Hello Friends,
This week we will continue giving thought to our Purpose. Today we will discuss life’s challenges that can knock us off purpose and identify how we can stay focused on and committed to our purpose.
Hits: Our Challenge to Staying on Purpose
Remember, we will be inundated daily with countless messages or invitations that might be in direct conflict with our purpose. Remaining dedicated to our purpose is not always easy. We can think of these unexpected, negative, random events as hits. These events always offer us choice. We can choose to say, “Yes” or “No” to these situations.
Some typical hits that may occur in our daily life include:
- Running late after being caught in traffic.
- A negative comment from a client, a coworker, or boss.
- Being stuck on hold while trying to call customer service.
- An argument with a family member.
A huge negative cost occurs when we accept these hits and abandon our purpose. Once we disconnect from our purpose, it is easy to activate our inner ineffective self. Frustration, anger, anxiety, and worry can trigger a host of behaviors that will most certainly escalate the negative situation into an even bigger problem. Think of the last time you were involved in a negative situation with another person. Did your response to the hit cause you to forget your purpose and make decisions that resulted in unwanted consequences? Once we recognize these hits, we can then reclaim the power to tame them. Negative conditions will arise in our lives, but we often have the power to control how we choose to experience them.
Purpose Keepers
It is vital that we surround ourselves with Purpose Keepers, those personal habits and people who will support us in committing to our mission. Below are five options for you to help stay on purpose.
Fix It in Our Seat: First and foremost, it’s important each day to lock into our purpose before we encounter the hits that threaten it. We need to “fix it in our seat before we hit the street.” We need to be ultra-aware of and lock into our purpose as we drive to work, head home for the night, or attend an important meeting. Once we “hit the street,” we’ll usually run into a few obstacles that might invite us to forget our purpose. “Fix it in our seat” establishes a habit, one that gives us a better chance to stay committed to our purpose.
Insert the Pause: Another important habit to develop is the Pause. When a hit comes our way and we are not in a great place in regards to our purpose, our reaction is almost always abrupt, inappropriate, and ineffective. We often react out of the hit. When we are dialed into our purpose, we can intentionally insert a Pause between the hit and the response. We respond out of our purpose. Once we have mastered the Pause, it becomes possible in that moment to draw upon our purpose and be more effective.
Personal Purpose Keeper: Maintaining our purpose alone is challenging, especially if we are trying to break old habits and create new, more effective ones. Surrounding ourselves with people who can encourage and support us is a powerful strategy for keeping our purpose. Finding a personal Purpose Keeper means identifying someone who cares about us and is committed not only accept us for who we are at our core, but also encourages continual improvement in our human development. An effective Purpose Keeper will ask us difficult questions and will challenge us when we stray from our mission. This person could be an old friend, a colleague, our significant other, or another family member.
Physical Reminder: One of the co-founders of Top 20 Training, Paul Bernabei, passed away two years on August 31st. Paul always wore his father’s military dog tags to keep him focused on his purpose. He was a great model for purpose keeping and his habit of wearing his dad’s dog tags was a visual extension of that dedication. Can you identify an object that symbolizes and reminds you of your purpose? This could be a bracelet, a quotation, or a picture of another person that inspires us to stay focused on our purpose.
Keeping Score: We can be reminded of our purpose by assessing and evaluating it from time to time. Goals are easy to evaluate: We either lost fifteen pounds or we didn’t. Purpose is much more difficult to assess. Patience, optimism, and risk-taking are more elusive when it comes to measurement. However, we can become aware of maintaining our purpose by keeping a journal or finding quiet time in our weekly schedule to reflect on how well we have stayed on purpose.
Our daily lives are beautiful gifts that need to be protected amidst the outer noise and static. Your purpose should be (and will be) an amazing companion and guide for whatever comes next.
All the best to you and yours from our Top 20 team,…Tom, Willow, and Kevin
Kevin Brennan
Director, Top 20 Training
651-373-0297
kevin@top20training.com
