85% of finding your purpose is understanding yourself.

Wow!! Look at the number 85, its amazing to think that so much of finding our life's purpose is looking inward. That means there is only a measly 15% left over from the 100% needed to live a purposeful life. It has been stated by Dan Pink that a great life happens when using your strengths and your understanding. As far as strengths go, they should be used 85% of the time. Funny how that 85% keeps popping up, well at least it wont be easily forgotten.

So here is a simple formula I recently picked up. This concept should be looked over and have more thought put into it as well. Your daily life will be impacted in a positive way if this process is put into action:

• Do what you are naturally best at 85% of the time
• Do things that you are able to do well 10% of the time.
• Focus on doing things you are weak at 5% of the time.

Too many times people focus on their weaknesses. When you spend most of your time trying to strengthen your weakness it can have a negative outcome. The negative outcome can be seen in a couple of different ways. One of the ways you will feel the impact is self doubt. You'll realize that no matter how hard you try you cant seem to overcome that certain area of weakness. If you cant overcome something so meager how can you excel in this or do great at that? You lose thought of how well you do the things your naturally good at and focus on what you cant do. This negative thought process can wreak havoc on your strengths.

So now you must ask yourself what your strengths are. If your curious about how to find your strengths, it may help to ask yourself a few basic questions.

• What things do I do well naturally?
• What gives me a sense of enjoyment?
• What did I do well as a child before my ego got involved?
• What type of things have I done because I like to do them?

Has there been any point in your life that you would hit the rewind button if you could? When thinking about that concept keep in mind that you really shouldn't just focus on the negative outcome of the particular situation. It is important to remember that you need to look for the good things in any bad situation. You need to use that negative situation in a way that you learn from your mistakes so you wont put yourself through the pain again. Think about how much wiser you have become because of those situations you have gone through. Think about all of the great advice you can pass on to others so they don't experience what you have. Find strength in your negative experiences as well.

Finally, put your ego aside. As Dr. Wayne Dyer states “Ego stands for Edge – God - Out” We all have natural God given abilities within us that we can be great at but we put them aside to serve our ego. Too many times we lose focus of why we were put on this earth. Our ego has its own motives whether it is a big house, a lot of money or even power. If you seek money all of your life you'll never have enough of it. However if you seek your life's purpose to the point that others cant distinguish your work from your play, that's when you'll know you are on the right track.

Profit from Purpose. You deserve it!

"20 percent time" versus "100 percent time" The decision is yours.

A concept that I have recently learned about is something called “20 percent time”. It is time that is allotted by a company that allows an employee a certain amount of time in a given week for self directed projects. People generally use this time to create something they are passionate about. Companies like Google, Atalassian and GE have different names for this self directed time but the end result is similar. Many great ideas have come from companies that allow “20 percent time”.

Google as an example, has had some very well known things that have been created by the use of “20 percent time”. Some of the projects that were developed by Google are Google News and G mail. One Google employee is quoted as saying “Just about all good ideas here have bubbled up from “20 percent time”. How amazing is that? The two most popular items you may be familiar with from Google were due to someone using 20% of their time to follow their passion. This does make one think about the 80% of the time left over to do your “regular” work. The “regular” work that you do because you have to.

What if Google got rid of “20 percent time” and did “100 percent time”. Just imagine the amazing, in fact endless possibilities if they used a new and improved “100% time” module. Does this mean that Google has only reached 20% of their potential since they have been in business? One can only speculate about that. How much of your potential has been reached in the last week, month or year? Do you allow yourself any time in a given week to pursue your passions?

What is holding you back from your “100% time”. Are you ready to pursue what you love full time?What if you didn’t work at a regular job that just got you by 100% of the time. What if you did what you loved 100% of the time? If you’re not ready for full time pursuit of your passions, what can you do with some of your free time? It is obvious that you are able to do some pretty amazing things with the time you use to pursue your passions. If you get discouraged just look at what others have accomplished and strive to better yourself and become more like the successful people that you admire.

Take inventory of your free time and put it down on paper. Everyone has 168 hours in a week. Of course most of us have obligations like work and sleep. However most of us have time to watch television at night for maybe a couple of hours. Take your TV time and turn it into “20 percent time”. In other words do something your passionate about that will help you to better yourself in the days ahead. Get out of the rut and seek your purpose in life. Its time to Profit from Purpose. You deserve it!

What motivates us?

   What motivates us? What is the reason that we wake up in the morning and head to work. Are we heading to work because of money or are we driven by our purpose in life? The video explains that our motivations are extremely interesting. We are not always driven to do better because of more pay or a bonus. In fact in most cases we do worse or may even crumble under the pressure of trying to reach the bonus. What really jumped out at me, is that if we take the issue of money off of the table then people will focus more on their work. It is so important to seek purpose in your life before you seek the pay. The video is proof of that.

  There are three factors that lead to better performance and personal satisfaction.

1. Autonomy: desire to be self directed or to direct our own lives.
2. Mastery: the urge to get better at doing things.
3. Purpose: result or effect that is intended or desired.

   During the workers limited discretionary time when they are free to do what they want, how they want, people seem to do better and more meaningful work for free. If a person can escape the standard work model, they can excel while serving their purpose away from work. So why not base our lives on that fact? More people and businesses are gearing towards the purpose motive rather than the profit motive. If a person focuses solely on making profit and not on serving a purpose bad things can happen. How many of us have dealt with a business or person realizing that they do not care about me, they only care about my money. We put up with crummy service and bad products when this happens. On the other hand, how wonderful is it to deal with someone that truly cares about your experience with themselves or their business.

   For example: Zappos, is an on line shoe company. Zappos sells shoes to customers that make a purchase without trying the shoes on. Zappos is built on two-way trust. Customers trust Zappos money-back guarantee with free shipping in both directions. Zappos also provides excellent customer service, the people on the other end seem to care about you as a person not just an order number. Now stop and think for a moment. If you walked into a local shoe store and couldn’t touch or try the shoes on would you buy them? Probably not. So how did Zappos grow to be a huge hit? Simply put, Zappos cares more about their purpose than their profit.

   What a lesson for each of us to learn. If we seek our purpose in life we can profit from it as well. When dealing with others it is truly important to put their needs before our own. We all have this great God given purpose inside of us that is screaming to get out. We have potential to make a difference in this world and to make this world better. We must put faith in our abilities and seek our purpose in life. Live your life on purpose and Profit from Purpose. You deserve it!!

How I found my life's purpose.

  So how did I find my calling? Well the picture above is me (the guy in blue) telling others about an experience I had in finding my calling. The picture was taken from a workshop I attended called "Write To The Bank". The host of the workshop was Dan Miller, author of "48 Days To The Work You Love". (On a side note the seminar was filled with valuable information about getting a book published through a publisher or better yet self publishing.) I received the confirmation to my calling while attending this workshop. During a break at our workshop I told the story below to a group of others. After telling my story a gentleman told me that about a week ago he was the "client" in the story I had just told. We had never met before that moment. The story that you are about to read came to me as a thought a few weeks before the workshop, but was lived out by this gentleman as the "client". He shared his story with me and stated how grateful he was to the person that provided him with the act of kindness stated below.

  At that time of my life I was just your average guy going to work everyday in order to get a paycheck. I found security in knowing that I would be getting paid every two weeks. I wasn't getting paid what I was worth, but I felt a sense of security. The work I did had some aspects of helping others but it wasn't fulfilling to me. I got stuck in a routine and felt desperate to make a change in my work life. It got to the point that I didn't enjoy what I was doing and didn't feel I was serving my purpose. 

  On the morning of March 24th, 2011 while getting ready for work I had an amazing experience. I was looking into the mirror and wandering "What does God want me to do with my life?". I wanted so bad to serve my purpose in life but the thought of money kept clouding my ideas. I would often wonder how I could make money while serving a noble cause. In case you missed it in the last sentence, I stated making money as a priority over serving a noble cause. So as I stood there looking in the mirror I had an absolutely amazing thought come to me. It was a thought that played in my head as a story. The idea came to me in a way that I had never experienced before.

   In my mind I had pictured an act of kindness that was so sincere that it brought tears to my eyes. The concept of the act was on a scale that was so magnificent it caused me to break down and started crying. Yes the big guy in blue that you see in the picture above was crying. The tears I had experienced were tears of joy because I knew that the idea was from God. The act of kindness I had pictured in my mind was of a barber giving a man a free haircut. There are two sides to this act of kindness, the barber was the (person giving) and the client was the (person receiving). In my mind I saw both men benefiting from the others generosity.

  How would the client receiving the free haircut be able to give back to the barber? The client cant even afford a ten dollar haircut so financially he's unable to give back. The act of kindness may seem to benefit only one side for right now but take a look at the story from both sides. The client receiving the free haircut was extremely grateful because the barber had provided him with a chance at a fresh start. The client felt better about himself afterwards. He may have needed the haircut for a job interview or maybe a clean slate and a fresh start. I am unsure of the clients actual needs but the point is that a need was present.

  How did the barber benefit from the act of kindness? The barber benefits in a couple of different ways. The first of course would be the giving of his services to someone in need makes him feel better. After all everyone enjoys that feeling. The second benefit will be experienced at a later time. (So much for instant gratification.) The client that received the free haircut will let everyone know how great of a job the barber did. He will recommend the barber to everyone who mentions a need for a hair cut. He will share his story about the barbers generosity to others in need. He will be able to use his experience to offer hope to the hopeless. The client will always, for the rest of his life go back to that same barber. In the future after the client gets back on his feet, he will gladly over pay and tip the barber a generous amount. The barber gave the client a lift when he needed it most and the client will never forget that single act of kindness.

  The barber will receive new clients due to his generosity and his business will grow. The barber's side of the story teaches us to put others first. That's what this life is about. We all have a God given purpose to serve on this earth. Everyone of us is unique in the fact that we were created by God in his image. Our purpose can be found in the work that we do as well as things we do in our spare time. I found my calling through the story  I just shared with you. I was put on this earth to help others discover what they were born to do. I am here to teach others how to Profit from Purpose.  I want to guide others toward making a living doing what they love while giving back as well. Stop dreading Monday mornings, get out of the rut and live the life you were meant to. Serve your purpose on this earth. Do the work that you love. Profit from Purpose.
You Deserve It!

Visit my website: www.ProfitfromPurpose.com