How To Live A Life Of Purpose
Life has its way of throwing you in the washer machine and running you through a few cycles of deep stain.
There are many moments in your life when you think, damn, this sucks.
When you do, it's important to remember,
When there's light, dark is to follow, and as the darkness rises, the light is likely to bellow.
The quote is a constant reminder to myself, Premeditatio Malorum, "the pre-meditation of evils."
It's a Stoic belief to imagine the things that could go wrong or be taken away from us.
You may call it pessimism, but I call it a reality.
Regardless of what life throws at you, you need to prepare for the bad times, while playing life's long game.
A life without purpose is lost.
Robert Byrne said, "The purpose of life is a life of purpose."
What is a life of purpose? You may struggle to answer this, and if you do, you're not alone.
Here’s how Marcia Reynolds defines what a life of purpose is,
"To start, let me clarify what I mean by "life purpose." I am talking about defining a specific action that you can dedicate your entire life to. Therefore, purpose is not a goal that you will achieve, an intention to do your best in your role as a parent, partner or teacher, or a desire to feel a certain way every day. Purpose means doing something that has a positive effect on others, giving or sharing something that has a strong emotional outcome on yourself and others, or working to change a social structure that might not completely happen in your lifetime."
For me, it's helping others optimize life's potential and live their best life. This is my guiding light, followed by my life's rules for living, or core values.
Here's a few way's I'm currently living my purpose:
Writing daily about lessons I've learned in life so others can learn from them.
Leading an organization that treats people as humans, with a distinct set of non-negotiable values.
Delivering offerings in my organization that not just helps our clients companies, but also helps the people whom we work directly with.
Helping to flip the notion of what role a company plays in people's lives.
Showing my sons, you can be a strong man, physically and mentally, but you can also be loving and compassionate.
Teaching others how to control their emotions.
With projects I take on and decisions I make, they're filtered through my life's purpose and core values.
In an NPR article, "What's Your Purpose? Finding A Sense Of Meaning In Life Is Linked To Health," they write" people without a strong life purpose were more than twice as likely to die between the study years of 2006 and 2010, compared with those who had one."
So the question remains, what's your life's purpose?
