Is Your Purpose Calling?
By James M. Rink
Your life’s Purpose has transformational power to positively affect your business and career, your relationships, finances and quality of life.
2021 offers new hope after the 2020 pandemic dramatically impacted all of us. Many of us have been forced to put our lives on hold. We have found ourselves at a crossroad, searching for greater meaning in our lives to help us make sense of what’s going on in the world around us.
Slowing down has caused us to assess where we are and ask ourselves some hard questions like...
Am I living my life to its fullest?
Was I made for something more?
Am I meant for something greater than I am currently doing?
If this sound like you, perhaps your Purpose is calling you to something greater. Your COVID crossroad could be your time for a greater and bigger you.
Crossroads in life can hit us hard. Whether it’s losing a job, a business, going through a divorce, a bankruptcy, facing a life-threatening illness, a death of a loved one or a global epidemic. Crossroads forces us down to our core beliefs, values and Purpose.
As you are coming out of the COVID pandemic, imagine living your life knowing you were living your life to serve a greater good, EVERYDAY. The People in your world could feel your Purpose positively affecting them. And imagine the joy you would feel by giving your Purpose to others.
Your life does have a Purpose, but what is it? It’s hard to live your life’s Purpose if you don’t know what your Purpose is, or you can’t clearly state it.
Purpose does not have to be mystical or complex. Simply put, your Purpose is to positively connect to people for a greater good. Once you discover what your Purpose is, your Purpose becomes your guide to help navigate you thru your crossroad. Your Purpose is an amazing power to help get you out of life’s challenges.
As an Influencer on Purpose, I am living my Purpose to help people just like you discover, define and live your life’s Purpose.
Here is a story of Walt Disney when he was in his twenties and how he used his Purpose to guide him through the crossroad of the Great Depression.
Walt and Roy Disney founded their entertainment company in 1923 with the Purpose, ‘To Make People Happy’. Happiness is the visceral connection to people that drives the success of Disney.
During the Great Depression, Walt and Roy Disney led their staff to new opportunities by putting their Purpose to work. “The Adventures of Mickey Mouse” lifted the spirits of Americans through the dark 1930s and kept Disney's business afloat. Disney also released the first full-length animated feature film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" grossing $8M in 1937-38 ($146M adjusted for inflation in 2020).
The good news is, just like Disney, your Purpose is calling you to something greater.
Here is a truth, you are a reproductive being. You had Greater Good Influencers that have positively affected your feelings. Today, Your Purpose is to give those feelings to the people you want to influence for a Greater Good.
Use the Purpose of You formula to help you discover your Purpose.
Feelings + Actions + People = Purpose
You can create your Purpose statement using this formula. Here is mine, ‘My Purpose is to communicate hope. To help people. To make people happy.” My core feelings are hope, help, and happy. I was influenced with these core feelings from my Greater Good Influencers, my dad and my God. Who I want to influence, I define simply as People.
Here are 3 Tips to help you to discover your Purpose. Write down your answers to these questions
Who loved you so that you can be who you are today?
I got this question from Mister Rodgers. He’d ask you to be quiet for 60 seconds and make a list of the people that come to your mind who loved you to become who you are today.
Our Parents, Teachers, Rabbis, Pastors, Priests, Nuns, Coaches, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles or God are all great candidates. These Influencers are your Greater Good influencers. Make your list.
Reflect on each of your Greater Good Influencers. How did your Greater Good Influencers make you feel?
Here is a list of basic feelings to help.
Love, Joy, Happy, Safe, Secure, Free, Peace, Patient, Hope, Gratitude, Passion, Compassion, Care, Inspire, Fascination, Pride or any other feeling you felt.
Make a list of the feelings you felt from you Greater Good Influencers.
Who do you want to influence? Make your list of People or groups of People you want to positively influence.
Now, formulate a simple draft of your purpose statement using the Purpose of You formula.
Feelings + Actions + People = Purpose
Start with ‘My Purpose is to …Action + Feeling + People.’ Say it out loud to yourself. How does that make you feel?
For over 25 years, as a Television Producer and the CEO of a Television + Entertainment company, I have lived my Purpose using my 'Purpose of You' strategy as a ‘behind the scenes’ framework to Produce TV shows for ABC, Taylor Swift, the Country Music Association, Mike Huckabee, Lifetime and MTV. My clients’ shows purposefully work, inspiring the audience(s) and successfully making millions.
Your Purpose will serve a greater good in the world and create new opportunities for you too.
If this blog speaks to you, I believe it is because your Purpose is calling you to something greater. You can discover more at PurposeOfYou.com.
Cheryl DeSantis - Chief People Officer at SmileDirectClub calls Purpose of You is THE team development opportunity for our times.
Connect with me at JamesMRink on social media. Please share this blog with People you care about.
I hope you live today on Purpose!
