Hard Work isn’t Purpose
You work hard. To that I say so what!
Want a cookie?
Well you will have to go elsewhere. I don’t give out cookies; at least not for hard work.
Don’t get me wrong, hard work is a piece of the puzzle. But it is only one piece and it may not be as significant as other things.
Intelligence, direction, effectiveness etc…
But we have covered this before. Being busy and being effective aren’t the same thing.
Leaving the question…
Do you have purpose?
What it means to have Purpose
To have purpose is to know why you wake up in the morning. Why you exist. It isn’t just your professional or personal life, it is your entire life.
Often purpose is the difference between hitting the snooze button on the alarm one or four more time and getting up to start your day.
I know a lot of people that will wake up at 4am to catch a flight for their vacation but won’t get out of bed that early to fit in a workout or to get started on their goal to become an entrepreneur.
For whatever reason, the motivation to get on that vacation burns deeper than the motivation to fit into your skinny pants or to launch your dream business.
Seems silly, but does that make it any less the case?
The fact of the matter is when you are leaving for that trip you have a clear sense of what has to happen. You know you have to catch your flight, you have researched the resort, the town the shopping and so on. Therefore you know what has to be done and you can make the sacrifices that you need to including waking up for that extra early flight.
Some people have purpose in certain areas of their life and completely lack it in others.
The Relationship between Vision and Purpose
Have you ever seen a runner who looks like they have hit the wall turn up the pace for the final few hundred feet of a run? Or perhaps you have watched your favorite football team rally to mount a come back late in a game when they seemingly couldn’t advance the ball for 3+ quarters.
What happens that suddenly allows those who are stuck to achieve rapid movement?
In our lives it can be a deadline or an irate customer that suddenly gets us off our chairs.
What were we doing for the past week, month or year when these deadlines or dissatisfied customers were there?
In my experience the difference is visibility.
For the teams I mention above, and for yourself, as the finish line comes closer it creates that sense of purpose that drives movement.
Knowing that you have to get something done can be the catalyst to doing it, but the visibility of the finish line shouldn’t be the only driver.
Those that have a strong sense of purpose tend to be able to see the finish over the horizon meaning they don’t wait because they know acting sooner will help them move their goals forward.
A subtle yet key difference between those that do and those that…
Learning to see the Horizon
With so much life in front of us it can be overwhelming to try and see what lies ahead.
But if you can only respond to what is right in front of you, then you will never act with the type of purpose it takes to achieve great results.
Learning to see the horizon can be a challenge, but I would like to suggest something for you to try.
You may have heard this before in other mediums, but what you must do is start to break your big goals into smaller ones so that you can see the progress everyday.
Each small goal becomes the “Visible Finish” and therefore your movement becomes manageable and more clear.
So If your big goal is to start a business, whatever business that may be, then break that goal into 5, 10 or 50 small pieces and take action.
Or if you want to lose weight then start with 1 pound before worrying about losing 50.
When the horizon is treated like a process it begins to become imminently more clear.
A Secret from the Successful, the Purposeful
You know how a lot of time the great successes are touted for their great vision? Their ability to see far far ahead and act?
While sure they have an eye on the prize and they act on their goal.
They operate the same way you do. One pant leg at a time.
Think about the worlds chess master. Ever seen “Searching for Bobby Fischer?” (Watch it if you haven’t)
The worlds best chess players are renown for their ability to see 7 and 8 or more moves ahead.
Guess what, they don’t only see the 7th or 8th, but they see 1-6 as well. That is what allows them to see 7 and 8.
Those are the big goals broken down and you can do that too.
Those that succeed have more vision because they have more discipline…more purpose.
But you too can have purpose if you choose to.
Just like that vacation that gets you out of bed early in the morning. You just have to know why your getting up and the rest is up to you.
