Finding your purpose

Helen Kheller once said: “Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” Self-gratification is rampant in our times, but as people try to gain more things, they tend lose themselves. In this article, we want to share the importance of finding your own personal mission. Understanding your personal purpose can also help you discover your purpose in business or help you realize your life’s work. It will certainly help you to gain greater peace within yourself and confidence in the decisions you make.

Bill Cohen in his book, Life Mapping, concludes that our individual purpose can be discovered by studying ourselves to determine our unique skills and abilities. He asks: “What special gifts have you been given? We can’t wait for someone to come along and tell us how it all began or what is our individual purpose. We need to seek the answers ourselves.”

Richard N. Bolles, author of “What Color Is Your Parachute?” was asked by a woman about how to find one’s mission in life. She asked this because in his book he states that one’s mission in life arises naturally as a part of many people’s search for the right job. Bolles states “We are to begin deciphering our unique mission by studying our talents and skill, and more particularly which ones we most rejoice to use.

“Your unique and individual mission will most likely turn out to be a mission of Love, acted out in one or all of three arenas: either in the Kingdom of the Mind, whose goal is to bring more Truth into the world; or in the Kingdom of the Heart, whose goal is to bring more beauty into the world; or in the Kingdom of the Will, whose goal is to bring more Perfection into the world, through Service.”

Once you understand your purpose, the next step is to create your own belief list. These beliefs will guide your thinking and actions so that you can stay on purpose in whatever you pursue. Bill Cohen suggests that one needs to be patient, and there is no hurry to create your list. “Read, visit with people who might already have a well-defined belief list, and take the time to think about all of the options. More important, listen to that little voice in your head. It is your inner blueprint speaking to you.”

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960) created a belief list that helped guide his decisions, and they may give you some insight into creating your own. Here are some of his beliefs. Please note that each of Rockefeller’s statements begin with “I believe.”

– I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

– I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

– I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

– I believe in the dignity of labor whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living, but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

– I believe that thrift is essential to well-ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business, or personal affairs.

– I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.

– I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man’s word should be as good as his bond; that character – not wealth or power or position – is of supreme worth.

– I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individual’s highest fulfillment, greatest happiness, and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His will.

– I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.

Once you understand your purpose, and develop a clear belief list, you will not be at the mercy of those who would influence you for their own benefit. You can choose activities that allow you to maintain “fidelity to a worth purpose.” Your purpose can give you greater meaning in what you do in your business or at work.

If you have not already done so, you should seek to discover your purpose and then develop your personal beliefs that support that purpose. By losing yourself in this pursuit, you may find yourself. And what you find may be greater than any gift you could be given at Christmas because you will be able to share it with others throughout the year.

(Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They can be contacted at: biz_results@yahoo.com)