Determining Your Purpose - Part 1

Have you ever asked yourself at some point in your life or at various points in your life the following question?

“What’s my purpose?”

I am guessing that if you are reading this, you have. And, because you just read the question, you are asking yourself (perhaps again or perhaps for the first time) that question.
It is a very important question. To me it is the most important question you can ask yourself. Once you seriously ask yourself that question, it will not let you go. It has a habit of nagging at you until you give it your full attention and full intention to find out the answer.

Regrettably, people across the globe are living purposeless lives. For many of them they are afraid to ask the question because if they did they would have to face up to their responsibility for where they are and what is happening or not happening in their lives. They prefer to live in selective ignorance. They have no desire to grow. What isn’t growing is dying.

For me, this is where leadership starts. It starts with self-leadership. Only by addressing this question and determining its answer your life and, therefore, your career will not be as fulfilling as it is meant to be.
Please, let me explain.

The purpose behind the question is to confront people (and even teams and organization because it can applied there too); to give them a thought-provoking question to help them get clearer direction for their careers, their lives and their own Jou
eys of Success so that they ultimately add more value and find more fulfillment.

Everyone on this planet is here for a purpose - their purpose. The one for which they are divinely designed. My personal conviction and belief is that everyone is world-class at something (their purpose). Regrettably, many never discover it because they do not ask the question.

I posed my own variant of that question on Linkedin last year…

In one word, what’s your purpose?

The response was quite significant. It generated more than 3995 replies. Why so many? To coin a phrase, “The teacher comes when the student is ready”. This question is a great teacher. Based on the feedback and comments in the discussion many said how timely the question was for where they were in their lives and careers.

Now you may be asking, “Why, one word?” Good question. My answer? As a coach, I like to distill things down to their simplest and purest form for me first and, then for my clients. A confused mind says, “No!” You cannot get confused when you only have one word to deal with – once you know you have the right one word.

That one word purpose will be a reference point for your life. It is for mine. My one-word purpose is:

TRANSFORMATION.

All that I am and do is about transforming people so they are more on purpose and living to their potential. As such whenever I am facing a challenge, an opportunity and/or a decisio
I can ask the question:

"Does this align or resonate with my purpose?"

If it does, I keep going. If it doesn't, I don’t. It is like a compass and is meant to be used as one to keep you heading in the right direction for your life being who you are meant to be and doing what you are meant to be doing.
The key is that once we know our purpose we are to keep it in front of us at all times. Do that and life will be more fulfilling! Do that and you will connect with others living their purpose. Do that and you become a force for good; a force for change.

Please understand the inherent import of knowing and living your purpose. Think beyond yourself. Living your purpose will help others live theirs. All purposes are interdependent.

Imagine...

If everyone in your home, school, business, town, city, region or nation discovered and lived their purpose, what would be the impact and value to the world?

I believe all the adverse issues of humanity would be addressed and overcome.

Mankind would truly become enlightened.

Now that should get you thinking and that’s where I will leave you. Look out for the next article. In that we will continue this exploration and provide you with some guidance on how you can approach answering this question. For now though, whether you are an individual, team or organization, just ask yourself, mull over and meditate upon this life-changing question:
In one word, what’s my purpose?