*** Lack Of Purpose Has A Price

Lack of Purpose has a Price

A couple of months ago I was interviewed by the Calgary Herald for an article about the pursuit of happiness. (If you are interested in the article you can find a link to it at my book website www.reframeyourblame.com). I do not have a traditional view of the pursuit of happiness, happiness for the sake of happiness can lead to shallow lives, a lack of willingness and capacity to take risks, self centeredness, settling for the known, accepting the status quo.

I am far more interested in meaning, contribution identifying and sharing my unique gifts, I want to be clear that each of these leads me to happiness. However happiness is NOT my prime driving force, in life, meaning is.

The fascinating thing to me was the journalists response and reaction to my explanation, which is simply; each of us requires the awareness of our own beliefs, values and motivators in short consciousness to align ourselves and our lives with what is most important and then happiness is a natural spillover effect. Her response was “that sounds like way too much work” my response was “what is the cost of not doing that work?” to which she had no real answer.

It got me thinking about how society has a tendency to look at the cost of things “that is too much work” without seeing the benefit, the reward and the reason to invest. So I thought a great series of articles would be to point out what some of the real costs are for not knowing what is most important to you and not living your life in alignment with that.

At Personal Best we operate around 4 core values. Purpose, community, contribution and freedom. We define these values in the following way.

Purpose: getting to the heart of the matter
Community: working together for mutual benefit (this is all about relationship with self and others)
Contribution: Making a meaningful change in the world (however you define world)
Freedom: Breaking through limits and barriers

Based on our years of working with these values and 10’s of thousands of people and while we are all unique there are some very powerful themes that as human beings we share. In this article I will focus on the real cost of not being clear or committed to your purpose.

Being unclear about purpose is perhaps one of the most expensive prices to pay in life, and it is unbelievably common. This lack of purpose is sometimes triggered by our conditioning, for example in North America we have been conditioned to believe a part of our purpose is to consume. Other times, it is triggered by a change in circumstance such as kids leaving home, a career ending, divorce or other significant life changes. Whatever the reason this lack of clarity leads to experiences of confusion, inability to commit, the outlay of time energy and resources that are often not in alignment with who you are and what truly brings you joy, meaning and significance. This often leads to empty victories, you know the feeling, working like mad for weeks, months, years, to attain a goal and once you are there you ask, “ Is this it?” There is the feeling that there is more to life than you are currently experiencing but what on earth do I do about it?? I could go on and on but I believe you get the point.

The REAL cost of lack of purpose, is a shallow and insignificant life, often complimented with illness, depression and shorter life span! Ouch! That is the truth but most people are not willing to acknowledge it, as a society we are too busy watching TV, making a living or being distracted at the mall.

The rewards of a purpose driven life: meaning, inspiration, motivation, connection, joy, love, freedom, expanded focus, health, well being, living in the present, commitment, legacy. Consider how amazing you and life would be fully embracing and living just this short list. It is amazing and I invite you to do the consciousness work that is necessary to reap these and many other rewards.

Wait a minute, did you say work?? Ah, that journalist was probably right, all that self-discovery and introspection is just too much work, I wonder what is on TV?

NOT!

To find out more about purpose and other core values of Personal Best Visit www.personalbestseminars.com/register