Some days you’re going to wake up and win the day. Others feel hopeless no matter how hard you try. 

It’s on these days that you have to be the most ready for an opportunity to come your way. These are the moments when you truly grow. The moments you don’t want to fulfill your purpose are usually the moments others need you to fulfill it the most. 

You might get another shot at fulfilling your purpose tomorrow, but you’ll never get another shot at today. This day is gone forever once the sun goes down.

Don’t waste it.

Maybe you don’t feel like you belong. Like you’re not enough to be either where you are or where you want to be. Like no matter how hard you try, you just aren’t qualified.

Well, I can tell you that there’s no age, no experience, no degree, that can qualify you to fulfill your purpose. You are the only one in the world who knows how to fulfill your purpose because your purpose is unique to you. There’s no one else who can tell you how to fulfill why you are here on this earth. 

To those who doubt you and try to make you prove yourself, walk away from them. You don’t have to prove yourself to them. No matter how unfit, uneducated, or unprepared you feel, there’s no one who can give you the validation you’re looking for. No one else can give you permission to fulfill your purpose. Your purpose is why you are alive. You don’t need anyone’s permission to fulfill it. If they don’t want you to fulfill your purpose, they aren’t an opportunity for you. You have to walk away from the people who tell you that you aren’t qualified. Because the truth is, you have every qualification required to fulfill your purpose. 

Your purpose is yours and yours alone. If you don’t fulfill it, no one will.

Who are you? 

The truth is, you don’t know, do you? 

You’ll never know who you are until you find out why you’re here. If you don’t know your purpose, you’ll never discover who you are. If you don’t know why you were placed on this earth, how are you going to figure out who you need to be to fulfill it? 

You need to clarify your purpose. Only then will you know who you truly are. Stop searching for who you are in what you do. You’ll never find yourself in anything but your purpose. 

Don’t go another day without knowing why you were born and what you were called to fulfill. Stop searching for your identity, and clarify your purpose.

Why is it that we all do what the system asks us to do? Because they promise us something. They promise to teach us how to be successful in life. But they’ll never be able to do that, because the system is designed to teach you how to do the jobs they want you to do. They want you to build their world. And most importantly, they want to make sure you never do what you’re called to do.

Those who do what they are called to do are a threat to the system. Because they are building a world in which the system isn’t needed. If we all did our part and fulfilled our purposes, we would have no need for the powers at be. And they only have power so long as they are needed.

The system can teach you how to do a job that will benefit them, but it will never teach you how to fulfill your purpose. They can’t tell you why you are here. And they want to make sure you never find out. 

If you don’t fulfill your purpose, then it doesn’t matter how much you accomplish. It will all be for nothing in the end. The system can’t give you what you need. You need to know why you’re here. You need to know your purpose. You need to fulfill what you are called to do. 

Stop building someone else’s dream. Step into doing your part in the dream we’re all called to build by fulfilling your purpose.

Many in the business industry, by which I mean everyone, search for the perfect niche that will allow them to tap into the market with little to no competition. The problem is, there’s no product you can offer that someone else can’t. 

But what if I told you people don’t buy products because of what they are, but because of why you sell them? See, if you find your purpose as a company (or individual) then you don’t need to find your niche. If you know why you are here in this world as a business or person, that will guide you to the right products that you need to sell in order to fulfill your purpose. 

It doesn’t matter how many other people are selling the same thing, because there’s no competition when you are fulfilling your purpose. You have a unique purpose that no one else has. No one else can replicate why you sell what you sell. 

And believe me, if you know your purpose and align your products and services to it, people will buy your product or services over anyone else’s any day of the week.

So many just take a job to make a living.

Others take a job to make their dreams come true.

But pursuing happiness will never lead to fulfillment.

The job you take and the life you live are what produce the fruit others see. If what you sow is only to make money, pursue happiness, or accomplish your dreams, you will reap the unfulfillment that comes with it.

You will only find fulfillment by living on purpose. The life you want pales in comparison to the life you’re meant to have.

And the only way to get the life you’re meant to have is to fulfill why you’re here.

Fulfill your purpose.

Everyone knows that in order to achieve something, you must work for it. This is a fundamental principle that everyone knows and understands. And yet it’s one of the principles that we each deny on some level. We all want things for free, and yet nothing comes for free. Everything has a price, even if you’re not the one who pays it. The more we as people deny that you have to work to achieve, the more people actually begin to believe it. We’re seeing an entire generation blindsided because they went into the workforce and found out it’s much harder than they thought. Not everyone gets their dream job, and not everyone who gets their dream job even likes it. The truth is, a vast majority of people are dissatisfied with their work and lives. And so they give up and try something new. 

This is why so many people are looking for purpose. Because they now know that they have to work hard to succeed. And if they’re going to work hard, they want it to go towards fulfilling their purpose. They don’t want to work towards something they aren’t meant to do.

This is why purpose is ESSENTIAL. In order to get to the top of the mountain, you have to go through the valley first. In other words, in order to get the blessing, you have to stick around during the hard times first. If the reward at the end isn’t the blessing that comes with fulfilling your unique purpose, then going through the valleys will never be worth it. 

If you want to be able to stick around during the hardest times and not be tempted to quit, you need to be working towards the purpose you were created to fulfill. Because your purpose is so much more than just a job. It’s why you were put here on this earth. This is a fight you can’t give up on. Your purpose lies at the core of who you are. If you don’t fulfill it, you lose everything.

Don’t try to persevere through something you are not meant to do. Even if you make it to the end, the reward you receive won’t be the one that you were meant to have. 

Clarify your purpose, and go fulfill it. Don’t give up during the hard times, and you will see the fruit of your labor sooner than you think.

Pursuing the life you want for yourself takes the discipline to first build a long term plan and then complete the goals necessary to accomplish it. Fulfilling your purpose takes the exact opposite.

Where pursuing what makes you happy requires you to look to the future, fulfilling your purpose and doing what you’re called to do happens right now, in this moment.

The reason for this is that your purpose is fulfilled one opportunity at a time, and those opportunities don’t come ten years down the road, they come moment by moment. 

Many say wisdom is preparing for tomorrow. True wisdom is letting tomorrow worry about itself and fighting today’s battle first.

Fulfill your purpose.

There’s two reasons for this. The first is your purpose was given to you. You didn’t create your purpose, it’s why you were created. You can’t fulfill the purpose you were given by living the life you want to live. You have to live the one that was written for you, the one that you are called to live. Modern discipline is a tool that we use to make our own dreams come true. It does nothing but stop us from fulfilling the life we are meant to live by enslaving us to building a life that wasn’t meant for us. 

Secondly, The word discipline actually has nothing to do with the definition we’ve attached to it. The word discipline comes from the word disciple, which means to follow or be an apprentice. Which means that discipline actually means instruction in a certain branch of knowledge or profession. With this definition, each of us should be striving to be a disciple of purpose. The purpose we’ve been given is our true profession, our true discipline. As disciples, we do not follow a routine or apprentice ourselves to a system that is designed to get us the life we want, we follow what we are called to do and apprentice to the wisdom that guides us to become a master of our purpose. 

Having discipline has nothing to do with doing the same thing over and over again, day in, day out. It has nothing to do with grinding away to achieve a goal. It has nothing to do with ignoring the opportunities you’re given so that you can stick to your routine. Discipline is becoming a student, an apprentice. It is following wisdom, being aware of the opportunities you’re meant to step into, and above all, learning how to fulfill your purpose.   

Our society tells us what we need to do in order to help others. They tell us we need to go to school and become a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, a police officer, and thousands of others. So countless people never give what they are meant to give, and instead struggle to fill a role that wasn’t meant for them.

We pursue what others tell us is of value instead of engaging in the value that is ours to bring. The result is that we miss out on the bigger story around us.

Pursuing the calling our society tells us to pursue may provide for our physical needs, but only our true calling provides for those needs and ushers the dream into reality for us and all those we serve.

Your calling is anchored in your purpose. Your purpose is why you’re here. Your calling is doing what you are meant to do, where you are meant to do it, with those you are meant to. Your purpose and calling go hand in hand. But they are not the same thing. You can pursue a calling. But what happens when you pursue your calling; the one that fulfills your purpose?

When we work to take care of our own needs, they will never fully be filled. You are here to help meet a need in others. In meeting that need, you step into the story you are meant to be a part of. In that, all you need is available so that you can realize your purpose in all you do, as you fulfill your calling.That’s how it works.  Which is why we must pursue the calling we are meant to have. If all of us meet the need we are meant to help answer, all the needs in the ultimate story will be met.

Pursue your calling. Fulfill your purpose in all you do.

All of us have the ability to do what we are meant to do, but we don’t because of one lie. This is the lie of “I can’t”.

We tell ourselves this because we are afraid of the hard work and risk that comes with fulfilling what we are meant to do. We get caught in the easy way and striving for happiness. But when we pursue happiness, we become devalued by everyone around us. But why? Happiness is about us. Fulfilling why you’re here, where you’re meant to be, doing what you are meant to do, is about others. When we pursue happiness, those we want to value us, see our selfish wants instead of us fulfilling our calling and answering their needs. The longer we walk down the path of pursuing happiness, the more support we lose from those we wish were on our side. They walk away and we lose all the comfort they bring.

And without comfort, we try to drown our misery in more fleeting happiness. All this because we tell ourselves “I can’t”. But the truth is, everything we need to fulfill our calling is available to us. The path of obedience to your calling is hard, but as you walk it out those around you will value you for meeting the need you answer. The comfort that comes from that, mixed with the joy of fulfilling your calling, allows you to turn “I can’t” to “I can”.

You can.

Decisions shape our lives, our families, our companies, our communities and world. But what shapes our decisions? At the core, it’s your purpose. But what happens if you don’t know why you’re here? What happens if you confuse your purpose with what you do? Well, you end up in the wrong place, doing what you hope is the right thing, with those you hope will value what you bring.

Don’t leave your decisions in the hands of hope. Clarify your purpose and anchor your decisions in that purpose. End up where you are valued, doing what you are meant to do, with those who value what you bring.

Purpose shapes your decisions.

You are enough to fulfill your purpose.

Here’s the lie. You’ve either been told that you are not enough and never will be enough or that you have to be more than enough. And that applies to not only you as a leader, but to your family, your team, company, community and country. Both of these statements are the same lie. But here’s the truth. You are enough when it comes to fulfilling your purpose. You have been given all you need to fulfill your purpose. It may not look like it. It definitely doesn’t always feel like that. But the truth is, you have been given all you need to fulfill your purpose.

This goes for you, your family, your team, your company, community and country. If you need something to fulfill your purpose you have it. It’s either out there that you can go get or learn from those who have it and if not, it’s yours to develop.

The key to knowing that you have all you need to be the valued leader others need you to be as you fulfill your purpose is to first clarify your purpose.

You are enough. Be valued. Realize your purpose.

You’re teaching others how to devalue you.

Here’s the truth, you know what you’re worth, but you are doing things that actually teach others around you how to devalue you. And you are not alone in that. Every single person, family, team, company and community we’ve helped to fulfill their purpose and be valued over the past 25 years has done the same thing.

We doubt ourselves or we believe others when they doubt us. Doubt is the enemy.

Doubt’s job is to rob you of your value. We need your valued leadership. Your family needs your valued leadership. Your team, company, community and country needs your valued leadership.

Doubt causes us to do some very specific things that lead others to doubt us and themselves. When you doubt, we all lose out.

To stop doubting is hard. But once you clarify your purpose you’ll know your worth without a doubt.

Clarify your purpose. Be valued.

You are valued everywhere you are both needed and wanted.

There are people in your life and work that need you but don’t want you. Likewise, there are people that want you, but don’t need you. The challenge to being valued as a leader is to stand in those places where you are both needed and wanted. By doing that you stand in your opportunities.

So many of us, myself included, have spent too much time trying to convince the people around us that they should need and want us, instead of just being where we are needed and wanted the most.

If you stand where you are both needed and wanted, those you lead in those opportunities and those standing on the sidelines looking in will experience and recognize your value as a leader.

When it comes to being valued and having the opportunities to value those you lead, you simply need to stand where you are both needed and wanted.

Be valued. Be where you are needed and wanted.

Every one of us is being devalued in key relationships.

Each of us is being devalued for one simple reason. What you are doing does not align with why you’re here.

Your job, the different roles or positions you have in key relationships and what you do in those must align to and fulfill on why you’re here or you will continue to be devalued where you want to be valued.

Clarify your purpose and then align all you do to fulfill that purpose in every area of your life.

Avoid being devalued. Clarify your purpose and fulfill it.

People want to be led, not controlled.

However, most of us as leaders lead with our agenda instead of our purpose. We have something that we want done so we create an agenda, call a meeting and then try to convince everyone that what we propose is the right direction.

When we lead with our agenda instead of our purpose, we end up controlling people. And when that happens, we lose those we are leading.

Agendas don’t lead people, purpose does. And when you place an agenda before your purpose, you will be devalued simply because you will be measured on what you accomplish instead of why you’re here. What you accomplish has value simply because it either fulfills your purpose or it doesn’t. And when you align your agenda to your purpose, you can easily measure if what you are doing has value or not.

Be valued. Lead from your purpose, not your agenda.

You’ve been taught a lie about your purpose.

In helping leaders be valued everywhere they want to be, I’ve seen one lie that keeps coming up. We’ve all been taught that our purpose is what we do. But the truth is, your purpose is why you’re here. Your purpose is why you’re here, not what you do.

What you do must align with why you’re here and fulfill your purpose if you want to be valued as a leader, but your purpose is not what you do, it is why you’re here.

Your value as a leader comes from you fulfilling your purpose everywhere you are. At home, work, in your community, country and our world. You are valued as a leader because you fulfill your purpose in what you do. What you do must come out of you fulfilling your purpose or you will be devalued.

Your purpose is a why not a what.