Has someone asked you, “What is your purpose?” It can be one of the toughest questions to answer. I know, I have been there. When I attended a Life Direction Seminar years ago I finally discovered how I would like to live my life with meaning and purpose. “To inspire and motivate others to use their God-given talent and reach their full potential.”

Did you know that Harvard Business School researchers found that 3% of people are successful, 30% are moderately successful and 67% just exist? 67! The majority just exist!

• The significant difference for the 3% who are successful is that they have written down, specific goals and purpose.
• The 30% who are moderately successful have a general idea of where they are going but don’t have any goals formalised.
• The rest are happy to watch the world go by. (Source: http://www.goalmaker.com/whyset.html)

Noted philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Each man has his own vocation. The talent is the call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him. Every man has this call of the power to do something unique, and no man has any other call.”

This is exactly what purpose is – a direction to which we set ourselves guided by our unique talent and capacity. Our purpose can be vaguely shown to us by others, but it is us who can clearly define what it is based on how much we know, understand, and appreciate ourselves.

It is important to know your purpose and set goals for your life. This way, you can live life more meaningfully, with clarity and direction. And when you have identified your purpose, the next step is to be passionate in pursuing and achieving your purpose.

Did you know that Academy award winning director Steven Spielberg adopted a personal lifelong conviction he learned from a 1954 Disney film where Davy Crockett said: “Make sure you are right and go on!” His whole career truly adhered to that advice. Though he got expelled from college, kicked out from shooting locations, and faced many rejections in the early part of his career, he never gave up and instead stick to his goals and pursued it.

Would you like to be part of the 3%, 30% or 67%?

Be part of the winning minority!

Live your life with a purpose, and run your race like a runner fired up with passion to win!

Winning in life through coaching

I just had a long walk at the beach. The cool sea breeze enveloped  me with a sense of wonder, awe and comfort. The sun in the horizon made the water sparkle, and the gentle waves serenaded me with a music of calm. It was all refreshing. In this moment of tranquility, I began to rethink of my life’s purpose. Where I will be ten years down the road and what activities to embark on to bring my message of inspiration to more people across the globe. I am reminded of a quote by the famous Paralympian Gerrard Gosens “Success is a journey, never a destination.”

Gosens is vision impaired, but this did not stop him from becoming one of the world’s most admired athlete. In 2008 he was one of the Australian athletes who carried the Beijing Olympics torch. To date, he is also a motivational speaker and a special project manager for Vision Australia, an organization that helps visually-impaired people to succeed. His story was a journey of trainings and hardwork,  and learning from coaches and mentors who guided him through his athletic career, education, and his present vocation.

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of humans is the gift of mentoring and coaching. I have met wonderful people who has guided me in my journey. Crediting them all here may occupy this whole blog, so let me just share with you what I have been up to these days.

A motivational speaker’s motivational coach?

Yes, apart from my life mentors, I hired the expertise of a professional coach to provide me with check and balance on my life’s purpose. We are paired with a success partner or accountability partner and we talk on the phone once a week.  To celebrate our success we meet with the whole group every quarter.  But because I have been away for three months, I have missed some of the activities.

I am so looking forward to the ProCoach “Laser Coaching”, a monthly one-on-one session with a highly experienced coach. This intense, private session is meant to force students to stay at their edge to help them gain clarity and commit to an action plan to reach their goals.  I started out on the ProCoach Success program by answering a set of really serious questions. First, What is your Purpose?  At first, I felt intimidated and surprised. Questions of this nature sometimes paralyze my thoughts and creativity. After a few seconds, I took a deep breath and blurt out my purpose and that is “To inspire others to use their God-given talent and reach their full potential.”

Then we touched on values. The following came out instantly, top-of-mind: Honesty, Integrity, Freedom, Growth, and Contribution. Values are the foundations of life – awareness of the things that matter and are important to you can connect you more to your life’s purpose. I learned that by being actively aware of my personal values, I can easily set directions for my life.

My Life’s Metaphor

Pouring my heart and soul out,  my coach shared that my metaphor for where my life now is a ship captain – one who sets out on new adventures and unchartered territories. He is lying down at the deck of his ship, watching the stars, looking at the great beyond. He knows that things have not revealed themselves yet but he is enjoying being in the moment, the peaceful and quietness of the night.

As an entrepreneur, mother, author, and motivational speaker, I have high hopes and ideals. In the past I tend to forget my ownself.  I guess because of where I came from I have always been a sort of nurturer of others, always on the go and busy with something.  After a “health opportunity” crossed my path I realized how important to love and nurture oneself.

In the time that we have here on Earth, we can never be in a situation where we will feel 100% satisfied in every aspect of our life. That is why we should all go easy on ourselves. I have learned to trust in the process of life, because everyone’s journey is a marathon and not a sprint. There are so many things that will show up and we can’t rush them. Just like the ship captain who is out for an adventure, he enjoys the moment while waiting for his ship to dock.

The coach then asked me about measurable indicators that will assess my progress in reaching my goals, what I plan to achieve and my objectives in the next one to three years. They are all quite lengthy and some I will share with you in the future. Before we ended the session, the coach then asked me on what commitment level I will give to the program. Being the motivational speaker that I am, I said “100%!”

Starting Out Simple But for Sure

What better way to start that pledge than by sticking to a daily routine. Allow me to share with you what I have committed myself to – simple but practical steps to connecting to our life’s purpose:

1.    Write a journal everyday – Wake up early in the morning and with a notebook or a laptop, chronicle your life even for five minutes a day. Writing journals releases your creative ideas, feelings or emotions and captures them in written form. When you go back and read at what you have written, you become more attuned to yourself.

2. Meditate twice daily for 20 minutes – Before the sun rises and sets, find a quiet room, play soft music and seat in a lotus position. Relax and breathe. The calming of your body and soul will work wonders for you.

3.    Continue to nurture yourself – Love yourself. Who can better do this than you? Set realistic goals for the day and enjoy your everyday moments of success. If ever you fail on reaching your day’s plan, go easy on yourself. The next day is a brand new day for you to conquer.

Success is our walk but always take to heart that there are people around us who can coach and help us along the way. So enjoy the journey!