Passion Party #474 - Life Purpose Madlibs

This whole purpose - mission - vision - goal thing is quite confusing.

If you have ever been to a planning retreat you know what I mean.

Spending hours sorting through the difference between how these four items relate to your business – or your life – is almost as much fun as a visit to the dentist.

It is pretty easy to set a goal, so why not just leave well enough alone? 

Is this navel-gazing really worth the time?

It helps to think of your purpose as the view from 40,000 feet.

It’s the bigger perspective

And now and then I need that sense of clarity.

Your purpose and your goal are two very different things.

Your goal may be to become a TV screenwriter,

but your purpose in life is not to be a TV screenwriter.

Your goal may be to make more money

but your purpose in life is not to make money.

The more your life is aligned with your purpose

the more joyful and passionate your life becomes.

Four years ago I discovered this simple formula to help find my purpose. This "Life Purpose Exercise" was created by Arnold M. Patent and it goes like this:

1) List two of your primary personal qualities, such as "enthusiasm" and "persistence".  If you are not sure, ask someone who knows you well.

2) List one or two ways you enjoy expressing these qualities when interacting with others, such as "to support" and "to care for"

3) Assume the world is perfect right now. What does the world look like? How is everyone interacting with everyone else? What does it feel like? Write your answer in the present tense describing the perfect world as you see it and feel it. Remember, a perfect world is fun place to be.

Example: "Everyone is expressing their own unique talents. Everyone is working in harmony."

4) Now combine these items into a single statement:

My purpose is to use my _____(1)_______ and _____(1)__________ to ______(2)_______ and _____(2)_________ others to _____________(3)___________.

A while ago I did this exercise.

Here were my answers:

1) Creativity, organization

2) To help, to inspire

3) There is enough for everyone. We are all working together to build better lives. Everyone works from a place of love.

And here is my life purpose:

"My purpose is to use my creativity and organization skills to inspire and help others to build a better life in abundance and love."

I had not looked back at this exercise for the last four years.

So ­– surprise

The pursuit of passion fits my life purpose.

Passion Party #473 - Finding The Core

I keep asking myself the question,

"what do you really want to do?"

Once I get past the ego

of how great I am

or how talented

or what a great composer

or I am writing a symphony,

the world deserves to hear my brilliance,

blah blah blah

Once I get all that out of the way

what is left?

I want to help people

I want to be of service

not just to the greater good

but to specific people,

to see the improvements and results.

Perhaps it is to help someone who never thought they could buy a property to get their first home,

or help someone living with mountains of debt to see that it is possible to climb out of that hole, one step at a time,

or lift someone's spirits when they are trapped in a snow-bound tent in the Yosemite back-country with only food, water and an iPod with my music on it,

or to be the best dad I can be for my sons by giving them time, when that was all I had to give.

This is the core of my passion.

Passion Party #472: The Pursuit of Passion

I would rather be in the pursuit of passion

than in the pursuit of happiness.

Somewhere in my early life passion became one of the emotions I realized was a key.

From a very early age I was interested in creating things.  When I was 10 my friend Joe and I would rather make our own board game than play Chutes and Ladders.

Later this creative passion led me to writing newspaper articles, having a radio show, acting, photography, film making, and in the end, a lifelong passion for music composition and theory.

This was a love affair that was deep and mysterious.  And like any great love affair, the more I gave, the more I got.

The less I felt in competition with others, the more my creative passion blossomed.

So I made a decision:

I would avoid jealousy and hatred

I would pursue passion and joy and love.

I have felt jealousy, and it’s a gnawing, destructive emotion. It pulls you and those around you down. It comes from a sense of lack, from not having enough.

I have felt passion, and it is a powerful emotion:

Talent + experience + passion = unstoppable

Passion is the fuel that keeps the fire burning.

Passion Party #471 - Hit The Reset Button

I hate recommitting.

There is an element of failure,

a sense of duty.

A recommit often becomes a should

and most "shoulds" are doomed.

 

The parent's voice in my head says,

"you said you would do it.

Now you didn't.

You're a loser."

 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a reset button like on a computer

that lets you get back to the factory settings with one click.

If it is true that deep inside

I know the right thing to do,

then if I hit the reset button

3-5 times a day

I may stray off course but I can correct before the pain arrives.

 

This is not hard at all

it just means finding someone I love

being willing

and asking for help

Passion Party #470 - A List of New Actions

Thank you to my business coach, Joe Stumpf.  At our seminar last week, Joe presented these ideas on changing old habits that no longer serve us into new actions to get where we want to go.  I could relate to many of them.  I hope you find this list as helpful as I did.

 

 

OLD HABIT:                        Giving up if not perfect

NEW ACTION:            Seeking imperfection

                                    Perfect is not attainable

                                    Be willing to go public before its perfect

                                    Progress not perfection.

OLD HABIT:                        Once I overcome resistance it is gone for good

NEW ACTION:            One day at a time, I go to battle with my resistance.

OLD HABIT:                        Recommit only when off course (Wait for the pain before I                                                 refocus)

NEW ACTION:            Hit the reset button 3-5 times a day.

                                    Find someone I love and be willing to share, ask for help

OLD HABIT:                        Judge my issues as “bad”

NEW ACTION:            Accept my habits as what helped me get where I am, and                                                 ask “will this habit get me where I want to go next?”

OLD HABIT:                        Closed down when there is a problem

NEW ACTION:            “Open during remodeling”

OLD HABIT:                        View success as an event, the goal to be reached

NEW ACTION:            Success is a process that reveals who I am becoming

OLD HABIT:                        Hanging on to my old story

NEW ACTION:            Forgive others and myself, be willing to let go of the past

OLD HABIT:                        Avoid difficulty

NEW ACTION:            I know my transformation begins when I turn towards                                                 difficulty.  I am willing to face the hardest thing first.

OLD HABIT:                        Everything is a curse or a blessing

NEW ACTION:            Everything is a chance to discover my willingness to get                                                 past fear

OLD HABIT:                        Using Responsibility as self-motivation

NEW ACTION:            Using Commitment as self-motivation

 

Passion Party #469 - Old Habits Vs. New Actions

I don't believe in new year's resolutions
but I do believe that we can change.
The great thing about being human
is we can choose to do something different
and this choice
can take us down a different path
lead to new lands
and possibly a new life.

I want to look at old habits
that perhaps no longer serve me
and find the new actions
that can take me where I want to go
or even lead me to things that
I never thought I could achieve.

Acgtions that represent my generous life
Actions that reflect my trustworthy nature
Actions that speak to
the prosperous life I am already living.

Out with the old
        in with the new.

Passion Party #468 - Playing BIG in 2013

Marianne Williamson wrote this insightful message:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God! Your playing small doesn't' serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Please join me on Wednesday, January 30, 2013, at 8:00 PM as Secrets are Revealed, with the George Kahn "Secrets" Quintet