How's Your Rudder?

In The Blue Zones project by Dan Buettner, one key component of people living to 100, and living well, is that they have sense of purpose and deeper meaning in their lives.  

In Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit 1 is to be proactive, to have a personal vision.

Navigate is one of the five Sage Powers in Positive Intelligence®.

The four pillars of my business are Beauty, Wisdom, Purpose and Practice.

What’s all the fuss about?!

When you are guided by a sense of deeper meaning and purpose, you don’t sweat the small stuff (or at least not that often). “Work” takes on new meaning, with an expanded perspective of service. Setbacks and challenges are just opportunities on the way to the prize—fulfillment and joy.

I love the study of hospital janitorial staff that revealed 1/3 thought of their work as “just a job,” 1/3 considered it a step on a career path, and the other 1/3 considered it a calling.

Who do you think showed up to work with the best attitude? Which ones gave an extra few minutes to patients who seemed lonely or scared? Who did their job with the most care and attention? And possibly even lived longer!

There’s a 1:400,000,000,000,000 (that’s trillion) chance that you and I are here, at this moment, on this planet, in human form. You are as unique as your fingerprint, with skills, experiences and characteristics that no one else has ever, or will ever, have.

You DEFINITELY have a purpose.

What is it? That’s the fun part. It’s part mystery, part history, and part imagination. It’s a mashup of your talents, passions and values. It’s the thread that has run through everything you’ve done if you look closely.

My purpose is to bring joy and healing to the world through Beauty and Wisdom.

Close your eyes and visualize yourself as a child. What were you naturally good at. What was your essence. What were you interested in and drawn to. Be a fascinated anthropologist (Sage Power Explore) and take a non-judgmental look at all the facts. See if you can pick up the thread. Journal about it. Trust the first things that come to mind, that is your intuition, your Sage wisdom.

Conversely, picture yourself toward the end of your life, of sound mind and body and with all that lived experience. Looking back, what does this wise being say is important, is your purpose. What have been your guiding principles, values or causes. Write it all down, draw it, sing it, dance it. Feel it in your bones.

This is a deep inquiry, not a pop quiz. You won’t get the answer right away, or maybe ever. Enjoy the process and I will see you at your 100th birthday party!

If you need help figuring out your purpose, drop me a line and check out my Toolkit Discount Offers for MBA members.