Do you ever notice that life is cyclical? It goes up and down and seems to do that all the time. Wouldn’t it be nice if there could be some consistency in the way that our lives go? The trouble with that idea is that with all the factors we are presented with in the course of living, it is very hard to control what we are faced with. We encounter random events in our lives that shape who we are. We know the path we are supposed to go down, but these events can sometimes derail those plans or veer us off into other paths.
Consistency in life may be difficult, but we can, at least, find a path where we can make some ruts that will allow us to limit the “lows” and enjoy and maximize the “highs”. So many books have been written about how all this can be done. More importantly, the books have been written about how to find your life purpose. In fact, that is what my business is all about. How many people truly find their life purpose? I would volunteer that most people are in the minority when it comes to this endeavor. Still, finding life purpose is the key. In other words, perhaps the definition of life purpose should be wrapped around the question: “What is important to you?”.
When we begin to answer this question, the whole concept of life purpose can begin to take shape. I compare seeking a life purpose to setting goals. In setting goals, very often we set them lofty and very general. Therefore, the goals become grandiose, out of scale, and, truth be told, impossible to attain. It is when you break these goals down into bite-size pieces they become very attainable, yet on the path to that grand goal, we find some happiness and some sense of accomplishment. It is this sense of accomplishment that encourages us to continue our journey toward that goal. If we look at life purpose as the grand goal, we can see where frustration might come in. We can see where the diverging paths send us to places we never intended to be. If we take that grand goal of life purpose and break it down into the simple concept of “what is important to us,” we can then march toward our life purpose consistently, intentionally, and happily.
The other benefit of looking at our life purpose as “what is important to us,” that it allows us to find constant reinforcement. This allows us to ponder “importance” with every interaction, every conversation, every event and every breath we take. For example, stop what you are doing right now. Think about this: In the next hour “what is important to you?” Really think about it! Is what you doing now going to allow you to achieve what you deem most important? Of course, I would say it is because we are learning how to move toward our life purpose and to embrace what we intend to do through doing what is most important to us.
This blog is the first in a series talking about what life purpose means and the role that understanding what is important to you has in developing that purpose. I would refer you to the following websites:
www.fergussongroup.org
www.achieveyourlifepurpose.com
These web sites will help you continue the search but, in the meantime, take some time, quiet time, to ponder and write down what is important to you. It doesn’t matter how big or small the issue may be, it is a starting place.
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