One of my favorite thought leaders on the subject of Purpose and Passion is, Richard Leider. In January 1998, Fast Company spoke with Richard about his "laws" for living with purpose. In that article, he described a visual exercise that I've never forgotten; give it a shot. "Draw a little spiral, something like a tornado going upwards. That spiral represents the different phases you encounter in your life. There are times in life when you're on a plateau, where things are well balanced. Then along comes a triggering event that knocks you into limbo.
When that trigger occurs, you have to put all your energy into handling the situation, whether it's an emergency at work, the death of a close friend, or your own health crisis. .... ....That puts you into the third part of the spiral: a period of uncertainty. Something is ending, something else is about to begin-but you're between the ending and the beginning. To get out of limbo, you have to look at everything you've been carrying with you. You have to unpack your bag and then repack it, so you can go on to the next phase of your life." Pretty deep stuff. Share your thoughts and we'll continue exploring Richard's insights. Start unpacking.
When that trigger occurs, you have to put all your energy into handling the situation, whether it's an emergency at work, the death of a close friend, or your own health crisis. .... ....That puts you into the third part of the spiral: a period of uncertainty. Something is ending, something else is about to begin-but you're between the ending and the beginning. To get out of limbo, you have to look at everything you've been carrying with you. You have to unpack your bag and then repack it, so you can go on to the next phase of your life." Pretty deep stuff. Share your thoughts and we'll continue exploring Richard's insights. Start unpacking.
3 comments:
I think it was Solomon who said, "without vision the people will perish" I believe that we all want to unpack our bags but we often wonder if it will make a difference. Its that uncertain feeling that we constantly live with. We all ask ourselves the question 'Will this one action I take today really make a difference?' And when we ask ourselves that quetion, we're already defeated. We have to have confidence in all the little steps we take because the little steps are what slowly overtake the nagging uncertainty. However, when we don't take the little steps the uncertainty grows bigger, an bigger and bigger. Until we have contructed a world in our minds that exists only there. Thats right it exists only in oour minds. We think its the way things are but it really isnt. But when we get to that point it becomes even tougher to unpack our bags and it becomes even tougher to take the little steps. An acquaintance of mine this weekend asked me about giving presentations in front of groups? He said to me "I have to give a short presentation on monday but its a pretty big deal' I said to him "and your nervous, your afraid" I said its okay to be afraid, its completely normal. He asked me how long I had been doing public speaking...... I said....since I was twenty one years old. But I said here's the secret.....Are you ready? I could see his eyes light up as if I was about to give him the answer that would rid his fears forever.... I told him, "Its taken me 8 years to get comfortable doing it, and now theres nowhere eles in the world I would rather be than up in fronnt of an audience. But, its not going to take you 8 years. He said 'Why not?' I said, "If you're committed and you really want to overcome this fear, make a committment to yourself that twice a month for the next 6 mos. you'll put yourself in a position where you have to give a short presentation in front of people. I don't care if is a 60 second story yu share with a group of 5 peers in a coffe shop or story you tell in a bar or group of coworker you practice on. Whats most important is being consistent with it. The greatest mistake we can make is to be successful with something once and let time pass. Because once time passes, as humans we start to think that success was a fluke. Remember, its never a fluke, its always real if you want it to be." He said, "I have one more question, he says 'What do you like about it so much' I said, "Right now, you want to tell me something, you want to say something, but you don't know how to express it. In fact we all have this burning deire to express ourselves but most of us never find an outlet to express it. That expression that were holding in is called passion. Right now, you have something to say, but you're so used to holding it in, you probably can't even begin to think about letting it out. I said, when I'm in front of an audience it just finds its way out. That expression that I've been wanting to tell others forever, just somehow finds a way to come out. Can you imagine how rewarding that would be and is? Artists paint it, singers, sing it, actors, act it, and athletes, show it. The question you have to ask yourself is 'What is it for you? Whats the best way for you to express it? Cause I'm quite certain that the univere didn't just create passion for atletes, singers and entertainers. I'm quite certain that god gave you the ability to dream to...... so my final comments are....don't ever stop dreaming, and know that each little step you take is one step closer to the manifestation of that dream. Just find the passion to take it and once you take it......have the courage to express it.
When ever I come and read remarks on this blog I just start thinking every thing in the context to this blog. Ted, please let me know if I am thinking correct or not – one of the easiest way to unpack is to ‘blog.’ I write on this blog what ever I see and observe just like you and every one else does. I take courage to write what I sense. I take this opportunity to ask all readers of this blog, what’s stopping them to unpack and repack with the help of this blog? Why can’t we all express every day what we want to say just like what I am doing at the moment. iEvolution has given a wonderful opportunity to express anything on this platform every day, why not we all utilize this? Is the web user interface difficult to operate? Every one knows we are just one email away. For any information just reply with a question to your daily iThought email and expect an answer with in 24 hours.
I agree with you Ted, all of us want to unpack bags but we often wonder if it will make a difference. After reading your remarks I got motivated to express right away but I also wonder are we too busy to unpack?
Actually you are always giving so many new ideas and I hope it will continue in the future.
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