4 Must Do's To Fulfill Your Purpose

Ever since I did my first podcast titled, The First Thing To Do When You Want to Change Careers , I’ve been getting messages via social media and directly from people commenting they feel have clarity on what they want to do, but…

In that (first) episode, we talked about finding your purpose (and writing your headline). If you haven’t had a chance to listen to that podcast , it might be helpful to go to it or revisit it.

We talked about gaining clarity regarding what you want out of life and what you want to offer this world.

A lot of the comments I got from people mentioned they have clarity regarding what they want to do, but can’t seem to fulfill it . They can’t seem to get it to work! I read, “I feel like I know how, but I’m not quite sure what I’m not doing.”

I thought as I was remarking back to these listeners and readers there are four (must do’s) that absolutely have to be done in order to truly fulfill your purpose.

Before we dive in, I’m going to assume you know what it is you want to offer this world. (If not, see the first podcast for help.) Let’s just say you have that clarity.

Most people, once they realize that clarity, immediately want to go into the “how.” How am I going to make this happen?

SACRIFICE [First things first. You need to be willing to give up—a lot.]

While that’s a step I would recommend, it isn’t the place I would start. The place I’d start is with sacrifice .

Trust me when I tell you, determining how you’ll fulfill your purpose will be much easier than dealing with what you’re going to need to give up.

Do you want it badly enough you’re willing to sacrifice for it?

Before you concern yourself with how you’re going to get it done, take stock. If you’re unwilling to sacrifice in order to overcome the obstacles and all you’ll need to learn and all you’ll need to do to become proficient, you’re never going to make it happen.

This is the first and probably most common issue that derails anybody from achieving anything. Whether that’s living their purpose or achieving their goals.

So, the first thing you need to do is make sure you’re not only clear regarding what you’ll sacrifice, but also actually follow through and sacrifice it.

This could be a hobby, time with your friends, or dinners out. This could be whatever you do to enjoy life. Maybe, even what you think are “necessities.”

In order to do something big with yourself, you’re going to have to give up big things.

You are bigger than you can imagine. What you have to offer this world is bigger than you can imagine. It really is.

Here’s something you’ll need to accept. Of all the people in your life you touch or make a profound impact on…most of them will never even let you know you made a great impact on their life.

Trust me when I tell you, the things you’re doing, whatever they are, however innocuous you think they are, they are impacting people.

You might find out months later or years later. You may never find out. But, you have to trust that what you’re doing is worth it and you need to be willing to sacrifice in order to give it to the world.

I think about what I sacrifice in my life to make sure you can get my message. It’s worth it to me.

LEARN [You never stop being a student.]

The second must do is understanding and accepting the fact you are going to need to learn things you don’t know. Not only are you going to have to learn things you don’t know, you’ll also have to keep learning new ways to do things you already know how to do!

Are you willing to learn and adjust?

Here’s what happens. You decide [your purpose] and what you want to offer the world. You decide what you’re going to accomplish. You decide your goals.

Then you start learning and become proficient. Then you’re cruising along and start to see you’re really contributing value to the world.

Then as soon as you get proficient…bang! The world changes.

It’s bad enough there are obstacles simply to learn what you need to learn. It’s bad enough people aren’t going to cooperate and life’s not going to cooperate.

On top of that, the world is going to change. That’s a given. It’s going to evolve. It’s going to present new ways for you to deliver whatever it is you’re delivering and you’re going to need to make changes. That’s a given. The only thing that isn’t a given is what you’re going to do about it.

Here’s a great acid test. It’s something I ask myself before I undertake something because I want to give it my best.

There’s a huge difference between a passing interest and a deep desire to do something, accomplish something, or be part of something.

What I do before undertake it—to know whether or not I will take it to fulfillment—is ask myself, “Am I willing to struggle when it gets hard? Will I be okay with that? Will I deal with the struggles, whether they’re daily, monthly, or yearly?”

If you’re willing to struggle, I promise you there is a deep desire because that’s the huge difference.

People have lots of interests and it’s great when all is going well. But, as soon as something goes wrong, they stop. They throw in the towel. They give up. They let go.

Sure, they were interested (at one point), but they didn’t have a deep desire.

Here’s a great example. I love writing. I wish I could just write everything, shoot it out into the world. Have you read it and get those great takeaways.

No. The world says, “Hang on. People want to see things differently. They [actually] want to see it on video. They want it coming through their ear buds. They don’t have time to read. They want to listen while they’re driving.”

All of these new inventions and technologies we’ve created are wonderful. They allow us to meet and access more people. But, this also means I have to create products and messages that use different mediums. That requires extra work.

That’s more painful, BUT I feel like what I have to share with you is important. You’re important to me. Getting this message to you is important to me!

Whether there’s only one of you listening or a hundred or a thousand or a hundred thousand. I think this message is important. I hope you learn something from it. If I’m able to touch one person, I’m going to go to great lengths to transfer my message. Hopefully that person’s life will be changed.

You are going to need to think about this. It matters.

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BELIEVE [You must believe in yourself no matter what.]

The third must do comes even when you have clarity, ever though you struggle, and even though you’re becoming proficient. It asks, “Will you continually believe in yourself no matter what? Will succeed no matter what it takes, no matter what the world throws at you, no matter the challenges you encounter. Do you believe? Do you trust your own ability to figure it out? Will you overcome those obstacles?”

There’s a great quote, I’m sure many of you have heard. No truer words have ever been spoken than the ones by Henry Ford who said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”

It doesn’t matter how proficient you are or how much skill you have. If you don’t believe in your ability to make it happen, you won’t.

That’s number three. Will you believe in yourself no matter what?

FOCUS [With a vision, your why, and the how, you’ll be focused.]

The fourth must do really troubles people, especially in our world today and the speed at which everything changes. You have so much coming at you through the television, through the radio, through the Internet, through the social sites. There are constant distractions.

Will you remain focused because your love for fulfilling that purpose is greater than anything else that enters your life?

You have clarity and are willing to learn. You will overcome the challenges. But, as those daily surprises and opportunities surface, will you be able to remain focused? Will you remember why you got into this in the first place? Can you remove the noise?

You can try to swat away the obstacles, but there are actually three [reasons] you stay focused.

You have strategy and you have a vision. [If you understand your why and you understand your purpose, I assume you have that.]

The “why” you want to make that happen is the second key ingredient. Many times people forget their why. It makes them lose focus.

The how. Do you have a map? If you have a map, the map will help you weather the storm.

Focus is really about staying true to all you’ve already developed.

What is your purpose? Why is that important to you? How will you achieve it?

You’ve already developed this. By the time you encounter these focal distractions, you have all the tools necessary to overcome them.

Even so, common sense does not mean common practice. In this case, this wasn’t all common sense, but there was sense to what you did and what you put together and why you put it together and the reasons you got engaged in whatever it was in the first place.

Once you have clarity around your why and what you want to offer the world and how you want to give it to them, it comes down to being able to sacrifice those things that might enjoyments or “necessities” or whatever. But, you need to be willing to give those up.

Are you willing to learn and continually learn whatever it is you don’t know?

Then, once you do know it, are you willing to adjust to better ways of doing it?

Will you believe in yourself no matter what?

Will you stay focused?

If you can do this, I think you’ll be very, very effective at fulfilling your purpose!

As always, I’ve got some show notes, extra reading, and links to articles. I hope this really helps. For me, it’s about doing those four things everyday. Until next week, have a great one.