by Team JT | Build Your Online Business |
Let’s try this. Oh, good. Now I see the sun is up. Thank you so much for letting me. I think there was no sound. So let me start again. I hate Instagram. I was having a problem with sand on this side on my computer. So I’m going to start all over again with this. But I have a funny story that I was listening to the other day, and I want to share that with you guys that I read.
Actually, it’s a story that I read and this is how it goes. It’s about the power of purpose. And today I just want to talk about my purpose and what it is that you know I’ve found to be to really help when it comes to being its jet fuel for your business in that sense right.
The story goes that the loaded station wagon pulled into the only remaining campsite for children from the vehicle and began feverishly unloading gear and setting up the tent. The boys then rushed to gather firewood while the girls and their mother set up the camp stove and cooking utensils nearby. I just marveled at the, you know, the youngster Emmaville to the assets that there is some display of teamwork.
The father replied, I have a system. No one goes to the bathroom until the camp is set up. Talk about motivation. You know how it is after a long trip. And it’s like everybody’s going to the bathroom. You know, this is the part the purpose has in our lives. One thing that I have actually discovered of late is how I want to share with you guys.
My purpose today, by the way, is just some of the stories that I’ve been reading of late and some of the just the things that I’ve been learning on the show with me, because we all are purpose driven. I mean, think about it really, by the way, what is it that makes the difference between people who make an impact and those who don’t like?
Think of the names that you remember. You know, Mother Teresa, Wangari Maathai, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King. These are not people who are rich billionaires, you know, but there are people who gave of themselves from what they had. And it was truly amazing that the lives that they led had such an impact right.
So one thing that I’ve been learning, you know, we’ve been in the season as well of the Nobel Peace Prize and hearing about all these people nominated. But do you know there’s a lot of people that do not know this, that Nobel himself was the inventor of dynamite?
OK, and I also want to find his story. And really right now, he’s the inventor of dynamite. But when the story goes that his brother passed away and a French you know, newspaper mistakenly published his obituary rather than his brothers. And guess what it was titled is it the agent of the agent of death is dead right. And he was so appalled to discover that.
OK, so this is exactly what you know people thought of me because he invented dynamite. And it’s he realized he just decided that he wants to make a difference. He wants to do something different with his life. He wants to leave a different legacy. And he died eight months later. But really, what was it, eight years later? I had to confirm that. But he spent his remaining time, you know, putting together what we now know as the Nobel Peace Prize ok,
where he just bequeathed all his wealth to give in to this peace prize in order to help just the world promotion of peace.
You know, so it strikes me how we all want to leave a legacy. We all want to be remembered for something. We all want to, I mean, why is it that we wake up eight to five every day, go into work, whether then, of course, and then live. But we wake up eight to five every day. We’re going to work. We come back, we do the things that we normally do every single day. It’s, what, five days a week, four weeks a month, 12 months a year. It’s such an interesting thing. And I’m beginning to earn a living.
Why else do we do it? You know, even as all of us, everything we are God, we God has created us to desire purpose, to decide to make an impact, a desire to do something of meaning in the world that we live in. And one of the things that has really struck me, I don’t know, because I’ve seen this story going around.
There’s a story that’s been going around of, um, well, you’ve probably seen it in the newspapers of Charles Femi Ok, Charles Feeney. He’s the founder, co-founder, one of the partners of the I believe it’s called the duty free shoppers rights. Network that, you know, raised or rather had revenues in the billions over his lifetime. And he himself, as a paper that was worth, has been worth obviously over eight billion. And what he has done in his lifetime is give away all his wealth.
He’s a tale now, I must admit, when I watched this when I read this, I was tempted. I said badly, OK, so you’ve worked your whole life, you’ve worked hard, and you made it believe you work hard right. And then now you’re going to turn around and give it all away. It doesn’t make sense to me. Don’t get me wrong, I am. So for giving away our time, so we’re giving away oh, well, I spent my first three years as a career person in my career in giving away
my time, I was actually working in a ministry for those first three years working with young people.
Um, and, you know, it was just something about it that just felt amazing. You know, he has done this. He has given it away. Now, what about if we decided to give away
that well, just like he did here or not right.
Um, of course, as we are able to write. But what about if it wasn’t just the world we’re giving away? What about if it was our time? What about it was every single thing we did. We were giving it away. And this is what has been on my heart for months.
Just wow. You know what? There is more to life than this. And this is something that, um, it’s my purpose. I’m committing to just be able to do that in the businesses that I have is give, give, give, give of my time. Let me not wait until I’m on my deathbed, literally, you know, and encourage us to think about and think about that as well.
Why wait? I mean, just like investments, when you invest early, you make a return from what you’ve invested in because it’s that this is called compounding interest and then you start to give the more that you’re getting back in return. We don’t give up to get it’s outcome. It’s an output.
Oftentimes what we get back is that fulfillment is the purpose is actually there’s another thing I know that says he’s no fool who gives what he cannot keep to keep what he cannot lose
or actually who gives what he can do. Yeah, he’s no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. It’s a rough paraphrase. Paraphrasing if you if you all know, just put it in the commit right.
But it’s a really inspiring quote for me. And it’s just something that, uh, you know, if it’s if in any way, shape or form, this is something that just motivates you and makes you feel that you love to give in that way. You’d love to be a person whose business is motivated by every single day being able to contribute to eternity right.
By loving people, by showing them the love that you yourself have gotten from God. I’d be so happy to work with you. I’d be so happy to just really just change that narrative. But you know what? What we’re doing is we are building a kingdom.
We’re becoming millionaires, so billionaires, you know what I mean? We’re becoming people who are focused on the long term. We’re focused on eternity ultimately. Now, one thing I will say here and now is that when it comes to you when it comes to you knowing what you’re doing, the quickest recipe for disaster, by the way, is seriously just deciding, OK, you’re going to do what you’re doing. You’re just going to drive, drive, drive. You’re going to do it for the money. I know, because I’ve been there. I know a lot of us have been there. And when that happened, really, I panned out quick, fast, absolutely. Everything was driving OK. But another the other way to look at it is to look at it is something that you were doing because you have a purpose, because you are being faithful to the to the gift and the skill you’ve been given, because we’ve all been given a skill.
We’ve all been given a gift. OK, so that’s it for today is just to share that this went a bit longer than I thought, maybe because of the sound problem in the beginning. But I invite you to just reach out.
Let’s talk let’s discuss what that looks like for you in your life, being able to leave the lack of purpose that you decide being able to. And this is primarily in the area in their arena the vehicle that I’m choosing to live out. His purpose is, yes, you know, in life, but primarily through the vehicle of business. OK, so if you’d like to chat about that, just reach out to me the link. I will. I think I missed it.
Oh, I forgot to share a link to the consultingdigital.com/start OK, and choose what best describes you and then click through and I’ll tell you exactly how we can we can chat but let’s get on a talk and just discuss what it is that you want to achieve and how it is you can get the help to get there because our purpose is everything.
OK, thanks so much for giving me your evening or your morning or afternoon. Have a great one and be blessed.
OK, bye bye.
by Team JT | Build Your Online Business |
Life is a safari.
It can feel like dangerous, exciting, exhausting.
But sometimes along the way you get an ‘Aha’ moment! And those moments change your life. I’ve had a number in my life that changed my outlook drastically. 7 to be exact. Well, there were more than 7. But these are the most significant realizations I had and I’d like to share them with you.
Realization 1: Cut to the Chase And Engage
When I realized that I learnt best by really engaging with what I was reading or hearing. It was either that or fall asleep in my physics class, which I did do for a year or two in high school. What, you mean you didn’t? I ended up getting the top marks in that class when I graduated, so all was not lost, refer to the my point above. I mean lets face it, Physics can be boring. But I also discovered when I engaged actively to understand the principles it took on a whole different meaning. It become interesting to me. Maybe as I understood it, I began to click, to ‘flow’. As I read it more, I liked it more. I got the principles.
Takeaway: You may have reads tons on life and career. About entrepreneurship. About business. It all feels too overwhelming and you’re not sure where to start. Don’t worry, there’s a whole community here to help you engage. On LinkedIn, Facebook, Quora. Read and watch stories, videos and interviews from the community. Learn the principles, the rock solid facts that can guide you. Let’s work together to break through the information haze that stops us from ‘Just Doing It’.
Realization 2: Know Thyself
When I realized I loved People Science more than I loved Computer Science. I was in 3rd year at University doing Computer Science and the assignment for my management class was on leadership styles. That’s where I stumbled upon the MBTI personality test. I proceeded to type and categorize everyone who would let me. My study group and family bore the brunt of that one (sorry guys).
What I discovered freed me beyond measure. For example, I realized that I am an ENTP, which means I love a challenge, and love to challenge the norm. I love to know the facts behind something. If you have brothers, big or small, you’ll relate with how growing up they could take apart anything electronic just to put it together again. Mine did. They had a whole drawer of taken-apart electronics. I like to do that with life. The most important way this realization helped me was with the guilt. We all have different forms of guilt in our lives. And women have a unique form ala ‘not being able to have it all’. I’m sure men do to.But I don’t beat myself up about who I am anymore. Sure, I get bored with long-windedness (am I boring you yet?), and I really love fast-paced projects. I hate to be restricted in my creativity and live in a ‘world of endless possibilities‘, sounds reeeaaaallllly endless. Apparently I’d make a great entrepreneur. But by knowing where my challenges and strengths lie, I can focus instead in becoming the best of who I am, on honing my strengths, overcoming my weaknesses. It you haven’t taken the test yet, there’s a free one here. I’d love to hear what your result is in the comments.
Takeaway: Before you start a journey, its important to count the cost, as the Bible says. That’s the same with your journey to fulfillment in what you do. Identify how you learn, what your style of taking action is, what motivates you. Do you tend to want to leave your options open? That’s also popularly known as procrastinating, by the way. Personally I like the first description more, as one who prefers to leave my options open too ;). So lets ditch the later one shall we? Where was I… do you tend to want to leave your options open? Or are you someone who prefers to get it done now, no matter what IT is? Let’s kill the guilt, recognize our strengths and motivations, and work with them. If you want to gain recognition and respect, or just help people because that what drives you, do that! If you want to be a millionaire by forty, or just earn enough to pay the bills, then do that! You’re not a failure, you’re you. And YOU can decide just how much you, you will be. No guilt, no coulda-shoulda-woulda, no regrets.
Realization 3: Connect With Like Minds
When my first date with my to-be husband was an avid discussion on the MBTI and making our mark in this world then he become my husband two years later. Yes, it was love at first sight *happy sigh*. And I learnt we connect with people based on what we love. And that we love the people that we connect with. Figures. Everyone says, you are the sum total of the 5 people you spend the most time with. I’m grateful to have been a part of some great groups and communities that continue to inspire me. Two that have truly inspired my entrepreneurial drive is the Zero to Launch Community of Ramit Sethi, NY times best-selling author of ‘I Will Teach You To Be Rich’ and more recently the up-coming Vendeve community of Lady-prenuers.When you are new to the game, it important to not go it alone, and to get support in your area of endeavor.
Takeaway: Be a part of a community. Want to interact, share and learn more about entrepreneurship in Africa, come be a part of my Facebook group. If health is your thing, come be a part of my Health community. Or find a community that you love, on what you are passionate about and get involved. Join the mailing list. Ask questions, interact. I’d love to hear from you what’s worked. Studies show that we are more inspired or motivated to act in a community.
Realization 4: Know Your Purpose
When I realized that life was finite and was not all about me. My birth mother died when I was 13 years old. And my oldest sister died 7 years later, and my father not too long after that. I have continually encountered my Creator throughout my life, but these times stand out to me as the time when I started to think about life and death and whether it was all worth it. I mean, if all I did was live my 70 years or so on this earth and then disappeared, that hardly seems worth it. Sure its lifetime, which is all we get. But we also get to leave a legacy which can last for eternity. I have been working daily since to make my life on this earth count, and to touch as many people as possible while I can. It helps that I have a somewhat idealistic streak which means I’m pushing for Utopia, defined as ‘an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect‘. Do you want to join me?
Takeaway: What is your purpose? Does it motivate you to want to live long enough to achieve it? The goal to be wealthy may be what many will start out with, but even greater is the goal to fulfill your life’s purpose. Why do you think the top millionaires turn their attention to philanthropy at one point or another?
Realization 5: Don’t Be a Victim, You Have Control
When I realized my little 3 -month old baby, my 2nd born, could either spend her formative years taking anti-histamines, or I could take matters in my hands and solve her health issues. I have PCOS, my husband wants to lose some weight, my 1st born daughter is borderline asthmatic, we are all far from perfect. And that’s really the average family these days. It’s the result of years of ingesting things humans were never meant to ingest, or just not in the right quantities. I’m pretty sure our great grandfathers never faced the same health issues.
The thing that gets me though is that the medical fraternity will drug you up before they point you to natural and holistic ways to cure your condition. It’s just yesterday, as I looked for a thermometer to measure my daughters temperature from a lung infection, that I realized just how long it had been since we had to go the doctor for any ailment. Case in point, I haven’t found the thermometer yet because I haven’t used it in that long. Contrast that with 2 years back and her getting bronchitis at least once a month like clockwork. Which meant doctors visits and antibiotics. Never mind if it was a viral infection… lets just add drug resistance to the list of ailments above shall we? I actually stopped taking her to the doctor for every cold, cough or flu and opted instead to dose her on minced garlic with honey, vitamin C, warming teas of ginger, lemon, honey, apple cider vinegar and menthol. It had an unbelievable effect. I haven’t taken them to the doc for a cough in over 1 year.
Takeaway: This can apply to any area where the experts have us at their mercy really. When it comes to your career, are HR execs telling you that you have too little experience and can’t get a good starting package, let along get hired without more on your CV? Haseeb Qureshi will disprove that theory, he doubled the starting salary he was offered in a few weeks. It took a lot of the right kind of networking. And you can too.
In the area of health, yours may be perfect now, but do you know where it will be in 2 years? 10 years? Cancer risk has increased at alarming rates. Or perhaps you are wondering why you can’t shed those kilos and keep them off and you know that obesity increases your risk of disease. I’m here to tell you that you have control. Just like Ty Bolinger of ‘The Truth About Cancer‘ shares, we can take back our health from the medical profession. And seek holistic ways to heal and cure.
Realization 6: Love The Journey And Ignore the Nay-sayers
My job contract ended in 2010 due to a desire not to renew it by my boss. And I had another job within 3 weeks. In the same building! I loved meeting my former boss in the corridors so he could see just how fast I was snapped up. I mean, don’t get renewed and that’s a slight on your ability. Unless of course there are budget issues, which in this case there weren’t. Get hired immediately (and still have raving reviews 1 year later) that’s a slight on his ability, he that fired me. Remind me to share that story sometime.
That experience taught me that I was the ultimate decision-maker in my life. It taught me not to panic when I was out of a job, which I have been many times since then. It taught me to embrace my passions, because my passion fed my personal projects that fed my skills and THAT was what got me my next job, NOT the work that I did in my 9-to-5. I realized though that other people may want to get you down, but only you can let that happen. And as disastrous as an event may seem, it’s never final till you are the other side of the grave. I could have let that get me down but the minute I heard my boss was doing all he could to let me go, I immediately started looking for alternatives. I was even willing to take on an unpaid internship as a fully qualified professional. When the world gives you lemons, you better have a great lemonade recipe!
‘ No one can make you feel inferior without your consent‘ – Eleanor Roosevelt.
Takeaway: No matter where you journey has led you, or what you have encountered along the way, you are a result of it all. So embrace it. As you go on your journey, It’ll help you focus on what YOU need to be focusing on, and ignore those voices, in your head or outside, that you’ve listened to that have stopped you from becoming the you that you want to be.
Realization 7: Just Do It!
I’ve wanted to make this Linked post for the longest time. And start my health blog. And start an online business. And I’m grateful for those around me that have encouraged me to just do it! I’m grateful for you too! Because you’re here, reading this and affirming my step as the right one (I’m a sucker for that). No really, I’m grateful for you that make it possible.
Mushiness aside, getting this post out and starting my health blog has been a seminal point in my life. I realized knowledge remains in your head until you implement it. So just do it!
Takeaway: You wanna get that next job? Get your business up and running? Start eating healthy to lose weight? Just do it! Set a target, look at that target every day and internalize it. Set up actions that lead you to your goal. Just do it! Get your CV into shape. Come up with your one-page business plan. Say no to that doughnut and whip out your hummus and carrot sticks. Just do it! Start with ONE thing at a time that you’d like to change. For example, if your goal is weight loss, one of the quickest ways to start loosing weight, based on the slow carb method by Tim Ferris, outlined in the 4-hour body, is to just stop eating all white carbohydrates, tubers included.
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