In my previous post, I began to explore the concepts of what I call the Seven Freedoms. I outlined, using a story about renowned architect, designer and thinker Buckminster Fuller, how you should go about creating purpose in your life – to find Freedom from Stuck. Here, I offer my Seven Ways to Live on Purpose, which are aligned with Freedom from Stuck, and help you to unstick.
- Don’t Find Your Purpose—Create It
From its roots, the word “purpose” literally means “to put forth an intention.” Stop trying to find purpose, as if there’s one right path for you, one destiny lined out for you. What do you intend to do with your gifts? Create an intention and pursue it obsessively.
- Find Your Gifts and Follow Your Bliss
Your purpose is what you want to do because it gives you the highest levels of joy and fulfillment. Stop asking, “How can I find my purpose?” and instead ask, “What purpose do I want to choose and create that will make me truly, deeply blissful?”
Forget about finding purpose—go find what makes you tick, what comes naturally to you. What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? What makes you lose all track of time?
As writer Gil Bailie says, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- Life as a Professional, Not an Amateur
Amateurs make excuses about why they’re not living up to their full potential. Professionals ditch the excuses and fully develop their talents and gifts. A natural aptitude may give you potential, but you must do the work to develop it. Sometimes following your bliss really means following your blisters—putting in the hard work, day after day to become who you were born to be- come.
- Do What You Fear
One of the greatest clues to purpose is what you fear the most. I’m not talking about primal fears like heights or snakes, but the fear of putting yourself out there and doing something you’ve never done before. Everything you want in life is on the other side of your fears. Growth exists outside of your comfort zone. “Do one thing every day that scares you,” said Eleanor Roosevelt.
- Don’t Make Money Your Purpose
Everywhere you look, there are millions of ways to make money. Making money is not a purpose, but rather a byproduct of purpose. Develop a career of choice. Find, develop, and hone in your skills. Find love in what you do, and monetize it by delivering value to others.
Since money is nothing but the exchange of value, we need to increase the value of services. The universal law and philosophy in monetizing the value we add to people’s lives can best be described as the following. If you want $10, simply make someone else $100. You will receive 10% of what you create for others. If you want to generate $100 million, you will need to create and add $1 billion of value.
- Write Down Your Purpose and Your Goals
In a study performed by the Harvard MBA program in 1979, graduate students were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” Some 84% of students had no goals at all, 13% had goals but they weren’t in writing, and only 3% had written goals and plans.
Ten years later, the same group was interviewed again and the results were mind-blowing. The 13% of the class who had goals, but did not write them down was earning twice the amount of the 84% who had no goals. The 3% who had written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97% of the class combined!
- Dream Big, Act Small
Create a big, inspiring vision of your ideal life—bigger than what you currently know how to accomplish. Then take baby steps to- day and every day for as many years as it takes to achieve that vision. Small, consistent action is the key to unleashing your power and greatness. Helen Keller once said, “What good is sight if you have no vision?” The past will never be an indication of your immediate future. The present moment is all that matters. Make your vision bigger than your problems and complaints.
Spiritual Creation Precedes the Physical
The great artist Vincent Van Gogh was asked how he painted such beautiful work. He answered, “I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream.” In other words, he vividly illustrated the picture in his mind first, and then replicated that vision on canvas.
Dream your purpose. Choose what you intend to do with your gifts. Write down your goals and pursue them relentlessly. Live on purpose and come alive.
As George Bernard Shaw wrote, “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
In my next post, I will address another freedom: Freedom from Yes – Creating Choice.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you – and your thoughts on these seven principles of purpose I just sketched out for you. Which among them particularly resonates with you? Thank you for sharing.
Secure your copy of the “5 Day Weekend” book. 5 Day Weekend: Freedom to Make Your Life and Work Rich with Purpose [Nik Halik & Garrett Gunderson]
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