We all have the power to choose. Some call it free will. We dictate how we are going to live our lives. Circumstances will always affect us and can certainly limit our options, but choices remain.
As we grow, the larger questions in life need to be answered and for most of us, an act of will comes into play to make those decisions.
We choose a career path because we have to do a job. Then, as we follow the trajectory we have chosen, we swap roles as we climb the ladder to hit a financial level that will afford us a comfortable lifestyle.
There is nothing wrong with the pursuit of bettering oneself and climbing that ladder. Millions of people, every day, make choices to enhance their level of comfort and that of their family by trading one employer for another.
In essence, this mode of operating is very transactional. You get what you want from me and I’ll get paid to deliver. If I fail, I’ll be fired. If I succeed then I get rewarded until I can’t get rewarded anymore and then, off I’ll head somewhere else to get more.
It’s a journey that most working adults are on. Yet, deep down, it feels wrong somehow… a bit mercenary. Operating on the level where it’s all about an exchange of services and nothing more, we feel that we are letting people down. Or maybe we are the ones who feel let down by it all!
Myself? I hated it! Which is why I quit on that whole way of working. I spotted the trend in my own life fairly on and I tried to explain my dissatisfaction to my friendship circles, but they couldn’t see it. I didn’t want to be on a quest to please just for more reward. I didn’t want my life to revolve around continuously wanting more. When would it all stop? At some point, there had to be a ceiling.
The employee that can’t deliver any more value but wants more reward is common, likewise, the boss that cannot justify endless increases because they have the whole team to consider. Inevitably there will come a parting of ways.
I recently watched one of my heroes quit at the top – Jurgen Klopp – to pursue something else that was more important to him. His decision highlighted a healthy perspective and his bravery. It was clearly a tough call to make.
Klopp is walking. It’s the end of 9 years as LFC boss and he’s done it on his terms. Even so, watching that painful 24-minute interview it became apparent that he is taking a break as a means of finding purpose at this point of his life.
For Klopp, it would probably have been easier to stay, but being the top man, it would have started to show fairly quickly if his heart was no longer in it. Choosing to leave now, the club is in a better place and he has helped get everything ready for the future.
I applaud him in this because I believe that finding purpose in your life is finding something of the divine. Divine purpose is something that we all have.
In the year 2001, that divine purpose came knocking on my door. I was never in a position like Klopp BUT in my career, I had reached a fairly high point. Inside me, however, something like a pull or a call was resonating. Then, a set of circumstances presented themselves and I realised that, although it was not what I wanted, I was being faced with what I needed.
Purpose living goes beyond doing what is expected of you. It’s not the just responsible thing to do, it can be the complete opposite. People will think you are making the wrong moves! You’ll know though that tearing up the script is exactly what you are supposed to do.
Purposeful living is our reason for existing and we all have a unique set of skills, talents and abilities with which to fulfil our assignment. In reality, we have no alternative but to fulfil our purpose, no other option. It is something that we must do. There is zero alternative because when you are fulfilling your purpose it runs deep. It is authentically you.
There is an old Michael Jackson song, called Man in the Mirror which speaks of the change starting with you. The man or woman who can look in the mirror and know that they are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing is in the very best place that there is to be.
Can you look in the mirror and know that you are doing what you are supposed to be doing, ie. fulfilling your assignment? If you can’t, then make a change! The people you’re supposed to impact need you to make that change now!
Purpose should be embraced. Everyone has a calling and in times like these, we need to heed that call. It comes from deep in your heart.
Perhaps you have quit on following purpose and made a few wrong judgments. Don’t forget that you can always reset. If you need to apologise and go again, then do it! Pick up the phone and make purpose your priority. Be brave and do what it takes!
When faced with making a choice, there is nothing that compares with embracing divine purpose and purposeful living. When you do it, you’ll find the life you were born to live.
Positivity, progress and of course purposeful living!
Watch the latest episode of the Purpose People Podcast today via the image link below…
