If you feel it, you have to go with it. If you want it, you have to go for it. And if you’ve got it, you have to go share it.
I do believe that when you figure out your WHY and gifts or talents that go along with that purpose, and if you are focused on that core, it’s hard to shake it. It’s part of you and the challenge becomes to find the right path to use that gift to help other people.
Yet it’s getting to that point that is not always easy. It takes some reflection, some inspiration and then clarity on honing in on the talent/gift you do better than most and then finding the way to intersect that with what you love to do. It might take time to figure it out and time never stands still so the time is now.
Yesterday I spoke to a group at Woamtec Downtown Baltimore Chapter, (Women on a Mission to Earn Commission), about this topic, as well as my insights on fear, failure and some activities to focus on to start down the path of leading a life of significance. It’s definitely something I enjoy, it seemed to resonate and is in synergy with this blog, my writing and other activities I am focused on.
Not everyone in yesterday’s group has figured out their purpose, but sometimes it’s all about being in the right place at the right time, as one member of the group spoke about to me afterward. She has been grappling with this exact topic, her WHY, and just happened to sign up to attend the meeting and when she saw what the speaker was going to cover, she was all in. She told me, as did another attendee, how sometimes things happen for a reason.
True. To figure out your purpose, your WHY, one of two things will happen: either something will happen to you, or something will happen from the inside-out. However the chance you take for some outside force to point you in the right direction, is that it may never happen, or it will happen late, or that something might have already affected someone you love. I write about this in the preface to It Takes 2, the journal/book I wrote as my wife went through her battle with breast cancer:
The Roman Poet Horace says, “Adversity had the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous times would have lain dormant.” If not for Debbie, her illness, her fight, her courage, and her inspiration I never would have gone back to my roots to write, to share emotion, love, and perspective in a way which has transformed me and apparently others who have been touched by our story.
Something happened which drove me to my WHY, and 2-1/2 years later, a book, tons of posts on this blog, The Sunday Series, a mastermind group and now speaking engagements on this same topic – my focus has become to encourage others not to wait. Take the time, make the time, find a way to figure out your WHY. Once you do the path becomes clear, it’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Seeing other people be inspired, motivated and touched by what you share is life changing – for you and for them.
Just hours after yesterday’s speech I received a phone call from a wonderful woman, a patient advocate for those dealing with mesothelioma. In this week’s Sunday Series I had profiled a man bringing hope to others dealing with the illness, (https://markbrodinsky.com/the-sunday-series-45-with-mark-brodinsky/). The woman and I had a nice conversation and right before we hung up she thanked me for the way I told the story, I told her that’s my gift. She told me it was “phenomenal”. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that word in conjunction with anything else I have done in life, especially from someone I didn’t even know before our 5-minute conversation. It was touching and validating beyond belief, that what I am doing is in line with who I am and what I want to accomplish. As Jon Gordon writes about in his book, The Carpenter, it’s all about love, serve and care.
I share these stories for one purpose, to drive home a message. Don’t wait for your purpose to simply show up, sometimes you have to go get it. Maybe you already have, if so, I commend you and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?
The world is waiting. Don’t fight it, just go get it.
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Mark
Mark Brodinsky, Author, Blogger, Financial Services
The Book: It Takes 2. Surviving Breast Cancer: A Spouse’s Story
(http://www.spouses-story.com/)
Let’s connect. Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter. Leave a comment on the blog, or send me an e-mail: markbrodinsky@gmail.com