-My takeaway from Jack Canfield’s “How to Get from Where
You Are to Where You Want to Be.”
Principle 2: Be Clear Why You're Here
“Learn to get in touch with
the silence within yourself and know that everything in life has a purpose.”
-Elizabeth Kubler Ross
(Another call for self-reflection,
meditation.)
Successful people
-they take time to understand
what they’re here to do (a life purpose)
-and then they pursue that
with passion and enthusiasm
Purpose can bring fun and
fulfillment to virtually everything [you] do. (Immersive and you get a sense of
‘flow’, you’re on to something vs you’re on something)
With purpose, everything in
life falls into place vs. wandering (lost), drifting (lethargic) and
accomplishing little (ineffective.)
To be “on purpose” means
-you’re doing what you love
to do
-you’re doing what you’re
good at and accomplishing what’s important to you
-all of your actions
automatically service others (a goal bigger than yourself-challenging,
stretching, inspiring.)
This is the author’s life
purpose (as a sample):
“… to inspire and empower people to live their highest vision in a context of love and joy.” (You shouldn’t be overly excited by this proclamation although it sounds as noble as solving world hunger. I am quite sure that Canfield has a smaller purpose when he started. My purpose is “to share life changing stuff I read and know to people within my reach.”)
 |
| Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash |
Some big boy samples shared
in the book:
“To inspire and empower
people to achieve their destiny.”
“To uplift humanity’s
consciousness through business.”
“To create and inspire one
million millionaires who each give $ 1 million to their church or charity.”
“To educate and inspire
people to live their highest self [,] based on courage, purpose, and joy,
versus fear, need and obligation.”
(These are the life purposes
of Robert Allen, D.C. Cordova, Mark Victor Hansen and T. Harv Eker.)
“Decide upon your major
definite purpose in life and then organize all your activities around it.”
-Brian Tracy, another top
self- improvement guru.
If an activity doesn’t fit
[the expression of your purpose] you wouldn’t work on it. Period. (I don’t
wholeheartedly agree to this. I agree that you should spend most of your time
fulfilling your purpose. The only way to achieve this as a human being living
with other human beings is to explain every of your action by your purpose.)
“You don’t want to get to the top of your ladder only to find out you had it leaning up against the wrong wall.” (Generally good advice. However, our mental flexibility allows us to grow into and with different things. I wanted to be a cartoonist and an art director, I had to accept HR. Put my copy and design skills into HR; enjoyed the 20 year ride. Put my people skills developed at HR into a leadership role in Facilities. Met all the challenges and enjoyed the ride too! Sometimes, we don’t know the exact wall to scale. Other than pinpointing the right wall, the next best is to make the wall you’re on the right wall. I am not saying that I get to enjoy the best resorts in the world but I have had opportunities to enjoy pretty good ones. The key is that I am satisfied with the walls that I was forced to climb. Don’t accept that you will fail unless you’ve tried earnestly. Two quotations from me;
1. Don’t act your position, position your act.
2. Every challenge opens a path to mastery.
(Enough said.)
 |
| Photo by Alessandra-Zani-M on Unsplash |
How Julie Laipply, Miss
Virginia USA, senior management consultant in leadership training and
development for Pentagon found purposeful work;
1. She asked,” What job I would love so
much that I’s do it for free but that I could actually get paid for [doing]?”
2. Then she thought back
over all the things she’d done in her life and what had made her most happy.
This is the process that she
used to unearth what she really wanted to do. She took the path to being a vet
because she wanted to conform to the expectation set by people around her.
Following her discovery, she took the relevant courses and ventured to live her
true purpose (great story).
Exercise 3: make a list of the times you’ve felt joyful
and alive. What are the common elements
of these experiences? Can you figure out a way to make a living doing these
things?
The Life Purpose Exercise by
Jack Canfield:
1. List
two of your unique personal qualities, such as enthusiasm and creativity.
2. List
one or two ways you enjoy expressing those qualities when interacting with
others, such as to support and inspire.
3. Assume
the world is perfect right now. What does this world look like? How is everyone
interacting with everyone else? What does it feel like? Write your answer as a
statement, in the present tense, describing the ultimate condition, the perfect
world as you see it and feel it. Remember, a perfect world is a fun place to
be.
EXAMPLE:
everyone is freely expressing their own unique talents. Everyone is working in
harmony. Everyone is expressing love.
4. Combine
the three prior subdivisions of this paragraph into a single statement.
EXAMPLE:
My purpose is to use my creativity and enthusiasm to support and inspire others
to freely express their talents in a harmonious and loving way.
(3. is
not going to work with me. I cannot assume that the world is perfect. Canfield
may have a golden psychological reason for us to do this. To me it will make
the whole exercise into “let’s pretend…” We are going out. We are going to face
reality. There will be internal discord. How do you construct a real life
purpose seasoned by an unrealistic expectation of the environment? 3.confuses me)
To
make your purpose stick it is recommended that you read the statement in the
morning, turn it into a vision board and place the board where you can’t miss
seeing it daily. (This part is good with me).
Summary
of Principle 2: Be Clear Why You’re Here
Find
your inspiring life purpose. Find it as early as possible. Organize your daily
activities around it. Your life purpose gives you a reason for being and doing.
It will keep you going enthusiastically.
To
find your purpose;
Ask,
1.“What
is a job I would love so much that I’d do it for free that I could actually get
paid for?”
2. “What
are the things I have done that makes me most happy?”
Figure out your purpose statement. Get resources to support what you want to do,
aligned with your purpose.
To
sustain the impact of your purpose [statement], read it every day. Better, convert
the statement to visuals and place the piece where you can see it daily.
 |
| Photo by Alvaro Montanha on Unsplash |
Next: Now that You Know Why You're Cooking, What Will You Cook?