You Must Have A “purpose” And A “why”
"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
"There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it." - Napoleon Hill
If you really want to achieve something in your life you have to have a “purpose” and a “why”. If you don’t have a purpose to your life you won’t have what it takes to tackle the obstacles life puts in your way.
You need to know why you are doing what you are doing. When you know why, you have reserves of energy and passion others don’t have.
Every person who has achieved great things had a purpose and a why. Mother Teresa’s purpose was to show the love of Jesus to the poor. Martin Luther King’s purpose was to challenge racism and fight for civil rights. Nelson Mandela’s purpose was to stop apartheid, show forgiveness and set an example for humility.
You may not have realized your purpose yet, but you need to find it.
To a certain extent you can choose your purpose. But if you really want to achieve something significant with your life, make sure the purpose you choose is one that is worthy of your life-time devotion. If your purpose is to have the best garden in your street, or to get rich or build the coolest hotrod, you might achieve your aim, but waste your potential. You might aim even higher and still miss your purpose in life.
It is my personal belief that every person has a purpose for being on earth, and that purpose involves having a lasting impact in making the world a better place. It is often easier and more comfortable to ignore your primary purpose and settle for a secondary purpose. Mother Teresa was a school teacher. She could have stayed as a school teacher her whole life and done a great job. But this was not her primary focus and she would have missed out and the world would be worse off if she had decided to stay being a teacher.
If you don’t know what your purpose is, my advice is to think about the things in the world that really upset you or annoy you or make you mad – things you would like to see changed. Not all of those things will be your purpose but one of them might be.
For Mother Teresa it was poverty, for Martin Luther King it was injustice.
Find your purpose and make sure it’s a purpose worth devoting your life to. When your goals and aspirations and dreams are aligned with your true Purpose, you become an unstoppable force for good in the world.
Here is something that seems incongruent. Your purpose may not lead you to a comfortable and easy life. On the surface it may not seem like it is creating your Perfect Lifestyle. Was ministering to the sick, dirty and dying on the streets of Calcutta easy and comfortable – no! But it was certainly Mother Teresa’s chosen lifestyle. Was tackling the authorities and unjust laws and risking assassination easy and comfortable – no! But it was Martin Luther King’s chosen lifestyle. Their Perfect Lifestyles involved sacrifices and hardship. But because they had a higher purpose they were willing to sacrifice comfort and pleasure to achieve their dreams.
Critical Principle 7: You need to find your true purpose in life and devote yourself to that.
Of course living for your true purpose doesn’t necessarily mean pouring all of you energy into one activity and ignoring the rest of your life. You will almost certainly have a number of purposes and focuses at any one time.
For example, I have a number of focuses and purposes. As a father of young children one of my main purposes is to be the best Dad and husband I can be. I also have to earn an income for my family.
Sometimes it seems like a juggling act, and in a way it is. But if you identify your key purposes in life and concentrate on those, you will find real contentment in life.
Action Step 6:
Clutter is the enemy of purpose. Our cluttered lives often stop us from clearly seeing our purpose. If you cannot clearly see your purpose, do the following exercise:
Set aside ten minutes in your day where you will be alone, quiet and undisturbed. Get up early in the morning if you have to.
Sit cross legged on the floor with you back to a wall. Close your eyes and start taking slow and deep breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Your tummy should be rising and falling while you breathe, not your chest.
Now imagine you are in an empty house except for the furniture, and you are looking out at a view of the ocean. Spend five minute right there looking out to sea. After five minutes of peacefully clearing your mind of any other distraction, ask yourself these questions:
What is my purpose in life?
How can I make the world a better place?
Where would I feel the most contentment and fulfilment?Do this will no pre-conceived ideas and just allow your heart (and God if you are a believer) to tell you the answers to these questions.
Write down whatever you feel. It might be just a snippet, or a thought or an idea, or a picture or a plan.
Important:
Right now, you need to take one step to action whatever it is that you felt or heard. You might need to make a phone call, search something online, order something, or talk to a friend. Whatever it is you must do it now while you have this moment of clarity. If you let it go the world of clutter will come rushing back in and the moment will be lost.