Living on purpose. It's a growing, evolving process. It takes focus, clarity and regular reflection. Here's one story about a client's evolution and effort to stay on purpose.
Paul is doing some incredible things. His business bottom line is up and stronger than ever. There are new opportunities on the horizon allowing him to live his dream and in many ways he's on the leading edge in his industry.
I met Paul four years ago. He was referred to me when I was making marketing calls to businesses in my area. Paul was very interested in personal and professional development. Our first call lead to some interesting conversations and Paul subsequently participated in many classes I taught. Two years ago, Paul joined my purpose discovery workshop, resulting in his purpose statement:
I eagerly seek to acquire and share knowledge to be of benefit to all.
Paul told me he had always wanted to be a public speaker and to him, his purpose statement was a clear reflection of this desire. By understanding this is what he naturally loved doing and sought to contribute, Paul began to shift his life and pursue his dream. We started a weekly coaching program. He also signed up for Toastmasters to hone his speaking skills and he hasn't looked back.
Paul's company is a small independent wholesale supplier of cleaning and sanitation products. You might be thinking to yourself, That doesn't seem very glamorous. I thought you said he's doing some incredible things. He's just selling cleaning products.
Paul's business is selling cleaning products, but his real passion is infection control. He has taken it upon himself to develop an expertise in cleaning and infection control so healthy people don't get sick and sick people have a chance to heal. He's not a scientist, but Paul understands the science of infection control. His real specialty, however, is the Art of Infection Control. He's the what to do and how to do it guy people in his local health care community often turn to for advice.
Today, aside from running his business, Paul speaks at conferences and is connecting leading experts in the field of infection control with the front line hospital and nursing home staff across the country by leading and facilitating group TeleLectures on the phone.
Let's back up two years. Although he longed to speak in front of groups, Paul felt handicapped by a slight stutter. It wasn't until he realized what his purpose was, ...to acquire and share knowledge... that despite his reticence, he decided to go for it.
Paul is developing an excellent reputation now and in just two years, is known as an expert in his field. He has no Ph.D. in science and doesn't really need one. He calls on others' scientific expertise when needed. He's able to make a fantastic contribution through what he knows, The Art of Infection Control -- how to use the Science.
Education in the Art of Infection Control is part of Paul's vehicle for touching the world. In the beginning, Paul had a lot of doubts about actually making this happen. I need a degree, he thought. No one will take me seriously, he told me. I don't know how to speak to groups, etc., etc. All of these issues have been overcome and he is indeed living his dream. His goal of speaking and sharing his knowledge and insights aligns with who he is. It just seems natural. When you act in alignment with your deepest drive to contribute, it never really feels like work.
Then, last week, with two years of success behind him, Paul called me and said, I'm not sure if I'm on track or if my purpose is correct.
Sometimes even when we know the direction we want to go, we can get lost. We lose sight of our goal; we forget why we're doing something or maybe the day-to-day pressures and distractions make it seem like we're off track. Maybe we think our purpose is not big enough.
So, with this new doubt we took some time and reviewed Paul's purpose. (We only wonder if we're off track when we're in doubt, when we lose focus, when our vision is cloudy. Of course most of us don't review if we're on purpose, when we're feeling great, focused and aligned.)
This may sound simple, but in review, I asked Paul if he was still eagerly seeking to acquire and share his knowledge. He said yes. Then I asked him to look at his drive to do this and o be of benefit to all.
Is this still what you are trying to do? Yes, it is.
Does this purpose still reflect your deepest drive to contribute? Another resounding YES!
Then is this statement of purpose indeed still absolutely valid? YES!
Are you sure there is nothing missing or is there something else you need to add? No said Paul, I guess I wasn't really seeing things with my purpose in focus.
Paul was reconnected to his purpose.
Because of the clarity of his actions and intention, Paul is doing incredible things in all aspects of his life. His business, his church life, and his relationships all continue to grow and be aligned with his unique contribution, despite occasional feelings of doubt or distraction. Living a meaningful life, one of purpose, is an evolving process. As a matter of fact, it's a lifetime job.
SPECIAL NOTE
Usually we equate success with being on purpose. But note: you can be 100% on purpose and not necessarily succeed or reach your goal. Your purpose is about your drive to contribute. It is what you are trying to do and at which you may or may not succeed. Purpose is the driver. In Paul's case, the driver is o acquire and share knowledge to be of benefit to all.
Maybe he is unsuccessful in acquiring a certain nugget of knowledge or is unsuccessful in clearly sharing his knowledge. This does not mean he is not on purpose. The mere fact of attempting to acquire and trying to share knowledge shows alignment with purpose.
Sure, we all want to be successful but it is not the only criteria by which we measure your alignment with your purpose. We measure being on purpose as the process of authentically seeking to create the results you want. It is the process of being and doing and is not necessarily tied to immediate results.
Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela all strived for years in the service of their purpose, often meeting with defeat after defeat. They too may have had setbacks and doubts, yet continued to keep focused on their purpose.
If you get stuck, try stepping back from the esults and look at the bigger process. Are your actions aligned with your deepest drive to contribute and live a purposeful life? Only you know, and your answers will reveal to you if you are on purpose. You may need to make a few adjustments or maybe, if you are like Paul, just need a reminder that you are on the right track.
Robert Knowlton is an Executive and Business Success Coach. Coaching executives, managers and teams in leadership development, communication strategies, and discovering organizational purpose and vision. Visit my web site at: http://www.SuccessOptions.com/ezine.htm?SF
GENNY GETS A LESSON IN POWEROscar BruceGenny Lloyd watched open-mouthed as Glenn Holloway came
barreling through the room almost at a run, his face beet-
red, his expensive jacket slung over his shoulder like an
old sweatshirt, and clearly so furious he didn't even know
the others were there. When he disappeared into his corner
office with a thunderous slam of the door, Genny looked
around and asked wonderingly, What on earth was THAT all
about?
That, said the man next to her, was about the fact that
Oscar has once again wiped the floor with him in a meeting.
He can't stand it - he always acts like that afterward.
You'll get used to it.
Genny was puzzled. Hasn't Glenn been here longer than Oscar
Bruce? Sure, and that's why it makes Glenn so mad when
Oscar pulls off one of these coups. Our fearless leader will
spend weeks getting a presentation ready, making sure it's
perfect. And then he has to sit there while Oscar just
wings it effortlessly. Then when the time comes to vote,
the votes go to Oscar. You can always tell when he's come
out of one of those.
Genny was baffled. She hadn't been here long, but she'd had
time to learn that Glenn was a capable man who knows the
business inside and out. How could Oscar Bruce give him so
much trouble, she wondered?
Oscar Bruce
Gives Advice to Gennys questions
LANGUAGE is your only source of real power. You have a
language, of course. You may have more than one. It's almost
a sure bet you have not been using that language with the
kind of expert skill of which you are fully capable.
Youve probably been let to believe that people who use
language with great skill are either orn with a silver
tongue in their mouths or have acquired their skill over
the course of many years of intensive training.
Oscar Bruce helps people upgrade their Conversation skills.
For questions or Comments email:
www.oscarbruce.com
He can also be reached at High Profile
PO Box 725, Burnet TX 78611
Phone 512-715-0157
All is won or lost in just a few seconds. This can be a
terrifying thought. Lasting impressions are made during the
first few moments after you meet a person. Thus, your first
meeting may be your only opportunity to generate a favorable
outcome.
This is the point where a failure to prepare sets the stage
for disaster. I define this terrifying event as The Dialog
Dilemma. That's when your mind freezes during the struggle
for just the right thing to say. When your fear of saying
the wrong thing causes a brain lock.
Is there a cure for The Dialog Dilemma? Absolutely. Do
you remember the expression Preparation precedes
opportunity?. Or, this one: Failing to prepare is
preparing for failure.
YOUR KEYS TO A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION, and to avoiding
disastrous misstatements and blunders. First, get all your
systems focused on your purpose and intended outcome for
your meeting. Second, have a wide arsenal of opening
questions that will provide control of the conversation.
Third, listen with total focus and interest to each
response. It's impossible to blunder while you are
listening.
GREAT FIRST IMPRESSIONS are about the other person. It's
when the individual you've met realizes that he or she is
your primary focus, that they will never forget you.
Oscar Bruce
E-mail: mailto:oscar@oscarbruce.com
WANT MORE INFORMATION? http://www.oscarbruce.com
http://www.fearlesspublications.com
Fearless Publications
PO Box 725
Burnet, TX 78611
Phone 512-715-0157
Time is the great equalizer for all of us. We all have 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week, yielding 168 hours per week. Take out 56 hours for sleep (we do spend about a third of our week dead) and we are down to 112 hours to achieve all the results we desire. We cannot save time (ever have any time left over on a Sunday night that you could lop over to the next week?), it can only be spent. And there's only two ways to spend our time: we can spend it wisely, or, not so wisely.
We can effectively increase the amount of time available to us each week by working smarter rather than working harder. In my twenty years as a full-time Professional Speaker on the topic of Time Management, I have noted five sure fire ways to make an immediate impact on increasing our available time each week.
Engage an intern Most high schools and community colleges offer intern programs for their students. The student is assigned to a real-life organization for 10-20 hours per week. They are typically unpaid but do earn academic credit and make great contacts and the organization gets an extra pair of hands. The person who is assigned the intern can now delegate any number of things to the intern to free up their time for more productive matters. It's a Win-Win deal for both.
Run an Interruptions Log It would be great if we could plan our day the night before and then make that plan happen as scheduled. The real world is different. We have to deal with interruptions. Interruptions are unanticipated events that come to us via the telephone (any of the electronic stuff: beepers, pagers, email, etc.) or in person. Many interruptions are important and are what we may be paid to handle. However, many interruptions have little or no value to our responsibilities. Run an Interruptions Log for about a week. List every interruption as it occurs and rate its value to you. A=Crucial, B=Important, C=Little value, D= No value. After the week of logging them in, review the list and take action to eliminate the repetitive C and D interruptions and re-capture some wasted time.
Run a Crisis Management Log Crisis management for the most part is when the deadline has snuck up upon you and robbed you of choice, you have to respond and you are a slave to the clock. Crisis management is generally poor time management because you're rushing, the quality of your performance suffers, your stress level is elevated, and, most important, you are often having to go back and re-do what was done in the first place. If you want to manage it, measure it. Run a Crisis Management Log for a week. After encountering every crisis, log it in on a piece of paper. After a week of accumulating the data, go back through every crisis that occurred and ask yourself, Which one of these could have been avoided? and start to take corrective steps to stop their reoccurrence and buy back some smarter time for your weeks ahead.
Become a Speed Reader The average person reads about two hours per day at a rate of about 200 words per minute. (We get more information exposures in one day today than people in the year 1900 received in a lifetime.) Speed-reading is a simple skill that is easy to learn and improves with consistent practice. The average person can easily double their reading rate and thereby cut their reading time in half or double the volume of reading material they can go through in the same amount of time.
Do Daily Planning A stitch in time saves 9. Every grandmother knows this. Every minute of planning will save you nine minutes in execution. Walt Whitman, the poet, said it best, The most powerful time is when we are alone, thinking about what we are to do. Daily Planning helps us to focus on what is really crucial and important in our day to come and permits us to identify time wasters in advance to avoid them and use that time more productively.
Dr. Donald E. Wetmore has been a full-time Professional Speaker for the last 20 years having made over 2,000 presentations to audiences from around the Globe. For more information, contact Don via email at:
ctsem@msn.com or call him at: (203) 929-9902. Sign up now for our free TIMELY TIME MANAGEMENT TIPS. Just go to: http://www.topica.com/lists/timemanagement and select subscribe. We welcome you aboard!
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