

Last, we take the three results together: 11, 1, and 9. Adding these up, we get 11+1+9, which equals 21. This result can be reduced with 2+1, producing 3. This person’s life path number is 3.

Life Path Number 1

People with life path number 1 are ambitious and independent. They naturally fall into leadership positions and tend to be very adventurous.

These people are entrepreneurs and innovators, driven to succeed and never afraid to jump into a new idea with both feet.

Unfortunately, this life path can also be troubled by impatience, arrogance, and a reluctance to ask others for help.

See full Life Path Number 1 Guide here.

Life Path Number 2

People born under life path 2 are deeply intuitive, empathetic, and natural diplomats. They’re very good at reading people, diffusing tense situations, and making negotiations. Often times, they can pick up on and know things without even realizing.

With that in mind, this life path is often a little too invested in keeping things peaceful — they tend to have trouble asserting themselves, and need to learn when it’s more important to shake things up a bit.

See full Life Path Number 2 Guide here.

Life Path Number 3

People with the life path number 3 are natural bon vivants. They’re fun, adventurous, and attracted to new things. They also tend to be very creative, and draw a lot of intellectual and artistic stimulation from their travels.

As a result, they tend to have trouble getting to know people well — the average 3 is usually off and on their next adventure before they can.

They generally don’t look too deeply into things, since their attention is easily grabbed by the next shiny, new idea.

See full Life Path Number 3 Guide here.

Life Path Number 4

Life path number 4 represents stability. They are service-oriented, loyal, and reliable. This is the life path of people who take on the difficult, dirty jobs that need to be done, and excel at anything that requires determination and discipline.

Along with this very realistic, pragmatic outlook, they can tend to be somewhat rigid in their ideas. They’re also generally perfectionists, who have trouble trusting anyone else to work to their very high standards.

See full Life Path Number 4 Guide here.

Life Path Number 5

Life path 5 is known for its innate curiosity. These people are lifelong learners, who never turn down the chance to experience something new. They’re supremely adaptable, and hate being confined to a routine.

They often change careers and have difficulty when it comes to settling down into the kind of stability that appeals to other life paths.

This life path number can also have trouble sticking to something once the initial flush of excitement wears off.

See full Life Path Number 5 Guide here.

Life Path Number 6

In numerology, 6 is the number of the heart. People born with life path 6 are nurturers, romantics, and wonderful parents and partners.

They often find themselves in caretaking roles, from working as stay-at-home parents to being counselors.

All of that love and care makes it difficult for this life path number to set boundaries for themselves. As a result, they often find themselves in relationships with people willing to take advantage of their giving natures.

See full Life Path Number 6 Guide here.

Life Path Number 7

Life path number 7 is the path of the mystic and intuitive. These people are spiritual seekers, forever searching for the reasons behind the way the universe operates.

While this may make them spend a lot of time alone, they are rarely lonely — they may come across as introverted, but really are just perfectly content with their studies.

They may end up dedicating their lives to digging for answers, not knowing when they’ve exhausted a vein of knowledge.

Some may also try to shoehorn themselves into careers that don’t suit them, out of a desire to follow a more socially acceptable path in life.

See full Life Path Number 7 Guide here.

Life Path Number 8

Life path 8 is an excellent path for CEOs and ambitious career people. People born to this path are driven to succeed, and they derive their self-esteem from their accomplishments.

As a result, they often accumulate money and luxury goods as a way of displaying their achievements. This means that they can have trouble living within their means and may misinterpret a few lucky breaks as a sign of their superiority.

See full Life Path Number 8 Guide here.

Life Path Number 9

People born to life path 9 are intensely compassionate. They tend to be humanitarians, devoting themselves to charitable causes at considerable expense.

Trying to save the world means that they often end up exposed to the very worst that humanity has to offer, which can make them cynical and jaded at an early age. Despite that, they never give up.

See full Life Path Number 9 Guide here.

Life Path Number 11

The number 11 is the first of the Master Numbers. People born to life path 11 are very intuitive. Some may even manifest psychic abilities.

They also have very sensitive personalities, and are often born into very difficult circumstances.

Though they’re empathetic, wise, and have powerful intuition, they can also easily develop phobias and struggle with intense self-criticism.

If they can overcome these limitations and learn the lessons they need to learn, they can be a powerful force for good.

See full Life Path Number 11 Guide here.

Life Path Number 22

Life path 22 is the second of the Master Number life paths. People on this life path are good at turning ideas into concrete reality. They are practical, hardworking, and tend to develop a high degree of skill in their chosen field.

Like 11s, they often experience many challenges in life. They may also struggle with the fear of failure. Also like 11s, they can be a powerful force if they are able to overcome the negative aspects of this life path.

See full Life Path Number 22 Guide here.

Life Path Number 33

The final life path is 33. This life path rarely occurs, and those who are on it very often become spiritual leaders in their communities. They want to do good in the world, and have very high standards for themselves and others.

These people are also often deeply empathetic and have an uncommon understanding of the world. With these gifts come great challenges, and few people are able to realize the full potential of this life path.

See full Life Path Number 33 Guide here.


What’s your life path? Remember, your destiny isn’t set in stone, and life is what you make of it. These paths aren’t rules — they’re information that can help give you insight into the patterns that you encounter in your life.

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