KNOW YOUR PURPOSE
Are you a frustrated success junkie? Do you have a library full of “make more money” books and CDs, but have never quite “made it”? Have Network Marketing, Real Estate investing, Internet business, and good old-fashioned Hard Work let you down? Are you tired of being scammed by the “gurus” who all seem to say the same thing – “Give me your money, do what I did, and you too will become filthy rich”? Are you ready for a dose of hard-core reality? Do you think you can handle it?
THE GURUS ARE ALL WRONG
99% of all “success education” is based on the theory of “modeling”. Modeling teaches that if you want to be successful, all you need to do is find a successful person and learn to walk like him, talk like him, dress like him, eat, sleep, and work like him, and you too will have money like him. Guess what, 99% of all success education is wrong! If it were that simple, everyone would “make it”.
But you and I both know that “it just ain’t so Joe”. You’ve run the ads. You’ve made the calls. You’ve written down your goals. You’ve gone to the meetings. You’ve dressed the part. You’ve mortgaged the house. You’ve read the books, watched all the DVDs, and still success eludes you. Why? What are you missing? Is it all just smoke and mirrors? Was Mom right when she warned you not to “rise above your raisin’? Are dreams meant only to tease and torment? Is happiness just a cruel joke, and “doing it right” a losing battle?
Well the good news is that the answer is No. No, success need not be found only at the end of a rainbow. It is closer, much closer than you think. But …. most of what we’ve been taught about success is completely backwards and in fact is standing smack dab in the way.
“MODELING” IS A RED HERRING
Take that notion of modeling for instance. Every mother and scientist will tell you that each and every person is a unique and special creation. No two of us are alike. So how in the world can we think that by becoming someone else we can ever be happy or successful? Even in the unlikely event that by doing so you were able to amass a fortune, you wouldn’t be happy. In fact, you’d be absolutely miserable! At the very core of true success is the discovery of who you are, what makes you unique, and why you are here on this earth: and then a commitment to live your life in harmony with that purpose.
WHAT LIFE IN AUSCHWITZ WILL TEACH YOU
In business terms this is called your USP, Unique Selling Proposition. You have one. Everyone does. But not many have taken the time to discover it. In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Victor Frankl describes how he discovered the importance of knowing your purpose. It was in the middle World War II while incarcerated at Auschwitz that it began to dawn on him. Understandably, life in those circumstances seemed to be nothing but a cruel joke. His home was gone. His beautiful wife murdered. His dignity stripped from him. His freedom was stolen, and his precious manuscript destroyed. All hope was lost. What reason did he have to keep living, to resist the animal existence of those around him? Then he found a scrap of paper and a stubby old pencil and, writing as small as he could, jotted down a few notes, thoughts and ideas from the book he had been writing. And gradually, as he horded each little piece of gum wrapper, tissue, and paper he could find, he began to painstakingly reconstruct his manuscript. This passion became his reason for getting up each morning, for holding his head up each day, for remembering that he was a human being. It was his reason for living, his purpose for existing. And as he worked, he began to notice that having a purpose was a common trait of nearly all concentration camp survivors.
Successful entrepreneurs have noticed the same thing. Those who not only survive but thrive, both at work and at home, have a purpose, and a career that reflects and supports that purpose. Living in harmony with your purpose fills your life with passion. Do you know what your purpose for being on this earth is? Do you have that contagious passion that inspires others to want to get involved with you? What gives your life meaning? Do you have a personal “mission statement” to give your life direction? Not knowing the answer to this question is a major cause of burnout and addiction, unhappiness, depression, midlife and mid-marriage crises, alcoholism, workaholism, and playaholism.
WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?
Central to Frankl’s “logotherapy” model is the question, if you could live your life over for a second time, what would you do differently? In other words, how would you better fulfill your responsibilities? Steven Covey asks the question this way, When your obituary is read, what do you want it to say? At your eulogy, what do you want to be remembered for?
There are as many paths to fulfillment as there are people on this earth. But at their core, they all have something in common. Albert Schweitzer, while giving an Ivy League commencement address, once said “I don’t know what path each of you will take to find success and happiness. But I do know this, it will involve serving others.” I believe it was Zig Ziglar who said, “If you want to be more successful, help more people get what they want”. Our Creator designed us to love and to serve, and all other efforts for success and happiness will end in empty meaninglessness.
So, what is your purpose? What is the most satisfying thing you have ever done? Why did you find it so fulfilling? As you think about, I bet you will discover that it was something that came very close to involving all four branches of the Cross of Action – work, play, love, and worship – all at the same time. We all struggle to find a balance between these four core activities. But the more we are able to do them all at once, the easier and more satisfying life becomes.
Here’s another way to ask the question: if I were to hire you, at twice your current salary, to do anything you want as long as it involves helping people and making this world a better place, and you had to be worth your new pay, what would you want to do? What can you do, or what would you want to learn to do, that is worth twice what you’re currently paid? Challenged to double your value, what would you do?
What are you good at? What do you really enjoy doing? What would you love to do, even if there is no money in it? What do you want to be remembered for? Given a second chance, what would you like to do differently? How can you do that, while at the same time helping others? What do the people you know need? Will a lot of people need your help, or just a few?
The answer to this last question will tell you whether you are meant to be “rich” or not. For the more people you help, the more money you are going to need. This is “healthy money”. The more people you help, the more “healthy money” you are going to be managing, and the more truly rich you will become!
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Dr. Lon Peckham provides comprehensive and wholistic dental care in Priest River, Idaho. He is a consultant certified in Lead Management and Choice Theory, Advanced Dental Implantology, as a Lifestyle Health Facilitator, and is currently pursuing certification by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. He helps Patients and Dentists successfully incorporate whole-health into their lives and practices.
