I have often read about the need for a high-growth individual like me needs to have a purpose statement. At first, I thought that creating a purpose statement is as easy as making up a sentence. I used this sentence of mine to seek mentorship from well-meaning people. Some might have tried, and others neglected, to tell me about an error in my statement. My purpose statement was outward looking. It was selfless thus making it seem like my happiness and energy is dependent on external forces.
Besides, I wanted to help SMMEs to know about the information I discovered when doing my master’s in finance. It was apparent that SMMEs would stop struggling and begin to thrive once this information is public. The fact was that I found this information in the public space and it was never my business to worry about small businesses. Worrying like this undermined business owners and painted them as ignorant. I thus had to make my purpose personal and internal.
Finding Purpose
I then consulted and reached out to more and more mentors and coaches to refine my purpose statement. I finally figured it out. It was a few days before I had to shoot a video about what my purpose in life was. The words came rushing into my head: “My purpose is to assist individuals who are information deprived with where to get the information, how to use this information, and the necessary steps needed before one proceeds”. The beauty of my purpose statement is that it mattered not whether I was employed by others, consulting, or an entrepreneur.
It also mattered not what information I was to trade here. My purpose was finally big enough for me to know why I woke up in the morning. It became apparent that I was a knowledge entrepreneur or Knowledgepreneur as it is known lately. Nonetheless, I still remember the pain of being confused to find my true purpose statement. As a Knowledgepreneur, it would be against my values not to share how you could finally discover your true purpose.
The Research
Before we start with the list of recommended steps, I would like to share some alarming insights. According to Hal Elrod, If you ask the average person what their life purpose is, you will probably get a funny look or a response like “I don’t know.” The average person can’t articulate their life purpose—the compelling “why” that drives them to wake up every day and do whatever it takes to fulfil their mission in life. What we rather want to do is to focus on activities that are easier to do than confronting our lack of purpose.
This is because we think about what we are used to thinking about and we never want to challenge ourselves. Apparently, research shows that the average person thinks somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 thoughts. The problem is that ninety-five percent of our thoughts are the same as the ones we thought of the day before, the day before that, and the day before that. It’s no wonder most people go through life, day after day, month after month, year after year, and never change the quality of their lives. Having a purpose might try to add new thinking before you take a decision thus giving you power over your life. All this depends on the process being followed when creating a purpose statement.
Three Steps to Discover Purpose
To discover or redefine your purpose in life, as Step 1, please answer the following questions: (1) What are three things you are great at? (2) What are three things you love to do? (3) What gets you super excited (revs your engine)? (4) What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? (5) What do you know most about? (6) What would you like to know most about? (7) Who are the three people you admire most (and for each, briefly explain why)? (8) If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be? (9) What would you like to be/to do/to have so badly that you would be willing to make a big sacrifice to achieve it? (10) Whom do you most want to help (could be a living thing or group)?
After finding good answers to the above ten questions, as in Step 2, you must review all your answers. You are free to ask someone to help you when you feel you get stuck or when you are biased toward the ideal purpose statement that doesn’t align with your answers. The aim is to identify patterns and areas of overlap as recommenced by Napoleon Hill’s journal. What we are looking for (your purpose) will be at the intersection of what you are good at and passionate about. In my case, I knew that I was good at starting a conversation with strangers. I was also passionate about making my conversations valuable to all people I converse with. It was also my passion to research and read extensively looking for what I didn’t know previously. It thus made sense for me to write my purpose is sharing information not with everyone but rather those who are information deprived.
Step 3 and the last one is sharing your purpose statement with others. This is a reminder that you are the author of your own life and mostly the author of this book of your life. You are likely to feel in control once you start telling others why you woke up that morning. Even if you decide to keep it a secret, your actions will soon be louder than your non-existent words. The three steps aim to unlock all the potential (secrets) to unlocking the achievement of health, wealth, happiness, and self-fulfilment. Your statement, like mine, must be personal and does not have to cover all aspects of your life. The aim is to create one to give you focus thus having a meaningful life.
Conclusion
There is much written about the benefits of having a purpose statement. My personal purpose statement continues to allow me to enrol in numerous university qualifications and share what I know with others despite the opinions of naysayers. This is because my purpose statement is stronger than my employment, my family mission, the rules, etcetera. Now that I have drafted a purpose statement I feel in control of my life and have the power to even wake up at 3 am to read a book.
Research has shown us that we have between 50 000 and 60 000 daily thoughts which remain the same day by day. What we are doing (with our thoughts) is much more important in shaping what we are becoming. Thus, having a purpose in life will give you much power to shape your future today. There are only three steps we could follow to draft our purpose statement. The first involves honesty in answering ten questions to assist in the second step where we find a pattern and discover our purpose statement. The last step is sharing with others so that they would know what energises us today to be the person we want to become tomorrow.
