I live by the premise that everyone has something to give, no matter their circumstances, no matter what challenges and odds they face in life. The recent tragic incidents in Russia, Paris and not forgetting 9/11 have reminded us how toxic humans can be when they make the wrong decisions and don’t care about the welfare of others. We can’t control the choices of other people in the world, but we can control our own choices. As much as other people make wrong decisions and negatively affect the world, I still believe that one person can change the world in their own space and impact the lives of others. Many of those who lived before us did, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa.
The only way to truly change our world is to connect with our purpose. As we head into the New Year in 2016, I would like you to connect with your true purpose. Ask yourself these important questions: “Who must I be in this troubled world? What must I become to make this world a better place? Once you have answered these questions, also answer this question to take action and live.” the life of your true purpose: “What do I commit to do to live the life of my true purpose in 2016?”
If you keep going and take action, you will be well on your way to finding your purpose in life and living the life of your true purpose. You are capable of more than you have ever imagined possible, you are the light to the world. You have something to give that no other person can give but you. In order to give what you have been put into this world to achieve, you need to find your purpose.
I’m sure like most people, when I talk about purpose, you might want to ask yourself how you can find your purpose; most people ask me this question. My answer is always, “You don’t have to find your purpose, because it’s within you.”
I don’t think anyone needs to look for their purpose because our purpose is within each one of us, we don’t have to find it but we have to create the conditions and the environment within which our purpose can be fulfilled. Once we create an environment and conditions within which our purpose can exist, our purpose will find us. There are three things that I believe anyone willing to find her purpose must do to create the conditions within which her purpose will be fulfilled. Here are the three things:
1. Connect spiritually
Almost everyone I’ve talked to who doesn’t know their purpose and seems lost is also not connected spiritually. It is almost impossible to find your true purpose in life when you are not connected spiritually. People who live according to their true purpose are spiritually connected. Each resolution is accompanied by a deep routed emotional connection. People who have fulfilled their purpose, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey, and many others, are spiritually connected in one way or another. They have a deeper emotion that connects them to their purpose. To live your purpose you have to be spiritually connected.
How to connect spiritually is very individualistic because some spiritual connections mean time alone to meditate or pray, other people fast, other people give to those in need to find their spiritual connection while others go to church and worship. The only way to know what works for you is to set aside time in your busy life for spirituality and do various things until you find rituals that connect you on a deeper level. Once you find your spiritual connection, your purpose will find you. Trust me, I have talked to many people who are living their purpose and all of them are spiritually connected.
2. Love and give
Every person who has connected with their purpose has lived beyond themselves to reach out to others and change their lives. All purpose is directed to a deeper love far beyond oneself. The more you hone your capacity to love, the more you feed your true purpose in you to get out alive. To perfect your ability to love, you must stop being self-centered and start developing compassion and empathy for other people.
Develop empathy and compassion for those in need, for those who are homeless, for those who are hungry, for those whose lives are not released one way or another. This empathy should not be limited to those in weak positions, have feelings of empathy even for people who are not in weak positions such as those who criticize you, those who are cynical and those who walk in the dark. Even those who crucify you deserve your empathy and compassion. Once you begin to develop this deep-seated love that is unwavering even when times are tough and people are unsupportive, then you will begin to move closer to living according to your true purpose.
Even if you were to look at this from a business angle rather than a philanthropic angle, the people who created great businesses were also driven by love and passion. Steve Jobs not only revolutionized the computer industry with the isolated goal of making money, but he also harbored within himself a deep love for what he did. He also had enough consideration to connect the technical aspects of his inventions with what the end users would like, which requires a certain level of thinking beyond oneself.
3. Learn and Grow
To live according to your true purpose, you must be willing to learn and grow. Learning is something most of us think about, we think about being in class and reading books. However, when you are in an environment where you need to live according to your purpose, learning comes to you in a different way. It comes to you through life experiences, some of which are great and some of which are challenging. When Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison to live up to his purpose of saving and liberating South Africa, he was faced with a great challenge, Oprah Winfrey was born unwanted, she was inconvenient when she was born and she met the challenge in many ways to finally live for your purpose.
My personal life is also a true reflection of how the path of living according to our purpose can sometimes be full of challenges. I was born in a family of 9 children; my mother was schizophrenic and was absent from home due to illness, my father left us when I was 11 years old. We grew up as a group of undisciplined children without parents and poor. I went to school without having eaten anything. In my last two years of schooling, I walked 14 kilometers every day to go to school. I got to this point where I live my purpose from a path full of obstacles and challenges.
So in your own life, be open to learning and growing and realize that through challenges you learn and grow. Once you open yourself up to learning, you will be in a much better position to find your purpose and live according to your purpose. When the going gets tough and the road seems like it’s going nowhere along with feeling like crying and getting depressed also ask yourself, “What do I learn from this?” It is true that we should not ask for problems to disappear, but rather we should seek to strengthen ourselves emotionally and have the emotional aptitude to handle obstacles and overcome them.
By doing the three things above, you will create the environment within which your purpose, which is in you, will come to light, and you will be able to live your purpose. When you do the three things above, you won’t have to search for your purpose, your purpose will find you. I know you may feel that what I say is too simplistic, just practice it and see the kinds of results you will get in your life.
There are things that limit us from living for our true purpose that I would like you to be aware of and be on guard for because they can limit you and make it more difficult for you to get to a place where your true purpose finds you. Are here:
1. Self doubt
Doubt makes you question your own abilities and, depending on what your answers are, makes you not at your best. It becomes very difficult for you to trust your purpose under these conditions and find your purpose. So you have to be aware of this. You may have questions on your mind like “Am I good enough?” or “I don’t think I’m capable of becoming X, Y or Z”…
Doubt can cause us to have a negative internal dialogue and devalue ourselves. When you devalue yourself, you begin to take a backseat in life, which makes it more difficult for you to find your purpose and live your purpose. So always be careful with your thoughts as they can cause you to fail even before you start living your purpose.
2. Compare yourself with others
Psychology tells us that from the age of 3 we begin to compare ourselves with others. As people, sometimes we always look at the people around us and compare ourselves to them. This becomes a problem as we work to find purpose in life because comparing ourselves to other people sometimes suggests that we don’t have our own standards. Your purpose is often something that only you can give and that other people cannot give in the same way that you can. By comparing yourself to others, you get sidetracked because the focus shifts away from being the best version of yourself to trying to do better what other people already do. So be careful about comparing yourself to others as this can prevent you from finding your true purpose.
3. The need to always be accepted
Living your purpose often means being different from most people. To find your true purpose and live it, you need to reach a level in your life where you feel comfortable without being accepted. Let go of the need to always be accepted. Be willing to do what you are meant to do despite criticism and sometimes marginalization. Almost everyone I know who has lived their purpose at some point was not accepted. Nelson Mandela was not accepted at some point and neither were Oprah Winfrey and Malala Yousafzai.
4. Laziness and lack of action
Being passive in our love affairs is sometimes the main reason we don’t find our true purpose. I have provided 3 principles for you to follow and they will help your passion find you. What will make the difference in whether or not you find your passion is the application of these principles in your life. Failing to act will lead to lack of results. So be diligent, always act. Reserve time in your busy schedule for spiritual connection, improve your ability to love and begin to develop empathy and compassion for others, learn and grow in your efforts.
I wish you the best of luck on your journey to success: – may God bless your journey to success and happiness.
