Clarity of Purpose
Legacy signals
Legacy popularity: 1,311 legacy views
People who know me know that one of my favorite subjects is - "Professional passion." It is a fascinating blend of commitment, energy and joyful connection to your work. We all know how bad it feels when our passion is untapped. The remedy is to have a clear sense of purpose to be passionate about. The challenge is to find it ... AND to maintain a commitment to refining it.
The three key elements to professional passion are:
a) Know your values and put yourself in an organization / create a team that shares them.
b) Bring those values to work with you every day.
c) Find a balance that honors your talents, preferences and the reality of what the world needs.
Here’s how to get clearer. Consider these questions to help you discover the values that inspire you:
a) What are the accomplishments you've been completely or partially responsible for that excite you most? How would you describe the most inspiring aspects of the processes (as well as the outcomes)?
b) How would you describe what you loved most about the best work you've done and the best collaborations you've had?
c) What are some of the NON-professional things you love... what do you love most about THOSE aspects of your life? How could you transfer them to your work?
The experience of my impromptu Biz Mitzvah last week set in motion a new mission for me and my team and perhaps you. That mission is the center of my work and is stated on the “Business Coaching” page of my web site.
Now it’s your turn. What is your mission? Here’s a hint – it’s to live, deliver and enjoy your passion, which you can now clarify in specific terms. Please let me know if you'd like some guidance in thinking through any of these inquiries or any support on any matter. That's what I'm here for.
Article author
About the Author
Further reading
Further Reading
Article
Oh, What a Year It Was!
Oh, What a Year It Was! I recently shared with our Best Life Design Community, an exercise by Dan Pearce of Single Dad Laughing (http://bit.ly/fGL6t0) shaking up the New Year’s resolutions process. Instead of listing everything he wanted to happen in the New Year, Dan created a future memory at the beginning of the year about how the year progressed. We encouraged our Community to write their own 2011 in review, so it’s only right that I get the ball rolling and share mine. Here it goes…
Related piece
Article
Excerpt From Street Hockey Millionaire
“You know what they say,” Pete said. “You’ve got to play the full 60 minutes if you want to win.” Steve began, “Let’s get started. Did everyone write some game plans for their highest priority goals?” Pete replied, “ We haven’t had time yet, Steve, but we’re going to do it this week.” Steve ...
Related piece
Article
Too busy to look after your finances?
So here he was, stuck in the office instead of watching his son play hockey. Meanwhile, Steve was out playing street hockey for three hours a day with his kids. What weighed more on Pete’s brain was that street hockey used to be the love of his life now, it was just a nuisance. Although he’d ...
Related piece
Article
Numbing Away Our Humanity?
I came across a video this week that features a new technology that captures people’s attention in a novel way. It’s worth watching simply to take a look and ask how you might use it in your business. But its value far surpasses this. In this video, Sir Ken Robinson, makes a powerful call for a paradigm shift in education. This struck me at a deep level, given my raising of 3 kids (including one we home schooled for a couple of years to provide him more of what he needed at the time) and my work on behalf of lower opportunity kids in the non-profit sector.
Related piece