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What is life about? Is there some purpose to life or am I just drifting through the universe with no real part to play other than what pleases me? I believe that there is purpose in the universe and that we have a part to play in that purpose, if we want it.

To understand this I think we must look at the spiritual side of life. Those of you who read this blog regularly may feel this goes against the down to earth, practical approach that I promote. Well – I think spirituality is part of life and needs careful thought. Often faith is a very practical thing – bear with me because I think when you are trying to work out a purpose this stuff is very important.

It seems to be the done thing, at the moment, to invent your own version of the spirituality of the universe. We are encouraged to focus our attention on ourselves and how we feel most comfortable thinking about the spiritual. We must aim for those things that make us feel the best about the way things are in our life and then surround ourselves with a personal spirituality. There is a part of me that really likes this idea but I see one major flaw in it. If there is a God then God must actually be like something. What if God had actually chosen to reveal himself to people – not in little bits and pieces that we can pick up on and discover like a kind of mirror broken into millions of pieces but as he actually is.

The major faiths all believe that this is exactly what he has done. What I fear is that most people decide about spirituality based on what they know of their followers. Although I can understand this in my search for truth I find this too restricting. I also find that the bad followers of a religion tend to get far more attention than the good followers.

Without going in to the details I can say that for me the teachings of Jesus Christ seem to be what makes the most sense. Like everyone I am sometimes alarmed by the lack of Christian love in some churches but I also see through history the way that great Christian love has changed things for the better. Where it is followed fully the Christian faith makes a very positive difference to peoples lives.

Jesus Christ was very keen on talking about “the kingdom”. Essentially a place where God got his way. Jesus described this place as being wonderful and he was also keen to point out that we can be part of that kingdom now.

I don’t know if you think Jesus was God’s son or just bonkers but I personally think he understood the purpose of life and the universe better than anyone else ever has.

If you want to understand your purpose then you need to begin with an appreciation of the greater purpose of which we are a part. This greater purpose is, I believe, what Jesus described as the “kingdom of God”.

In God’s kingdom we have a part to play – a part that God has planned in. I also believe that the role we play is up to us. We don’t have to do what God want’s us too but life is going to be an awful lot better if we do.

If you want to understand your purpose you need to ask God to help you find it.

On a training day this week I was challenged over what personal effectiveness actually means. What does it mean to be personally more effective? I think this was an important question that forced me to think things through again about what I think personal effectiveness is all about.

You see the person asking the question had spent a lot of time working with her team to get them to be more effective in the workplace. They had examined proceedures and how they interact with customers etc, they had even spent time working out what paperwork was not necessary. All of these things are very valid ways of making an organisation more effective.

However I want to say that personal effectiveness goes much deeper than simple proceedures. I could teach you how to use your time more effectively but unless you see the point in manageing that time you won’t adopt the system. I could spend my time spelling out a system for goal setting but unless you understand that goals are important you won’t bother setting any.

Often we get so would up about the system that we forget the purspose of the system.

I happen to think that systems are very important (read this blog to find out more) but if all we do is slavishly follow the system then we lost sight of why we follow the system which will render the system useless.

I’m often asked why it is that people start self improvement full of entuhsiasm but after a short while they just give in and go back to the same old ways. The answer lies deeper than the system. The system is just a means to an end but unless you are fully committed to the end the system is pointless.

Which leads me back to my question about personal effectiveness. I believe personal effectiveness begins with knowing yourself. You have to know what motivates you and what doesn’t. You need to understand your values, your hopes, your dreams. Without knowing your self you will never find a system that will make you more effective.

In a recent study undertaken by Jennifer Crocker and Yu Niiya from the University of Michigan and Dominik Mischkowski from the University of Konstanz it has been shown that thinking about what you value can help you in life.

It has long been believed that reflecting on your values raises your self esteem and so makes you less defensive when you have to address your problems. However this study has shown that reflecting on values makes you more focussed on others which makes them more loving and connected to others.

Read the rest of this entry »

Avoiding burnout often entails taking a pro-active approach to life. When you take control of your life it greatly reduces the stress you experience from others.

It is very important to understand why you are doing something. You cannot decide if something is worth doing until you know why you are doing it. Read the rest of this entry »

Call me old fashioned but there is something about a hero that I like. I think we need more heroes and less villains who amuse us. Heroes are the people who make this world a better place to be in. Yes they have flaws and they make mistakes but we need heroes to make the world better.

Who is your hero? I guess we could get a very long list of very worthy people if you answered. But I want you to make sure there is at least one name on your list. That name should be your own.

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Overview

Take some time to discover your purpose. Here I outline a method for working out it all. I see your purpose as the starting point of your future. You need to know where you are starting from before you can choose the path to your destination.

Why bother with a purpose statement?

Most of us meander through life hoping that somehow we will get lucky and things will work out. It’s a basic belief that the gambling industry – one of the biggest industries in the world – exploits for its own gain. Perhaps this will be the week that your lottery numbers will come up and life will improve for you. However there are a few who have grasped the simple truth that life is not about getting lucky breaks from nowhere but is about making your own lucky breaks.

Of course life is harder for some than for others but just because life is tough doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful – it might just take a little extra effort!

The place to start is with understanding yourself and what you are about. How can you ever make a decision, or know how to spend your valuable time if you don’t know what your priorities are and what talents you can use to achieve your goals?

A purpose statement is about taking some time to reflect on who you are. You examine your various qualities, what talents you might have and what things you value. At the end of the process you should have a clear idea of what you stand for. Although its possible to arrive at a similar statement to others what it means to you will be unique.

Then you should remind yourself regularly what you purpose statement is. It will help you prioritise your time and encourage you to employ your talents wisely.

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I’m sure we could all relate stories about stuff we have spent hours doing which turned out to be a complete waste of time. Wasting time has to be one of the biggest problems in anyone’s life. The problem is that too many of us have no idea what is important and so we waste time on what other people think is important.

Remember also that just because something is urgent doesn’t mean it is important. This is a big mistake that we all make from time to time. We assume that a sense of urgency means that something must be important.

Throughout today ask yourself the question of everything you do: Is this important?

Ask it about everything you do. Ask it about the things that are urgent as well as the things that are unimportant.

It will be tough to decide what is important but I will provide more help on this in my next post. For now though simply use your intuition to decide.

We all need to discover our purpose. Our purpose defines who we are and why we exist. This quest for purpose is apparent in nearly every religion and philosophical system. The sense that there is something bigger than our own existence and that we somehow play a part in some great story that is being worked out. Even if you don’t have a faith in something no one can deny that our actions have a much wider impact than our own small part of the world. Who knows what influence we have on other people? A simple word of encouragement or even discouragement could have a profound effect on another persons life.

So how do we discover what our purpose is?

Your purpose is revealed in your talents. If you believe your talents are given you by a higher power then they are given for a reason. If you believe talents are based on your genetics or simple psychology then it is still your talents that defines what you can achieve in life.

If you want to know your purpose – and I mean your specific purpose – then work out what your talents are and you will have gone a long way to solving your purpose riddle.

Your purpose is in who you are not who you wish you were.