Victor Frankl psychologist and author of man's search for meaning said; "Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he can not be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity to implement it.
As a young boy I had a poster on the wall in my room. It was a picture of a very busy and crowded city street. The city was full of confusion. People everywhere, crowded streets, with signs and billboards. The words across the top of the poster ask the question. Why am I here?
My question to you is why are you here? What is your purpose on this earth? Maybe you've ask yourself that question before. Maybe you know your purpose but you've never made the decision to act on it.
Peter Drucker says; "The best way to predict the future is to create it."
The majority of people never live a life of purpose because it takes hard work and discipline. Most people just settle for what comes along. They live the life of quiet desperation. They talk about what they should do and dream big dreams, but never go forward. A life without action is a life without purpose.
Success has been studied and researched for years. We have more information on success today than ever before and one outstanding similarity is that the winners in life all have a major definite purpose. You see, it's your purpose that keeps you in a forward motion. Your purpose gives you momentum. We need to know that we are growing and making a contribution. Each time you reach a goal your self-esteem will grow and then you'll build on that accomplishment, like an avalanche it will grow as it pushes forward. That's why winners have goals and a major purpose for their life.
Tony Robbins says, "People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals - that is, goals that do not inspire them."
Some people have a goal to get up and go to work. Go back home set down in front of the television have a couple of beers and go to bed, only to do the same thing the next day and the next day and the next day.
If you don't have a major purpose in your life, you will always be bound under the power of the people who do.
I believe that many people that you find in hospitals, prisons, and in the court systems are without a major definite purpose. Without purpose you have no compelling future to look forward to. Without a compelling future you give up on life and find yourself in a state of mind that's not productive. And through the law of attraction you attract more depression and more of the things you really don't want. Without a compelling future, people turn to drugs and alcohol to change their state of mind which is only a temporary solution and the reason it's repeated over and over.
I worked as an EMT in my twenties and witnessed people without a compelling future many times. On one occasion we got a call to a railroad crossing in a little out of the way country town. The call was a train hit a man on the track. As I was driving to the scene I was trying to imagine what to expect. I was thinking of different scenarios in my mind. We didn't know if this person was alive, if they were in a vehicle or what. So I was trying to prepare myself for action. When we got there I could see the end of the train way down the track and a figure of a body laying on the track about thirty away from the crossing. Then I realized that it was a man that had been ran over by this train. We later found out by a witness that this man had set there on the tracks for hours drinking beer waiting on this train. And just at the last second as the train was roaring down the track this man stood up in front of the train and his life ended in a tragic way. I have no doubt that this man had no definite purpose in his life to look forward to.
If you're not growing in this life you're dying. This world will eliminate you just as nature eliminates plants and animals. Think about all the things in your world that at one time served a purpose that you no longer have. You've gotten rid of those things because they no longer serve your needs.
If you don't know your major purpose in life, that's ok. Most people don't know what their purpose is. It has been estimated that only about three percent of the population ever have clear goals in life. As you learn to set small goals that are consistent with your values you will begin to see your purpose unfold. Some people decide on a purpose at an early age, some wait much later. Col. Sanders started Kentucky Fried Chicken or KFC as they call it today in his sixties. He said; "I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to something if I could. And no hours, nor amount of labor, nor amount of money would deter me from giving the best that there was in me."
Ralph Waldo Emerson said; "The value of a principle is the number of things it will explain."
Here are twelve principles and action habits that have worked for me and many others that you can apply to help you find your major goal or purpose.
1. Some people never set goals because they feel they don't deserve them. They have a low self-worth and low self-esteem. They don't believe in themselves and feel no one else does either. I can tell you until the end of time that you must believe in yourself, but if you have low self-esteem that's not going to happen. The only way to raise your self -esteem is to start small with small goals and build your momentum. Start by serving others in a positive way. That will also build your esteem. Start by volunteering at a local church, civic group, or a hospital. A person once ask Einstein, why are we here? He paused and said we are here to serve others.
2. Pursue your passion not your profits. Some people never have a definite purpose because of the mindset that their purpose wouldn't pay much money. I have found if you do the thing you love the money makes no difference. The money will come. If you love what you do you'll work hard at it and you won't mind. You love it so much you would do it for free, but you're so good at it you get paid for it.
3. Know what you value. When you start to set goals you must be congruent with your values. Make a list of your values and place a number from one to ten next to it. Number one, being the most important value and so on. If you value your relationships the most put number one there. If you value your health the most put a number one there. Only you know your highest value.
4. Surround yourself with successful, positive people. Be willing to ask questions, you'd be surprised at how eager successful people are to help you with answers. King Solomon said; "Better to be rebuked by a wise man than praised by a fool." Don't be surprised that as you begin working on this area that you may give up the old negative friends you may have in your life. Don't be surprised if your old friends don't see you as a successful person. Some so called friends don't want good things for you because they want you to be as miserable as they are. Don't let them hold you back.
5. Write your goals down. Most people never write down their goals because they say they know what they are and don't need to. The winners in life write down their goals in a clear focused manner. Just by writing down your goals you start the law of attraction to working for you. You will start to attract the things you focus on the most. You should have one major goal or purpose then smaller goals to support that one big goal or purpose. When I started on my black belt in kenpo karate I knew the big goal was the black belt, but the most important belt is the first belt. The smaller goals will always support the big goals. Write your goals down in the present tense as if they were already here. Write your goals down with a deadline. Give yourself a time limit to accomplish each goal. Make sure each goal is measurable. For example you can measure a salary increase or losing weight.
6. Determine the price you'll have to pay for it. I know you're saying what? Pay for it? Yes, here's what I'm saying. What are you going to have to learn to reach your goal? How hard do you need to work for it? What are you willing to sacrifice for it? Are you willing to stay up late at night and get up early for it? Are you willing to sweat hard for it? If you can't answer these questions, then you are not committed to your goal. You must pay the price. There's no free lunch in this life. You must pay in advance.
7. Write down every reason you can to support your major goal or purpose. Why is it you are working toward this goal? Through research we know that if we have reasons for our goals we tend to stay focused on the goal at hand. I myself do what I do because I had people in my life that said I couldn't do the things I said I wanted to do. They would laugh or just roll their eyes and walk away. Some were of my own family too. So think of reasons that will inspire you. Reasons that will get you re-fired for action when you need it.
8. Create a plan and make it happen. Write out your plan in detail. Go back about every three months and reevaluate where you are. You can't build something that will last without a plan. Start were you are now and think about were you're going. Start from the foundation up. Just like a giant skyscraper. Zig Ziglar says you can determine how high a building is going to be by how deep the foundation is. Get your foundation deep by preparing yourself for action with a good plan.
9. Make sure your major goal serves people in a virtues way. When you do this you will respect yourself and gain the respect of the people around you. Be kind, patient, and generous to others. Remember the law of sowing and reaping. When you sow a good seed you reap the good rewards every time. The greatest gift you can ever give is the gift of yourself. When you have the virtues of kindness, patients and generosity you build your character and your inner strength.
10. Be bold. We come into this world without fear of new adventures, without the fear of what others may say or think. Our brain is designed for greatness, but as we grow we become programmed for failure. We are born with the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. All other fears we learn as we get older. The good thing is that our fears are learned and conditioned responses. That means we can unlearn them and recondition our habits. The best way to defeat fear is through action. Make action a habit every day. The action habit will help you grow in confidence and lift you self-esteem.
11. Take action. Take some type of action toward your goals as soon as you finish all the other steps. Action will help you gain momentum. We all learn in school from Isaac Newton that once an object is set in motion it remains in motion until acted upon from an outside source. So get in motion now. Now if some outside source shows up to throw you off course, and it will. Gather more information, reevaluate your options and change your approach if you need to. When a plane takes off from Dallas and has a destination of New York, it's off course most of the time. The pilot is always adjusting the plane to keep it on course. The pilot knows where the plane is going and keeps moving in that direction. The same is true when you're working on your major goals in life. You'll be off course from time to time, but if you know where you're going and you have the self-discipline to adjust your path and keep in a forward motion you will get there.
12. Read your goals list daily. We know that we can only hold one dominant thought in our mind. Emerson said; "A man is what he thinks about all day long". The bible tells us that "As a man thinks than that also shall he be." When you review your goals daily you begin the process of attraction. You'll begin to notice things that will lead you nearer to your goal. People will show up to help. You'll find resources that didn't exist before. The universe will be on your side. The things you're seeking are also seeking you.
Now will it be hard? Yes! Will there be times when you'll want to give up and quit? Yes! Will there be times when people will turn their backs on you and let you down? Yes! Will it all happen over night for you? No! But, if you follow these steps and stay persistent, and continue to learn and grow from the successful people in life you will arrive at your goals much quicker.
"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."
..Theodore Roosevelt
When you find your purpose, you find who you are, what you are and most important why you are.
In the end it's not what you say, what you plan, what you intend or what you hope for; it's what you do that makes the difference. A life without action is a life without purpose. Live your life on purpose. Ask the question; why am I here?
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