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A wise man said, “choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” When I first came across this quote I didn’t quite get it. Perhaps because I often choose jobs that paid bills rather than jobs that I loved to do, and boy how frustrating that was.
Frankly, I don’t know how I ended up here except that a series of things happened. Prior to this, I recall I would waked up each morning with this question in mind, “is this all there is to life?” But I somehow never really got to the bottom of the matter as I had to rush to my 9 to 5 job. Until one day, the inevitable happened. You know, when your boss call you to his/her office and after expressing how sad she/he is that they can no longer afford to hire you because the company is downsizing. Yep, that is what happened to me more than 8 years ago. And so I braced myself for the door, and as I drove off, I decided to stop by the Marina–I need to reflect on what next.
It was there that suddenly I longed to answer the very question I had been asking myself and avoiding to answer. “Is this all there is to life?” As I pondered, I pulled up a pen and paper and began to jot down my goals including the kind of position I wanted to secure next. Fortunately or unfortunately, the job search lasted more than I could bear as the days turned into weeks and then to months and on and on. Life was unbearable, and excruciating to say the least as I had to figure out how to manage my bills which to this day I don’t know how I pulled off except to thank God for His provision.
You may have heard it said that whatever has a beginning also has an end. This idea consoled me as I endeavored to engage myself into seeking the meaning and purpose for my life. And as it turned out, I serendipitously found out that if one is willing to inquire from within, there is an abundance of wealth we each carry and actually are born loaded with. However, only those ready to mine and dig deeper reach the source. In fact, life and all its challenges and lack there of often inhibit us from this discovery, but if one is truly willing to seek out the answers and engage in the process it is inevitable to not find the answers.
Here are some of the questions that are vital to ask in finding your purpose and meaning in life.
- Who I am? — The uniqueness of who you are, take it from me there is only one You!
- What can I do or What do I love to do?— Your potential lurking in your gifts and passions. This reflects your greatest Contribution to the world e.g. You love to talk and communicate with others: teacher, trainer, comedian,etc.
- Who can I do it for or serve?— Your Niche Market or Your Target Audience e.g. High school Kids, Pregnant women or Professionals earning over 80K/Year, etc.
- What do they want or need?— This Need or the Problem You seek to Eliminate/Solve in your community/market place e.g. Show people how to find and do work they love or that is fulfilling to them.
- How does that change or transform their lives? –The Change you were created to bring forth, e.g. Find cure for cancer, Supply Clean Drinking Water.
Once you figure the answers to these questions, not only do you attain clarity on who you are, your capabilities, you also can articulate yourself best to the world when asked ‘what do you do?’ I have found that people who know who they are also know what they do. These two are intrinsically linked in that to know who you are is to know who you are not, and what you are capable of, and this gives you not only meaning but confident to be You! And when one focuses on embracing their true nature, essence and endeavor to polish their gifts eventually they reach a state of flow in their craft, and once this is achieved the world cannot help but reward you with $$$, prestige and fame.
So, if you wonder if passion can lead you to a successful career, think again. Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, Tiger Woods, Denzel Washington,and Stephen Curry–all have one thing in common; they made careers out of their passion. Subsequently, their love and pursuits have rewarded them handsomely. Note however, they did not turn into who they are today overnight. It takes diligence: work, practice, believing in you, persistence, endurance and humility (as life through it’s tests and trials at you) to get there but if you stick with it, you’ll emerge a winner–doing work that gives meaning and fulfills your life.
