You may have asked yourself, "What is my life's purpose?" Join us as we learn about life the common traps of mistaking competencies for true gifts, and how societal expectations can sometimes lead us astray from our genuine passions. This episode deepens into the introspective journey to identify and pursue one's true purpose.
Uncover the critical differentiators between comfort and fulfillment, understanding the importance of personal conviction over external influences. If you're unsure whether you're on the right path or pursuing someone else's dream, this episode offers constructive advice on realigning with your true passion.
Join us for a reflective episode emphasizing courage, clarity, and conviction in pursuing your true purpose.
Key Episode Takeaways:
- Recognize the difference between competence and true gifts: Passion must back your skills for genuine fulfillment.
- Personal conviction over influence: Ensure your goals stem from your beliefs and not others' expectations.
- Measuring fulfillment: True purpose brings satisfaction and happiness, not frustration or emptiness.
- Willingness to take risks: Significant, meaningful contributions often require stepping out of your comfort zone.
- Signs of misalignment: Anxiety, low motivation, and lack of personal satisfaction are indicators you might be on the wrong path.
- Measuring Satisfaction: Indicators of the Right Purpose
Genuine Fulfillment and Relentlessness in the Face of Adversity
The true purpose should provide fulfillment and happiness beyond material benefits. In the transcript, a significant criterion for determining the proper purpose is stripping away external rewards: "If we remove money and the benefits that come with what you're doing from the picture, would you still do it?" If the answer is yes, you are moving in the right direction.
Reflect on how you spend your time. If you invest more time in activities outside your primary pursuit, you might divert from your true purpose. "Your true purpose will demand a lot of time, and you have to adjust some things just to make that time available. If you are unwilling, then maybe it's time to refocus and choose the right purpose where you can invest your time willingly.
Wang's narrative also emphasizes the sense of satisfaction and contribution to others' lives that genuine purpose brings. Designing wedding dresses fulfilled her creative desires and allowed her to touch countless lives in significant ways. If your work doesn't satisfy you and your contribution to others, you might be pursuing the wrong purpose.
Your pursuit should feel inherently meaningful.
The relentless urge to overcome hurdles and persist with enthusiasm strongly indicates genuine purpose. "The right purpose will make you relentless and keep you from jumping ship at the first sign of an impending storm," the transcript underscores.
Reflection and Alignment with True Purpose
Purpose isn't just about talent or external validation—it's about passion, relentless effort, and deep-seated satisfaction. Vera Wang's story serves as a potent reminder to reflect and align our lives with our true calling.
Strip away external influences, embrace uncertainties and obstacles, and continually gauge your intrinsic satisfaction. The journey toward finding and living your true purpose is fraught with challenges, but it offers unparalleled fulfillment and meaning.
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Thank you for being a part of the Achievement
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Radio podcast today. Your support means everything
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to us. Vera Wang, a famed fashion designer initially
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trained to become a figure skater. From the age
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of seven, her goal was to make it to the Olympics
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and win medals. She put so much time into training
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and attained enough skill that she could see
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herself in the international skating circles
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competing with the best of them. Unfortunately,
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the more she tried, the more she realized she
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was not good enough. Younger skaters were coming
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in with better skills and a sense of frustration
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and failure came when she could not measure up.
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It eventually became beyond her ability and motivation
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and she quit. Wang would realize her true purpose
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in the fashion world at 40 after serving as an
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editor at Vogue magazine. Had she continued to
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pursue a career in sports, she would have pursued
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a false purpose that would never fulfill her
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as much as designing wedding dresses is done.
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To add value and meaning to life, people often
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pursue a lot of things outside of their true
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purpose. People can mistake their competence
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for gifts. Being good at something does not mean
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you should do it unless genuine passion backs
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it. People around us can make us pursue certain
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things based on how good we are at them. To find
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meaning in our lives, we can adopt people's perceptions
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without evaluating our personal level of interest
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in it. They can divert a person gifted in creating
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like Vera Wang into accounting because she's
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good with numbers. Fear can also drive people
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into pursuing the wrong purpose. Risk and uncertainty
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can cause someone to pursue comfort over fulfillment.
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One can make a pros and cons list. The cons can
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intimidate you before you attempt to pursue your
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passion. You can feel unfulfilled in their current
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pursuit and still be hesitant to do what you
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need to because it seems to be too much work.
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The risk of striking out on your own can scare
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you. Failure in previous pursuits can make you
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comfortable in false purpose. You could be brave
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enough to find your passion and still stumble
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on planning or execution. Too often the next
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option is to quit and find the next best thing.
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It becomes more convenient to go after something
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less difficult instead of troubleshooting what
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went wrong. It happens so often that people bail
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on their dreams at the first sign of trouble
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and end up settling for something with a better
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warranty. How to check if you're pursuing the
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wrong purpose. Convince yourself about the dream
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you are chasing. The right purpose normally aligns
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with integral belief systems. It is personal,
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although its discovery can engage the opinions
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of those around you. If people have a greater
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say in what you're passionate about, then your
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conviction that it's likely you've not found
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the right purpose. What you pursue should be
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your dream and not anyone else's dream for you.
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Your parents, family and friends may see a fit
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for you, but your purpose should be your own.
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Choosing a major in college should not have a
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basis on their approval, but your personal vision
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of how that qualification will feed into your
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purpose. Pursuing your purpose should give you
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a certain level of satisfaction. It should make
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you happy. If instead what you're doing leaves
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you frustrated, drained, and unhappy, chances
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are you're pursuing the wrong purpose. If we
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remove money and the benefits that come with
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what you're doing from the picture, would you
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still do it? If your answer is no, then you're
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not walking in your purpose. If your level of
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motivation to carry out tasks is low, then you
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are not pursuing your passion. If you suffer
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from anxiety and frustration when pursuing purpose,
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the chances are what you are pursuing is not
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a suitable fit for you. Your purpose stretches
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you because it often involves getting out of
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your comfort zone and taking risky leaps into
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unknown territory. No one has ever contributed
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meaningfully to their life by seeking the most
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comfortable pursuits Often right on the heels
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of an attempt to pursue a passion is some level
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of failure How you handle rejection and failure
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can be an indicator of whether you are pursuing
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the wrong purpose The right purpose will make
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you relentless and will not allow you to jump
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ship at the first sign of an impending storm
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If you invest more time in anything outside of
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your purpose, then the chances are you are out
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of alignment with your passion. Your true purpose
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will demand a lot of time, and you have to adjust
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some things just to make the time. If you are
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unwilling, then maybe it's time to refocus and
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choose the right purpose where you can invest
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your time unreluctantly. Your purpose should
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be about using what you naturally have to touch
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the lives of others. If what you're doing does
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not leave you with a sense of satisfaction about
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your contribution to other people's lives, then
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chances are you're pursuing the wrong purpose.
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The best way to get rid of false purpose is to
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be truly convinced of what you want to pursue.
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Ask yourself, what would you do with no external
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influences to give you a level of bias? Continually
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test whether your pursuit aligns with whom you
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want to be. Thank you for listening to and downloading
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episodes of the Achievement Radio podcast today.
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The encouragement you provide means everything.
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We couldn't do this without you.
