I recently requested several people to share 2 or 3 things that stand out as being crucial to address as you work through life, family, business, employment and everything else that they consider important.
I got more than 200 responses and I’m continuing to receive more. These are shaping the Thursday mails that I am sending out to my audience every week.
You can join here
After some analysis, I noticed a key issue that many of us are struggling with is living a life of purpose.
Everyone wants to make a mark where they are.
It was Myles Munroe who said that the richest place on earth is the cemetery.
Why? Because people die without accomplishing what they came to earth for.
The opposite of this sort of end is to die empty. Live a life of pouring out everything you have to others.
Is this something you would want for you and your loved ones?
I’m glad your answer is yes.
A life of purpose is:
« not achieved by fluke
« not linear, following a pre-written script
« a source of joy, with pain being temporal and a stepping stone to future success
« not a pursuit, it’s a journey
« one that requires you to show up every day, as you are and be better than yesterday
How you have lived up to this point has its pros and cons. If you take the time to look back to where you started making decisions for yourself, you will see
« moments when you had positive outcomes from your decisions,
« times when the outcomes were not so positive
« moments of indecision that still resulted in some sort of outcome.
A life of purpose requires us to:
« Decide what that purpose is
Is it to write life-transforming books? Develop phenomenal experiential marketing programs? Teach kindergarten kids? Help the youth through the tumultuous years of early adulthood? Draw thought-provoking cartoons to get more people to smile? Tell stories? Speak hope into people’s lives?
« Plan the short steps that will get you to that big purpose
Giants are not brought down in one big instance. Landmark structures are not built overnight. It takes small, almost insignificant, yet transformative efforts. Your big purpose will take time and small steps, whose success, ought to be celebrated.
« Identify the important elements of life that will get you to be successful in those short steps.
Failing with a plan is better than succeeding without one. A plan helps you know how you got to the failure or success and if you are at the right place – your purpose. It also becomes a basis for learning.
« Follow through and remain committed
Your purpose requires you to show up every day and doing what you have decided to do, even when it doesn’t make sense. Don’t fall back on the commitment you make to yourself.
Life is not lived by constantly looking over your shoulder, but once in a while, you need to look back with a 20:20 vision to plan.
To this end, set aside some time to assess your past endeavors on the things that are important to you. Document what they are, why they are important, and if they tie into the future you see for yourself.
To help with this, I have put together a review template that you can easily use to step back and see where you are with the small steps and what counts to your greater purpose.
It would be great to have your feedback on some of the things it highlights for you.
P.S. Because you can’t achieve greatness alone, please share the template with someone who can gain greatly from using it too. Also, let them know about our Thursday conversations and ask them to join in at https://wangarimaina.com/join-the-conversation/
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