Posted: January 5th, 2010 | Filed under: insights, life purpose | Tags: personal mastery | No Comments »
2009 was a tough year. I was made redundant and haven’t secured full-time paid employment yet. Despite appearing negative, all times of change are an opportunity for growth and I, like a great many others have been reassessing how to make a living.
Recently I came across the story of R. Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome, inventor of the word “synergy”, and general modern-day Renaissance Man. In 1927 He was facing tough times; really tough times; a daughter dead at four, five businesses failed, bankruptcy was imminent and his wife had just given birth. He had decided he couldn’t take it any more and went to the shores of Lake Michigan to drown himself. Before doing so he sat on the bank and asked himself a question: was there a God, a greater intelligence operating in the Universe? Yes, he decided, on the basis of “the exquisite design of everything, from the microcosm of atoms to the macromagnitudes of the galaxies”.
Given there must be a God, some form of higher intelligence, he then asked “Do I know best or does God know best whether I may be of any value to the universe?” He concluded that his very existence meant that he had some purpose in life, some value to bring. But what? He asked a third question:
“What does my experience tell me needs to be attended to, which if attended to completely will bring advantage to all humanity, and which if left unattended can very readily have all of humanity in great trouble?”
He didn’t drown himself that day, instead he decided to dedicate his life to answering that question; to focusing all of his energies on his one thing that would change the world for the better.
Nearly 50 years later R. Buckminster Fuller had earned the description of ‘a twentieth-century DaVinci’, and it was estimated that one-quarter of a billion people had come into contact with some aspect of his work.
This story brought home to me again the vital importance of discovering and living your purpose in life – ‘your one thing’. Everyone has a purpose, a unique contribution to the world. We are all utterly unique, and what also makes us unique also mean that we can all have our own individual profound impact on the world that enriches it every day. There are three jobs we all have in life: 1. Find your unique purpose 2. Live it every day 3. Enrich the world with your unique talents.
Your life purpose is the reason why you are here in the world. It’s the impact that the uniqueness that is you can have on the world. Your life purpose is ongoing and a way of being. Your life purpose informs every area of your life. It gives you direction. Because your life purpose is unique to you, it is your source of power.
There are as many different types of life purpose as there are definitions of success. Some people’s purpose will be centred on the achievement of something physical – winning, buying or building something – which in effect amounts to having. Others will be centred on their work, project or career – or what they are doing. Our prime or first purpose, however, is always who we are being. It is who we are being that leads to achieving our life purpose. Your life purpose may not be directly centred on your work but you can always be passionate about your work because it is a vehicle to help you live your life purpose.
Finding your life purpose is about finding the answer to a simple, yet powerful question:
What is the one way of your being that makes you special, that you will be known for, and will be the legacy you leave?
2009 personally was a tough year but I have realised that the way to thrive in 2010 is by adding my unique value to the world in all aspects for my life – my career, family, relationships everything. My unique purpose is my source of value and power. And what is it?
My life purpose is to enrich the world by empowering its creativity. I help create personal and business change for creative people. I do this as a personal mentor and communications strategist. As a personal mentor I help people to create balance in their lives and achieve their dreams. As a strategist I inspire creativity that generates business results.
I intend to make 2010 the ‘year of my one thing’. What is your unique contribution to the world and how will that manifest itself in 2010?
Posted: October 1st, 2009 | Filed under: life purpose | Tags: food | No Comments »
In a humanist burial ceremony Keith Floyd – chef, bon viveur, bow-tie wearer, and a whole host of other excellent adjectives – was cremated in a coffin made of banana leaves and draped with sunflowers. A last creative act from a remarkable man.
Not without his faults (extremely heavy drinking mainly) Keith brought his unique character to cooking and helped demystify food to a nation that was just beginning its current love affair with celebrity chefs.
On the day of his death the Twittersphere was buzzing about it. Documentaries have appeared on TV, and I am sure that there will be the inevitable re-release of his books and TV series on DVD.
Keith Floyd was much loved because he stood out from the crowd. His passion for food and warmth of character were clear for all to see.
Not just because I love food, I have been very struck by the reaction to Keith’s death until I realised that we all love creative people, people who dare to be different, who are not afraid to expose their weaknesses. Keith Floyd is someone we can talk about. He decided to make a difference with his life, in his own way – he created remarkability. Remarkability in that he stood out from the crowd, and remarkability in that we had stories to talk about him. By creating remarkability Keith left the world a richer place for his being here – the one thing we should all do, otherwise what is the point?
I am celebrating my birthday this weekend over dinner with some close friends – I’ll make sure that we all raise a glass to salute the life of a remarkable man.
Posted: September 25th, 2009 | Filed under: life purpose | Tags: personal mastery | No Comments »
Jim Collins, author of “Good to Great” (one of the best business books you will ever read) has written a new book examining failures and successes; lessons that apply in both our work and our personal lives.
So many of us at the moment are suffering setbacks in our lives having been made redundant; now looking for new employment or working out how to work for ourselves. In the difficult days “never give in” is encouragement you really want to hear.
“The main message of our work remains: we are not imprisoned by our circumstances, our setbacks, our history, our mistakes, or even staggering defeats along the way. We are freed by our choices.
The signature of the truly great versus the merely successful is not the absence of difficulty, but the ability to come back from setbacks, even cataclysmic catastrophes, stronger than before. Great nations can decline and recover. Great companies can fail and recover. Great social institutions can fail and recover. And great individuals can fail and recover. As long as you never get entirely knocked out of the game, there always remains hope.
“This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Winston Churchill
Never give in. Be willing to change tactics, but never give up your core purpose. Be willing to kill failed business ideas, even to shutter big operations you’ve been in for a long time, but never give up on the idea of building a great company. Be willing to evolve into an entirely different portfolio of activities, even to the point of zero overlap with what you do today, but never give up on the principles that define your culture. Be willing to embrace the inevitability of creative destruction, but never give up on the discipline to create your own future. Be willing to embrace loss, to endure pain, to temporarily lose freedoms, but never give up on the ability to prevail. Be willing to form alliances with former adversaries, to accept necessary compromise, but never – ever – give up on your core values.
The path out of darkness begins with those exasperatingly persistent individuals who are constitutionally incapable of capitulation. It’s one thing to suffer a staggering defeat – as will likely happen to every enduring business and social enterprise at some point in its history – and entirely another to give up on the values and aspirations that make the protracted struggle worthwhile. Failure is not so much a physical state as a state of mind: success is falling down and getting up one more time, without end.”
Jim Collins, “How the Mighty Fall. And Why Some Companies Never Give In”
Posted: May 18th, 2009 | Filed under: creativity, insights, life purpose | Tags: personal mastery | No Comments »
Since the dawn of the human race 106 billion people have lived on this planet. 5.8% of whom are alive today. So, the problems that face you, are they really so large given 106 billion lifetime experiences? Think of the opportunities you have – they are a thousand times greater than the ones facing most people who have ever lived. Knowing that, how are you going to make them happen?
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