I’m talking about a why that moves up the food chain from being about you to being about something bigger than you. What makes you come alive isn’t referring to taking your dream holiday or watching your favorite team play football (unless you’re called to a career as a football coach or commentator!). The word inspire comes from the Latin, meaning “to breathe life into.” Accordingly when you are working toward things that inspire you, it literally makes you feel more alive. Reflect on the corresponding four questions below to help find the ‘sweet spot’ that sits in the intersection between what you care about, what you can contribute, and what will be valued most. As I wrote in Stop Playing Safe, your ‘life’s work’ sits in the intersection of your talents, skills/expertise, passions and deepest values (see adjacent diagram). While there’s no one pathway for discovering your life's purpose, there are many ways you can gain deeper insight into yourself, and a larger perspective on what it is that you have to offer the world. BACKROADS' on-going growth – in both the range of experiences offered and the company's bottom line profit – speaks for itself. Once I got clear that this was my life’s work, doing something else was never an option.” Tom’s leadership of BACKROADS from a small start up to a major player in the travel industry has created an organization whose employees are as passionate about his company’s mission as him. “However, while I knew we had to make money to grow, I was never driven by the money. “Given the hours I worked, I think I was earning about 35 cents an hour,” he joked.
“My passion for bringing active travel experiences to more people has driven me over the last 35 years.” In a recent interview, Tom shared with me that in the first seven years of starting BACKROADS, he put in enormous effort for little return. Given we’re wealthier today than at any time in history, there is clearly a marked difference between 'well off' and 'well-being.'Ĭertainly this has been the experience of Tom Hale, whose company BACKROADS will top $100 million in revenue in 2014. Likewise, a quick glance at employee engagement statistics points to a crisis of purpose and meaning on an unprecedented scale. The alarming increase in rates of drug and alcohol abuse, depression and suicide, along with the growing reliance on antidepressant medications, seems to indicate many are doing just that. Without an answer to the question ‘Survival for the sake of what?,’ we can quickly fall into disillusionment, distraction and a quiet sense of despair. Unlike animals, which are driven simply to survive, we humans crave more from life than mere survival. Likewise, a clear sense of purpose enables you to focus your efforts on what matters most, compelling you to take risks and push forward regardless of the odds or obstacles. Focus its energy even more, as with a laser beam, and it has the power to cut through steel. Diffused light has little use, but when its energy is concentrated-as through a magnifying glass-that same light can set fire to paper.
Your potential was tapped.The power of purpose is similar to the energy of light focused through a magnifying glass. If you’ve ever faced a significant crisis in your life you’ll have experienced the power of purpose to tap reserves of energy, determination and courage you likely didn’t know you had.
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