Do you know what the major difference is between the book The Secret and the movie The Secret? The book tells you that in order to achieve anything you want to achieve, you need to take massive action! Surprisingly perhaps, this is the bit that didn’t make it on the screen, although it is the most common sense, obvious and important bit about achieving goals. If you’re wondering why it didn’t make it to the screen, I think it’s because taking action is not as sexy as envisioning your goals and then have them manifest out of thin air. Or is it?
Similarly, many articles on personal and professional development stress on the importance of setting goals, perhaps even on the importance of taking action, but forget a crucial ingredient – how to set goals that are meaningful to you or how to set goals that excite you and propel you forward by answering the question why – WHY ARE YOU SETTING THESE GOALS?
Random goal setting? – Not anymore!
While knowing the WHAT you want to achieve and the HOW you get there, it’s the WHY that provides the fuel to move you forward.
- You’re studying to become a doctor because you always wanted to save lives.
- You’ve started your own company because you wanted to do work that matters to you, on your own terms and with people that have the same values as you do.
- You’re hunting that promotion because you want to run the department and contribute even more to the growth of the company.
There’s a why for every goal we set and every action we take.
THE BIG WHY, aka YOUR PURPOSE
There’s a lot of why behind everything you do: go for a run this afternoon, put in an extra hour to make that report awesome, invest in another personal development course, show up for cousin Maggie’s birthday even if you don’t like her so much, set a financial goal for the next 6 months, etc
Yes, there are a lot of goals and a lot of whys. The secret to make all these goals work together and support you in everything you set to achieve, is by taking them all and place them under an umbrella called THE BIG WHY.
Let me explain what I mean… In How to Wisely Master Your Future, I mentioned the importance of setting goals in all areas of your life, and also stressing on the fact that different areas of life are meant to support each other. This for instance means that you being fit and healthy enables you to be more focused and energetic, which means you’ll perform better in trainings, courses and at work, which also means you’ll have better results in your business or your job, and being happy in your professional life will be reflected in your personal life as well.
The best way to make all areas of your life work well together, to feel how they support each other and, in return, for you to easily achieve your goals, is to ensure all your goals are ecological and fit under that big why, which is YOUR LIFE PURPOSE.
Do I have a Life Purpose?
Have you met any of those people who seem to have always known what they wanted to do with their lives and then went on and done it? Yes, those people have always known what their Life Purpose is and they followed it!
Less blessed people didn’t always know what they wanted to do but found out what their Life Purpose is and then went on and followed it!
Knowing your Life Purpose enables you to set goals in all areas of your life, goals which have a common denominator (aka your Life Purpose) and which work together to move you towards your Purpose. If you ever wondered how to set goals, why to set them, what areas of life to have goals in, the secret to setting congruent and compelling goals is to find your Purpose and ensure each and everyone of your goals moves you forward and closer to your Purpose.
Want to Know Your Life Purpose?
Book a one-off coaching session with me!
Have you read the other articles in the series?
HOW TO WISELY MASTER YOUR PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE – PART I
HOW TO WISELY MASTER YOUR PAST – PART II
HOW TO WISELY MASTER YOUR FUTURE – PART III
I think the thing that is hard with life purpose is that it can take a while to uncover it, or it changes as you grow and evolve through your life. As long as you’re working on target to it at any point, then it certainly keeps you focussed.
Yes, Nicola, and your Life Purpose would not be specific and measurable like a goal is. Your purpose would be something big which you would not be able to accomplish in your lifetime – if it were achievable, it wouldn’t motivate you to keep going once you reach it. Your Life Purpose could be to eradicate illiteracy for instance, which you could work towards in a number of ways – as a teacher who volunteers overseas, as a business owner who invests in building schools in various countries, a Fundraising Manager for an NGO who supports girls’ education across Africa… You could find your purpose through a facilitated process; there are also a lot of articles on line about purpose some better than others.